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| RIO Advisory BoardRoosevelt Institution at Otis Advisory Board The advisory board helps to establish the chapter at the university and in the local community. Creating an initial advisory board is one of the first thing a chapter does when getting started (see Guide to Founding A Chapter). As chapters grow, so do their advisory boards. As a chapters needs become more complicated, the advisory board will serve more functions. The diverse roles within the advisory board demonstrate the varying functions of the board. Every advisory board member is different, and therefore, each member will help the chapter in their own way. Here are some examples of different roles on the advisory board. One person can fill as many roles as they wish: • Establish the chapter- An advisory board member can help establish legitimacy for the chapter by simply lending their names and support to the board and chapter materials. This is often the role elected officials and very busy people will take on. • Fundraise for the Chapter- The advisory board member can help with fundraising by advising fundraising activities, donating to the chapter through national, or by helping to connect the chapter with grants and donors. Please see the fundraising section for more about fundraising regulations and guidelines. • Build connections for the chapter- The advisory board member helps connect the chapter with other potential advisory board members and people who can help further the chapter, such as presidents of organizations in the community or experts in a field. • Foster coalitions- the Advisory board member might help the chapter build coalitions and work on join projects with their organization or organizations they work with. • Grant access- Advisory board members might help get the chapter access to something that they might not have had, such as a publications or a list serve. • Invite chapter heads to events- the advisory board members could invite chapter heads to networking events, events to showcase chapter policy and projects, and events that would help establish the chapter. • Recruit for the chapter- Professors and administrators might help do outreach for Roosevelt, promote Roosevelt in the school and class room, or recruit for specific leadership positions Roosevelt needs to fill. • Publicity- Building a coalition and working relationship with someone well known on the advisory board might help garner publicity. An advisory board member might also be able to advise the chapter how to get more publicity. • Promote the chapter- advisory board members can talk about the chapter to their colleagues. •Speak at events- The advisory board is an instant pool of speakers, and speakers at events would make great advisory board members. •Give advice to the admin team- people and professors with experience running non profits can consult the admin director and admin team and help troubleshoot problems and plan for the year. •Advise the Policy centers- These people should be policy experts in the focus area of each Policy Center about the policy center topics. They should be chosen by the center director and members of the policy center for their relevant policy expertise, involvement with top level student research at the given university, and enthusiasm and support for Roosevelt. Please see the policy organizing manual for more about the role of the advisory board in the policy branch. Inviting People onto the Board • Designate Roles: Make sure there are specific people on the admin team who will work on building and maintaining the advisory board. Ideally, these should be the University Relations director (to connect with administrators and professors), the Community Outreach Director (to connect with people in the local community), and the Policy Director (to establish contacts for the centers). If you do not have all these positions on your admin team, then designate the advisory board to the appropriate roles. • What are the needs of the chapter? Before inviting people onto the board, those in charge of the board (the person doing university relations, community outreach and the policy director) should get together and think about the goals of the chapter for the year and the challenges, local initiatives, and policy projects the chapter is working on. With these things in mind, they should think about the needs of the chapter for the chapter for the coming year. • Make lists: After thinking about needs, make a list of all the people in the school and community who would help the chapter meet these needs. The Policy Director should consult the center directors and the working group directors for a list of experts in the field who can advise the policy branch. The university relations person and community outreach person can come up with good contacts for the chapter at the school and in the community in general (such as school administrators and presidents of other thin tanks). It usually helpful to get school administrators, deans, and institutions at the college on the advisory board. Well respected professors and professes who can advise the policy centers are also important parts of the advisory board. These are basic components of any advisory board. Having such people on the board lends credibility to the organization, and can be helpful when approaching people in the school for advice, for favors, or to build coalitions. • Create a Spreadsheet: Put the list of people you ideally want on the advisory board on an excel spreadsheet. Next to each person, record what they do, and their contact info. Then record all contact and meetings. Put the dates you email them, when you meet them, and the purposes for the meetings. Record any contact they have with your chapter: if they spoke at your chapter, are on the advisory board, or if they work with a center. • Ask the chapter- Before emailing people, informally ask around the chapter to see if anyone has important contacts or contacts to the people on the list. Group members: |
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