Serving on a Board of Directors—What kind of a Board?
There are several types of Boards.
1.Advisory Board. There is no legal responsibilities for an Advisory Board. However, an Advisory Board allows a Donor or Funder to assume that there are people who help you and “speak into” your organization to make it better. Donors love to see that you seek help from others. They will often scrutinize these lists to see if you have business-people, spiritual advisors, educators or other donors in your list. You ay start with an Advisory Board before you incorporate to have good guidance and wisdom. I suggest that you have a minimum of 3 and a maximum of 7 in your list of Advisory Board Members. You can list them like this:
Advisory Board Occupation City, State
The Honorable John Ashcroft U. S. Senator Washington, D.C.
Judge Judy Circuit Court Judge Redlands, CA
Dr. Allison Glenne High School Principal Blue Springs, MO
Rev. Bob Vickers Pastor Gardner, KS
Mr. Matt Hodkins Author Phoenix, AZ
Ms. Lexie Fae Burford Publisher Leawood, KS (Kansas City)
After asking someone to be on your Advisory Board, you should always keep them posted on your progress, needs, etc. You always want to share copies of brochures, fliers, DRAFTS of proposals, etc., with them to keep them informed.
2.Incorporating Board of Directors: When you initially incorporate your organization, you will need to have 3 to 5 people to serve as your initial incorporating Board. The Incorporator is you. You are the primary individual who is setting up the nonprofit and will be responsible for the organization over the longer period of time. This is the ONE person to fill everything out as the Incorporator and you will need a minimum of 2 additional people who sign your initial documents when needed. You need their name, address, City, State and zip, and a quarter-page bio for each person. Your Incorporating Board will be you plus a minimum of 2 others. There must be a minimum of 3 people filling 4 offices—The President cannot also be Secretary. Use YOUR LEGAL NAME and a permanent address when filling out ALL documents. You will list these on documents with name, title and address:
Incorporating Board, Occupation, City, State, zip code
1. Mr. Robert J. Vickers, Incorporator, President, CEO, 813 West Acorn Street, Gardner, KS 66030
2. Mrs. Connie S. Vickers, Board Vice-President, 2801 West Cherokee Street, Gardner, KS 66030
3. Mr. Andrew Emerson, Board Treasurer, 2100 Northwest Noland Road, Independence, MO 64015
4. Mrs. Allison Lindhardt, Board Secretary, 408 West Main Street, Edgerton, KS 66021
3.Board of Directors: This is the legal Fiduciary Board that is legally responsible for the decisions and actions of your organization. Serving on a Board of Directors is a very important and rewarding position but does require knowledge and understanding. It is not just an honorary position—there are legal implications and responsibilities and each Board Member should be made aware of these things before and during serving on a Board. The following is a few Ideas and Suggestions of important pieces of information you should share with someone contemplating serving on a Board. I recommend that you set in your Bylaws to have no fewer than 3 nor more than 13 BUT the best size is an odd number—either 5, 7 or 9, in my opinion. You should list your Board Members:
Board Members:
Mr. Robert J. Vickers, President and CEO Mrs. Allison Lindhardt, Retired V.P.
Artful Askers Southwestern Bell
Board President Board Secretary
813 West Acorn Street 408 West Main Street
Gardner, KS 66030 Edgerton, KS 66021
(913) 747-6390 (913) 747-6390
bob@artfulaskers.com lindhardta@yahoo.com
Mr. Benjamin James, President Mrs. Audrey Briande, Attorney and CPA
Ghost Writers of America Jones and Jones and Jones and Fitch
P.O. Box 1225 707 SW 10th Street
Warrensburg, MO 64093 Ozark, MO 65721
(660) 747-6390 (417) 605-6390
bjpres@GWA.org leagalshark@jjjf.com
Mr. Andrew Emerson, Executive Vice President Mrs. Connie S. Vickers, Admin. Assistant
DOW Chemical Vickers Household
Board Treasurer Board Vice-President
2100 Northwest Noland Road 2801 West Cherokee Street
Independence, MO 64015 Gardner, KS 66030
(816) 747-6390 (913) 747-6390
andrew428@hotmail.com cshgardnerks@ceturylink.net
Mr. Lars Annear Lindhardt, Chief Cook
Landry’s
27321 Southwest Expressway
Olathe, KS 66062
(913) 747-6390
Larsannearlindhardt@LandrysKC.com