SI Ilkley

Helpful

Thoughts

on Becoming

a President.

When a member is asked to put herself forward as President or is simply wondering what would be involved, she tends to feel overwhelmed by what she perceives to be the club’s expectations. A thriving Soroptimist club needs a well motivated president and Soroptimism must recognise that such a member will inevitably already have a lot of pressure on her time, energy and funds.

The following are the unsolicited thoughts of a group of long time members, who have been saying, for far too long “There ought to be some helpful hints for possible presidents.” At last………we have put our computer where our mouths are.

Perhaps the most valuable thought we can pass on is the very important concept of the leadership of the club being a team appointment. There is a past president, a president, a president-elect and a vice president. If they all work together, the club benefits from their combined commitment and strengths and the team benefits from knowing that 4 of them can share the load. It doesn’t have to be the president, who represents the club on every occasion or who chairs every meeting and incoming presidents can benefit hugely from sharing such duties. However, it only takes 1 “This is MY year” president to break that team approach.

As we deliberated, we decided that our thoughts fell into 3 categories.

  1. Things which, according to the current rules of Soroptimism, you should do.
  2. Things, which, in our wisdom, we think, you might be well advised to do.
  3. Things, which are entirely up to the president….even though in recent years, they may have become habitual.

1. OUGHT TO.

  1. Becoming familiar with the Constitution, the Procedural Document and club handbook can be a source of great confidence as well as the best guide to approved practice.
  2. Before becoming president, a member should have served on the executive.
  3. A president needs an Executive Committee, a Programme Action Committee* and a Dinner Committee. There are, of course, other committees referred to in Section 2, which are considered so important to the smooth running of the club that they might well have found a place here.(*Programme Action is the essence of Soroptimism and should have a prominent place in business meetings.)
  4. Every member should be on at least 1 sub-committee and new members should be co-opted on to a committee as they come in.
  5. The president can look to her secretary to make all bookings, (you may need extra dates and alternative venues for Interclubs, Christmas parties etc.) prepare agendas, deal with correspondence and records, membership, resignation etc. though, of course the president will have the choice of events and their dates in her year..
  6. The president should wear the Chain of Office on all official occasions, when she is representing the club. The Chain of Office is not, however, worn in church, except at a civic service.
  7. The president should be aware that it is the club’s region rep., who should be the club’s voting delegate at the Federation AGM. It is worth recording that it is common practice for some funding to be considered by clubs to their voting delegate.
  8. Does she want to have a dinner, a lunch or neither? If yes she should decide where to have it and book at least provisionally as soon as possible. By the time the previous dinner has taken place, she should ideally be ready to confirm or have a speedy rethink!

9. During the year leading up to her presidency, she will get dates from Federation and

Region which may have a bearing on her own programme.

2. THE WELL ADVISED SECTION.

  1. Now that a president gets an honorarium she should be told at the earliest possible opportunity before her year what that covers and how much it is. She should not be expected to stand the cost of club activities.There are several enjoyable occasions during the year, which presidents have slipped into the habit of funding. A typical example would be the drink and refreshments, which tend to follow the inauguration of the new president. This isn’t a custom which has to be followed.
  2. Early on she should consider her theme for the year and the president’s charity (though she doesn’t have to have either.)
  3. By the time a member steps onto the presidential ladder, it is of great benefit to her to have entered the wider world of Soroptimism, attending regional council meetings/conferences.
  4. The president would be well advised to have a Membership Committee (and closely linked with Membership is Care and Concern), a Finance Committee, a Press and Publicity Committee (2 people usually work more effectively than 1.) a Social Committee and to consider the possibility of having a separate Fund Raising Committee. A Speaker Committee or secretary has often, in the past, shouldered the entire responsibility for providing speakers and there is no reason why such a committee could not take the president’s wishes for speaker or subject and do the ‘spade work’ for her. However if she has a personal connection with her speakers she may chose to contact them herself. This committee would need to be at work during the year before the president takes office.They would be responsible for contacting the speaker a few weeks prior to the talk and finding out if we needed to provide anything…screen etc. Such an individual or group could also relieve the president of the task of welcoming and generally stewarding the speaker, ensuring that they have all they need, finding someone to do the Vote of Thanks and buying the token bottle of wine where appropriate.
  5. It is preferable to have the chairmen of the main committees on the executive and probably essential to include the Region Rep..
  6. The concept of a teamof presidents should provide continuity and prevent the damaging effect of everything stopping and changing, when the president changes. The president does not need to feel pressure to raise money; she does not need to have a charity. The project is the important thing, not the size of our donation; indeed our support can be entirely service not money.
  7. If the presidential team is flourishing, the present President will understand and support her successor’s need to be planning her year, but the President Elect should ensure that those plans are kept as low-key as is practical.
  8. When planning her dates for the year a president should be aware of 2 tricky Thursdays. When Maundy Thursday falls on a club night a president might choose to change the meeting night as some members may be involved in church services. Similarly, if a club night falls during the annual conference, the president will often hold that meeting the week before.
  9. From Lynne Frisby comes the recommendation that, although get-together events in the August break are most enjoyable, a president would be well advised to let these be informal events for which she has no responsibility and does not even need to attend. She also comments that official events planned for September can be very difficult to publicize adequately because of the August break.
  10. A full and sound working relationship between president and secretary is probably the secret of an efficient year. It is good and eminently sensible for the president to communicate either by meeting, phone or e-mail with the secretary, prior to each business/executive meeting, and to discuss the agenda.
  11. A president (or a member on her behalf) should choose a member to read the Objects and Purposes at the start of every meeting and a member to give the Vote of Thanks, where necessary. This should be done well in advance of the meeting. (For some people, it is quite an ordeal and most would not want the job landed on them at the last minute!)
  12. Roll calls, where members stand up, one at a time, and give their names and categories are very helpful to the newer member and to many others and a president might consider having them several times during the year as well as at the enrolling of new members.
  13. When planning her programme, a president should leave space for adequate reporting from Conference and other important Soroptimist events and for the discussion of developing Soroptimist matters.
  14. Job talks are an invaluable way for Sorops to learn about newer members and the nature of the work they do. If a president asks a few members to prepare such a talk, these can always be featured when space has been left and is not needed. It would

also be advisable to have an emergency plan for a meeting where the speaker doesn’t turn up. This could be a pre-prepared quiz or members being invited to contribute to….a favourite book/holiday/embarrassing experience etc. If the president has her contribution prepared to start the ball rolling, it will almost certainly roll thereafter.

  1. When a president asks a member to report back from an SI event, conference, study day etc., she needs to ask that member well in advance of the event and make sure the focus is clearly defined. (Sometimes the substance gets forgotten in favour of the socialising.Both are of interest but maybe not of equal interest)
  2. A president should ensure that there is a rota of members to unpack the box, get the table ready and pack away on meeting nights.She should be free to engage with members before and after meetings. Lynne Frisby used to stand at the door and welcome members in during her year….a friendly touch!
  3. When a speaker is present, it seems discourteous to wade through many items of business. These can quite easily be taken after the talk.Even better, perhaps, n Dale’s year she would invite speakers to come for 8.0pm giving half an hour for business and allowing the speaker then to feel no pressure to depart afterwards.
  4. It is a good idea to invite the Region President to attend as an observer one of our business meetings and courteous, at the same time, to invite her, if she wishes, to address the club at some point during the meeting.
  5. The club should be meticulous in paying travelling expenses to any speaker visiting us at our invitation. (The easiest way to accomplish this, is to assess the cost of the visitor’s journey and to hand them a cheque with a thank you card in an envelope.) Where a speaker asks for a fee, it would be assumed that the expenses were included.
  6. Extra-mural events, dinners, interclubs, council meetings, conferences all need to be ‘sold’. A president needs to choose a social secretary, who, as well as being knowledgeable and efficient, can promoteparticularly relevantevents and encourage hesitant members to attend. Anything which dispels the ‘closed shop’ syndrome should be encouraged.
  7. The role of sponsoring new members, if taken seriously, is a long term and important role and therefore it is not advisable to ask any member to sponsor someone she doesn’t know if this can be avoided.
  8. This leads on to the wisdom of not hurrying new members in too quickly. If they are not known to members, then the club needs time to get to know them and, of course, vice versa.
  9. The yearly list of members, their addresses, phone numbers etc. is invaluable. In addition, the small handbag-friendly programme for the year ( including where possible, federation and region highlights) is also greatly appreciated.
  10. The chatty newsletter is very welcome, but the bulletin part of it should include all relevant events, dates, venues, times and costs, where possible.
  11. Someone ( but not the president,) should be deputed to update the book in the library, which gives details of local associations. There is also a town diary, in which events can be entered. This would be a useful and easy role for someone regularly about Ilkley during the day.
  12. A valued and valuable part of club life, which has lapsed from time to time, is the willingness to offer support from the club where needed to members. Committee meetings can be held at the houses of members, who aren’t as free to ‘come out’ as others. Baby-sitters could be negotiated to allow mums to attend committee meetings or business meetings; transport for the older members. This is the responsibility of the club as a whole.
  13. The charter event can take many forms, the traditional dinner or lunch; a musical event, a reception; (some of us remember a medieval banquet including a fancy dress visit to the theatre) . The Region President’s diary gets very full so if the incoming Ilkley president were to want to change the traditional Autumn date of Ilkley’s do, she would need to consult with the Region Secretary early to ensure that the Region President was available to attend.
  14. As soon as a dinner or lunch has been booked, whether at the traditional time or a new one, the relevant Region President should be officially invited. (The earlier this booking is made the better: club presidents-elect often make a booking immediately after the current year’s dinner.)
  15. Each year, the club holds an Interclub event; it could be a special speaker; a social event, a quiz night etc.. its importance is that we invite members from nearby clubs; in our case, Skipton, Aireborough, Keighley ,Bingley, Leeds, Bradford and Harrogate. It is lovely to invite our interclub friends and notcharge them but members should not be expected to contribute to the food and then have to pay to attend the event! Increasingly these days clubs are charging for Interclubs and Cluster events.
  16. The days when a president attended every club dinner in the region are, apart from a few devotees, long gone. Many a possible president doesn’t warm to the idea of formal dinners and should not feel pressure to attend any more than she wishes. She has a team of past and future presidents and a club-full of members with whom she can share, and those who choose to attend specific functions may be those, best placed to get the most pleasure therefrom. If the president, having consulted her Region calendar, indicates those dinners/lunches she is contemplating attending, then members of the presidential team or club members are free to consider the possibility of representing the president at any of the other dinners; that way, a surprising number of functions might well be given representation.
  17. It is important if a member is officially representing the president that both the Ilkley club and the host club be aware of this. As always it is probably easier to find 2 people than 1. (Back to the dynamism of the social secretary.)

3.THE SUIT YOURSELF SECTOR.

It is not easy for a fairly new member to know what has become habit and what is an integral part of club life.

  1. Whether to have a church service and its date (often but not necessarily at the start of the presidential year) is absolutely the choice of the president.
  2. Whether to have a New Year’s message, which is often a minister of religion; can be a visiting Sorop (is traditionally uplifting and inspiring) is the choice of the president.
  3. The president’s ‘party’(has often been held after the church service at the start of the president’s year) is always very pleasant but is not compulsory; neither does it have to follow a possible church service. It could come towards the end of a president’s year. The president should not stand the cost of such an event. Members could bring contributions.
  4. A president, who is an ex officio member of all committees, does not have to attend every meeting of every committee. Her committee chairmen should ensure that the work is carrying on. If she feels presidential representation is necessary…..she has her presidential team. She might opt to attend one of each of the committee meetings during the year…….a sort of royal visit!
  5. It has often occurred to the ‘wise ones’ that it may not be ideal for a president to host execs. at her home. In those circumstances, she is both host and chairman. It might be a happy idea for the past president to host execs., freeing the pres, vice and elect to concentrate on business and giving the poor old past a role. It doesn’t always have to be at the same venue; maybe different members of the exec. could take it in turn.
  6. For many years, the club entered a float in the Ilkley Carnival. It was good publicity and gave the exhibitionists and extroverts a lot of fun. But it isn’t compulsory and has been dropped for the last few years.
  7. Care and Concern will notify the pres. of any concerns she needs to know about and they will normally send a card or visit on the club’s behalf. The president is free to act on the received information as she sees fit.
  8. Christmas cards have been exchanged in the past between Yorkshire clubs and friendship links. The president is free to make up her own mind about what she chooses to do. (If she chooses to send cards to the Yorkshire clubs, postage can be avoided by putting them in the club envelopes at the November Region Council….last minuters please note!) However latterly email greetings have become the norm.
  9. The president is free to choose the kind of charter event she wants…eg. dinner/lunch…formal/informal. It would be considered incorrect to fail to invite the Region President. If there is a speaker, the speaker’s meal is paid for. If dignitaries are required, the usual list is chair of council and partner; proposer of the toast to Soroptimist International- traditionally (but not obligatory) Rotary President and partner; President of Inner Wheel and partner and the responder to the toast ‘Our Guests’, traditionally but not necessarily, a president from a related club…Bradford (mother club), Keighley(sister club), Aireborough (daughter club). If a guest performs some role eg. proposing a toast, responding to a toast etc. it is the club’s habit to pay for that guest’s meal but not that of their partner.
  10. It is the president’s choice to invite a photographer from the Gazette to take a photograph of the event, though usually now this will be done by a club member.
  11. Notification of the charter event, if it takes place at the traditional time, should go out to clubs in the club envelopes at the June Regional Council meeting.
  12. An incoming president might consider having a buddy, who could relieve her of ‘domestic duties’ particularly on meeting nights….circulating lists at coffee time etc., some time before the meeting finding a member to read the Objects of Soroptimism etc.
  13. For the printing of the little booklet, some incoming presidents produce their own on computer. If not we have used Peter Hadfield of Addingham. He is helpful, quick, uses his own common sense and initiative and has (or had) the current information on his computer. To be safe allow him a month to do them though in practice he usually delivers in under a fortnight. Obviously one would order for the number of members we have plus maybe 20 for possible newcomers.
  1. Having completed her own year, the past pres. is the member best placed to raise concerns about the presidency… expense, duties, ineffective areas of management. It would also be great if each past pres. could add to, or alter, this document from her experience!

If all this seems daunting,be aware that much of it is to be delegated. But you do need to know what and to whom, once that’s done it shouldn’t seem so bad!