In last week’s post, we examined five attributes of an effective booster club president. Now, let’s take a look at the vice president’s role in a booster club.

The vice president’s role is often ambiguous and commonly misunderstood. The booster vice president typically:

• Presides at meetings in the president’s absence
• Performs administrative functions delegated by the president
• Performs other specific duties as outlined in the organization’s bylaws

Now, vice presidents, are you ready to go to work? You know exactly what to do, right? Well, maybe not.

Thriving booster clubs prepare their vice presidents to become future presidents. During their tenure, vice presidents learn the responsibilities and expectations of the organization’s senior leadership role. They see first hand the issues that face the president, and learn the rationale for addressing those issues. This on-the-job training helps to ensure continuity in leadership year after year.

While preparing for the role of president, the vice president usually takes on a special leadership assignment. Here are four suggestions:

1. Chair a major fundraising committee. If your booster club relies on one fundraising event for the majority of the program’s funding, it is a good idea for an elected officer to oversee it. This will give the executive team greater visibility to the activity and allow them to quickly allocate resources when needed.
2. Oversee a special project. Occasionally throughout the life of a program, capital equipment will have to be replaced. Recently, a local high school was faced with the replacement of an aging wrestling mat. This capital expense exceeded their booster club’s annual operating budget, so they established a capital campaign to replace the mat. The vice president organized and oversaw the capital campaign for the mat.
3. Represent the program within the community. The vice president makes a great a public relations officer. She can connect with local media outlets to highlight the program’s achievements and contributions within the community.
4. Serve as compliance officer. Booster organizations must adhere to stringent legal and school board requirements. The vice president is well suited to evaluate the organization’s operating policies and procedures and ensure that all requirements are met.

As we’ve seen the vice president’s role in a booster club is commonly misunderstood, and often under utilized. However, when you assign your vice president a special leadership assignment, you can turn the position into one of the most influential roles in your booster club.

If you found this helpful, I have even more to share with you. I have written The Booster Leader, 35 Leadership Essentials for a Thriving Booster Organization. The Booster Leader consists of…

• Thirty-five proven leadership essentials that are quick and easy to implement
• Eighteen inspirational stories that bring the leadership essentials to life
• A twenty-nine point checklist to help you identify risks that may jeopardize your organization if not properly addressed (and the answers to help you resolve every issue!)

Now is the time to start leading your own thriving booster organization. In The Booster Leader, I show you exactly how to do it!

Question: What does your booster club’s vice president oversee? You can leave a comment by clicking here.