Council Role Descriptions

PRESIDENT

As the head of the organization, the President is responsible for managing a strong, cohesive team, ensuring all officers are carrying out their duties, and setting an agenda for the organization. As the organization’s primary diplomat and spokesperson, the President must also build and maintain strong relationships with PHSC partners, especially the School District of Philadelphia.

Primary Duties:

Preside at all meetings of Council.
Appoint the Chairpersons of all Committees with the exception of the Nominating and Auditing Committees which shall be elected in accordance with the Bylaws.
Be a member, ex‐officio, but not the Chairperson, of all committees except the Nominating and Auditing Committees
Represent Council at meetings of other organizations to further PHSC objectives
Issue public statements reflecting the majority of the Executive Board.
Promote harmonious working relationships between Officers and Chairpersons as they carry out the plans agreed by the Executive Board.

Internal Relationships:

Ensure assigned Council Members fully understand projects, providing effective feedback to members (positive and critical), identify and promote growth opportunities
Implement firm policies around recruiting council members, training and account management that result in top-notch HSA service as well as a positive work environment that fosters a pattern of long-term member retention
Take the lead on implementing at least one internal program/procedure per quarter that improves office morale and/or contributes to council members retention

External Relationships:

Be the primary spokesperson for PHSC to all organizations
Identify new partnership opportunities and communicate to the Executive Board for consideration
Maintain a network of nonprofit and foundation connections that can be tapped for new partnership and sponsorship opportunities
Develop and conduct PHSC trainings
Make periodic check-in calls to HSA’s and/or SDP officials as part of support plan
Develop relationships with vendors or contractors that represent a variety of fields (media, policy, design, Web, etc.) and can be used on projects as needed
Develop relationships with other organizations that are like-minded and suitable for/open to partnering with PHSC on projects when appropriate

Communication and Processes:

Write templates communication plans and campaign strategies that demonstrate PHSC creative approach
Offer unique strategies tailored to the needs of the HSA’s and provide enough detail that they can be implemented by a HSA
Lead proposal process for new partner and/or sponsorship opportunities
Work to consistently meet internal and external deadlines

Financial and Administrative

Regularly update Executive Board on projections for organizational and fundraising revenue targets
Identify and utilize steps to minimize cost and time by improving/streamlining internal systems or procedures
Target Organizations for sponsorship, financial support, and/or sponsorship

MEMBERSHIP CHAIRPERSON

The Membership Chairperson shall be the Chair of the Membership Committee and serve on the PHSC Board as a Vice President

The responsibilities for this position shall be:

Form a Membership Committee and work with it throughout the term.
Create a plan for membership growth.
Ensure implementation of recruitment and retention procedures.
Prepare and implementing Network orientation sessions.
Identify and have an understanding of the different membership needs and programs offered by PHSC.
Create a plan for membership satisfaction and present the plan to the PHSC Officers and Voting Members for approval;
Understand and incorporate membership satisfaction stats into membership growth initiatives and planning.
Encourage the recruitment of new members and promote award programs to the HSA members.
Ensure new members receive New Member Orientation packages and participate in the HSA trainings.
Create agendas and implement trainings for Network Officer Meetings
Submit Membership Chairperson Recruiting Reports and the Membership Report to PHSC once per month.
Coordinate with other committees to fulfill position responsibilities.
Assist Officers in organizing PHSC workshops to examine the community’s needs, assess our current membership satisfaction, and develop action plans.
Conduct exit surveys with members who leave the HSA organization as a way of recruitment and better service of PHSC. (i.e.) term has been completed; school change; school closings.

RECORDING SECRETARY

The Recording Secretary for PHSC plays a critical role in fostering communication and ensuring proper management and utilization of important organizational records. The Recording Secretary will be most useful to this organization when his/her role is shaped to meet the unique structure and needs of PHSC yearly focus, rather than filling a standard job description. The PHSC Recording Secretary shall serve as the Chair of the Bylaws Committee and the default Parliamentarian.

The Recording Secretary is responsible for the following duties:

Primary Duties:

Keep correct minutes of all meetings of the Council, Executive Board, and Officers and present and distribute them at the proper time.
Report the highlights of the Executive Committee meetings at the Executive Board and General Membership meetings.
Keep a record of attendance of the Executive Board and General Membership meetings.
Notify members who fail to attend two (2) consecutive meetings, Executive Board and General Membership, of the attendance requirements.
Report to the President any member of the Executive Board who has been absent from three (3) consecutive meetings.

Meetings:

Compiles the meeting agenda and distributes meeting materials.
Coordinates the PHSC executive and general meeting schedule and ensures compliance with the PHSC Bylaws.
Maintains the meeting attendance log.
Provides notice of any meetings and timely distribution of materials in accordance with the bylaws.
Records meeting minutes and makes them available to the membership.
As Parliamentarian, the Recording Secretary ensures that an up-to-date copy of the Bylaws is available at all meetings.
Responsible for sharing the schedule of activities of PHSC by maintaining the PHSC calendar and social media.
As a standard operating procedure, meetings scheduled on behalf of the organization (with Superintendent, other organizations, etc) should prioritize the President’s schedule.

Organization Correspondence:

The Recording Secretary is responsible for drafting and sending official organizational correspondence on behalf of the President and PHSC Board (to outside organizations, the School District of Philadelphia, etc.).

Board Membership Registry

The Recording Secretary maintains a register of board members and calls roll when required.

Minutes

The Recording Secretary is charged with recording minutes of all meetings. In the event that the Secretary cannot attend a meeting, he/she should make arrangements with another Board member in attendance to take minutes and follow up within 48 hours.

Maintenance of PHSC Records

The Recording Secretary should be knowledgeable of PHSC records and related materials and should be able to provide advice and resources to the Board on relevant topics at issue, such as particular governance matters being addressed at a meeting or a new amendment needed to be added to the Bylaws.
As the custodian of the PHSC records, the Secretary is responsible for maintaining accurate documentation and meeting legal requirements, such as annual filing deadlines.
PHSC Recording Secretary is required to have a calendar of filing deadlines.
The Recording Secretary is responsible for reviewing and updating documents as necessary and ensuring all documents are safely stored and readily accessible for the president, officers, and/or members(by request only).
The Recording Secretary is responsible for scheduling deposits of records to Temple Urban Archives.

PHSC Executive Board Secretary

Corresponding Secretary

Specific Duties:

The corresponding secretary is responsible for all correspondence to organizations and companies after initial relationship had developed including the below-mentioned duties:

Serve as an alternate to the Recording Secretary in the event the Recording Secretary is not available to take meeting minutes
Work closely with PR Team to:
- Establish contact and determine deadlines with appropriate news entities
- Submit press releases of interest to local newspapers
Maintain PHSC Calendar of Events in a format agreed upon by the Executive Committee and inform the Executive Committee of upcoming dates. All effort should be made to keep this information electronically and to set up automatic reminders
Advise Executive Committee on appropriate necessary communications, keeping track of upcoming events, notes of appreciation for completed events, etc.
Determine and create distribution for all PHSC communications, including but not limited to:
- PHSC Internal Newsletters (such as full community PHSC to HSAemails and supporting the Fundraiser and Membership Chair on language for their emails)
- PHSC External Newsletters (Funders, Supporters, etc.)
- PHSC Website (upkeep)
- PHSC Bulletin Board (by way of PHSC FB Page), reflecting pertinent initiatives and activities
- PHSC Flyers
- PHSC personal letters
- PHSC Evites or other electronic mediums
- SDP & Citywide Announcements
Understand deadlines and appropriate approval process for all of the above communication vehicles
Thank you letters
Submit communication to appropriate parties for inclusion as determined by #7 and #8.
Perform other duties as assigned by the Executive Board.

FUNDRAISING & PHILANTHROPY CHAIRPERSON

Fundraising Mission:

For Schools

To evaluate fundraisers based on their dollar performance and man-hours needed.
Evaluate fundraising conditions and add/subtract fundraisers as economic conditions dictate.
Explore passive fundraising opportunities for Home and School Associations that will allow HSA Officers to create more curriculum-based and parent-teacher all school activities.

For PHSC

Ensuring programs that the Philadelphia Home and School Council hosts such as the PHSC High School Awards, The HSA Awards, and The Benevolent Fund, etc, are fully funded.
Secure grants for the general operating budget.

Fundraising:

Develop a plan/calendar to coordinate all fundraising activities across the school year for PHSC.
Ensure the fundraising programs, approved by the Philadelphia Home and School Council Executive Board, meet the guidelines as recommended for the current school year.
As needed, keep the President informed and provide an overall fundraising update at the monthly general membership meetings.

Grant Writing:

Develop a long-term vision for incorporating grant writing into the PHSC fundraising efforts as appropriate.
Advise and assist with potential grant opportunities.
Work with the President and the PHSC board to share potential grants that support PHSC/HSAs programs and to gain approval for moving ahead with a specific grant.

Philanthropy:

Develop and implement a fundraising plan and strategy to assure the fiscal health of the organization through philanthropy and fund development.
Report to the membership the recommendations of the Philanthropy efforts.
Work with PHSC Treasurer to coordinate the purchase of items approved by the Committee and Executive Board;

General Duties:

Coordinate all fundraising activities.
During the spring officer transition, develop a plan/calendar to communicate the timing and type of fundraising programs, for input to the district calendar as well as a parent communication flyer for the beginning of the school year.
Work with the President and Treasurer to understand and to ensure that PHSC financial goals and budgeted income/fundraising targets are met.
Work with the Treasurer to track income on a regular basis. As needed, provide a recap at the monthly PHSC Executive Board meetings and General Membership Meetings to ensure fundraising goal is achieved based on the above mission.
Prepare communication as needed for passive fundraisers that can be shared with our HSA membership collective
As needed, provide input to the President for website communication of “overall” fundraising activities and best practices.
If additional fundraising is needed, evaluate and make recommendations to the Executive Board and the General membership for fundraisers. Ensure there are balances and variety across the fundraisers offered to the membership, such as; the Auction, the Central 100% Fund, passive programs (Target cards, BoxTops), catalog product sales (Innisbrook, Original Works Art) and special interest (Pavers, Book Fair, etc.)
Solicit philanthropy requests and ideas.
Keep a file of requests that may come from the Executive Board
Track all philanthropy purchases, working with the treasurer as needed, for the duration of his/her term.
The 2nd VP participates as a member of the Budget Committee. This committee meets in June or July to formulate a budget for presentation to the membership at the September PHSC General Membership meeting.

TREASURER

A Treasurer is charged with overseeing the management and reporting of an organization’s finances. The PHSC Treasurer will also serve as the Financial Committee Chairperson. Since PHSC’s financial management is directly tied to the Treasurer’s responsibilities, the Treasurer’s execution of his/her responsibilities will have a strong impact on the public’s perception, trust, and assurance in the nonprofit as a whole. Ultimately, while financial management is the primary focus of the Treasurer, the entire board shares the responsibility of financial oversight and accountability.

The primary duties for this position shall be:

Have charge of all funds pertaining to the Council.
Receive all monies and expend such monies on request of the President or vote of the Executive Board.
Keep accurate records of all receipts and expenditures.
Present a report of finances at each General Membership and Executive Board meeting.
Serve as Treasurer of the Dinner and Conference Committees and keep separate records.
Close the books of the General Account and the Dinner and Conference Account on June 30th. These accounts shall be audited as provided in the Bylaws.

Financial management and/or oversight.

A Treasurer may manage or oversee the management of the financial affairs of the organization, often including such basic tasks as selecting a bank, reconciling bank statements, and managing cash flow.
The Treasurer may also be responsible for investing funds consistent with applicable laws.
The Treasurer should be knowledgeable about who has access to the organization’s funds and any outstanding bills or debts owed.
The Treasurer shall create and maintain systems for ensuring the organization’s ongoing solvency and oversee the development of the organization’s financial policies.
The Treasurer responsibilities include check signing authority, expense reimbursement, credit card usage, and petty cash policies