The Directors and Officers of the FMCBC are elected by the Member Clubs, through the Club Representatives at the AGM.
The Directors and Officers of FMCBC together make up the Board of Directors.
Directors
The role of the FMCBC Director is to participate in the development of the Federation’s strategic direction, act on issues of policy and planning, contribute their individual skills and strengths, support the growth and improvement of FMCBC, Represent the FMCBC within their communities and region, advocate for the organization and its mandate in the backcountry recreation community.
- Time Commitment: Usually between 5-15 hours per month.
- Communication: Directors play an important role in communicating important issues and information between FMCBC and the organizations in their community, including being available to Club Representatives who wish to discuss issues and proposals. The main method for Directors to communicate with each other is through e-mail, using the groups.io technology. While the platform may change, the concept is expected to remain.
- Administrative: Directors are required to submit their current contact information for inclusion in the reports FMCBC files with the BC Societies Registrar and Revenue Canada. The information includes the Director’s home address, including postal code, phone numbers, date of birth and e-mail address.
- Financial: Directors are expected to review financial statements and provide ideas and feedback on the budget and fundraising.
- Meeting Attendance: Directors are expected to attend regular teleconference meetings between September and June, and the FMCBC Annual General Meeting, which usually take place between late May and mid-June. Some of the Director’s travel costs to attend the AGM are covered by FMCBC. Telephone meetings generally occur in the evening from 7:30 PM to 9:30 PM by teleconference.
- Committees: Directors are expected to participate on some of FMCBC’s committees based on their experience and individual skills.
Officers
The roles and duties of the FMCBC officers (President, Vice-President, Treasurer, Secretary) are outlined in the following paragraphs. They are elected for a 1 year term at the AGM, with the President and Vice-President being restricted to no more than 4 consecutive years in each position.
President. The FMCBC President’s role includes chairing the AGM and board meetings, representing the FMCBC, sitting on several FMCBC committees, and managing staff, specifically providing direction, supervision and feedback to the Administration and Communications Manager. Time Commitment 15-25 hours per month.
Specific tasks include, but are not limited to:
- Drafting letters
- Reviewing and signing letters
- Make necessary short-term decisions along with the Board of Directors
- Chair periodic board meetings
- Attends and chairs the AGM
- Signs cheques
- Prepare a President’s report for Cloudburst and the AGM
- Reads and reviews e-news
- Visits Clubs
- Represents FMCBC during media interviews
- Liaises with other recreational groups
- Conducts employee performance reviews.
Qualifications/Useful Skills
- Enthusiasm for volunteer work
- Willingness to engage with government, commercial sector and other volunteer organizations
- Patience and persistence, acceptance that change can be difficult and slow, particularly when dealing with bureaucracy
- Familiarity/participation with outdoor clubs
- Familiarity with conflicts between motorized and non-motorized recreation users in general
- Basic understanding of backcountry recreation issues, e.g. access problems, conflicts between user groups, trails issues, commercial recreation issues (does not need to know all local details)
- Reasonable proficiency in writing/editing letters/documents
- Experience in group meetings, building consensus, making decisions, following agendas etc
Vice-President. The FMCBC vice president’s role includes supporting the FMCBC Board of Directors, working on various committees, and helping to decide the direction and priorities for the FMCBC.
This position is usually held for a 1 to 2 year term, with the expectation that the person in the vice president role is gaining experience to eventually move into the President role. Thus, if the Vice President does not already have some of the useful President’s skills listed above, the Vice President should strive to obtain an understanding of the wide range of President’s duties, particularly drafting and editing letters and chairing meetings.
Time Commitment: 10–15 hours per month.
Qualifications and Useful Skills are as listed for the President.
Treasurer. The FMCBC treasurer’s main role includes preparing and monitoring the budget, ensuring the board’s financial policies are being followed, and reporting to the board through quarterly and year-end financial reports. Bookkeeping data is entered into the FMCBC’s accounting software by staff and the Treasurer pulls reports from this data.
Time Commitment: 5–10 hours per month.
Qualifications/Useful Skills
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- Budgeting and /or financial management experience is an asset
- Does not need to be an accountant
- Reviewing and preparing financial reports
Secretary. The FMCBC secretary’s main role is to support the work of the organization and contribute on several committees. At this time, minute and record keeping is taken care of by staff, thus allowing the secretary to contribute more to supporting the FMCBC in working towards its strategic goals and taking on projects to assist the FMCBC with its advocacy and education efforts.
Time Commitment: 5–10 hours per month.
Qualifications/Useful Skills. Willing to attend a variety of meetings and help with the minute taking, taking responsibility for all aspects of minutes when staff are not available.