Could you see yourself serving on a non-profit board? While many business professionals don’t necessarily see themselves as board members, board leadership has a broad range of benefits that can bolster the resume and broaden the connections of almost anyone.
Boost Your Reputation
Whether you’re a business owner or a young professional, your reputation matters. Working on a board shows that you have the ability to manage your time well and maintain multiple commitments outside of the office. Any individual who has the strength of character and organizational skills to serve in a board leadership capacity shows that they can handle increased responsibilities, a leadership role or other tasks at their job.
The reputation boost that many people experience due to board leadership doesn’t just stop once they leave the office either. When you choose to give of your time, it improves your reputation in the community. Meeting other business leaders, employees and volunteers through your board leadership will open many new doors for you.
New Skills
If you are experienced in your field of work, there’s a good chance that you aren’t necessarily learning new skills on the job. Instead, you are honing the skills that you already have. How can you get new skills to add to your resume? Other than taking classes in your spare time, one of the best ways to do so is through board leadership.
Serving on a board will introduce you to people who are outside of your field and industry, like engineers, editors, lawyers, designers and anyone else you can imagine. When you are exposed to all of those industries and have a chance to learn from other highly-skilled professionals, you will learn new skills and have new opportunities to grow. By building your skillset and learning about different trades, you will bring new knowledge back to your current workplace or business. On the flipside, board leadership also gives you the chance to share your broad knowledge base with those working in other industries.
Give Back to Your Community
Finally, one of the primary reasons why so many professionals spend time on board leadership is to give back to their communities. Being a member of a non-profit board gives you the unique opportunity to solve problems in your community and be part of the solution. Whether it’s giving books to children in need or finding funding for critical community rehabilitation projects, improving the world where you live is a powerful way to do good.
Participate in the Board Leadership Program That Is Right for You
Business Volunteers Maryland is a nonprofit that works with more than 400 nonprofits, creating strategic connections between businesses, nonprofits and individuals. We provide each candidate with a broad and diverse array of organizations to consider supporting and help them connect with the most appropriate and meaningful opportunity, while achieving their business goals. Email [email protected] to learn more about our board matching services.
