Thursday, October 23, 1:00pm-4:00pm Eastern Time
Interview scheduling will begin promptly at 1:00pm
Location: Zoom (https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85386708630?from=addon)
CANDIDATE GUIDE
This is your one-stop resource to guide you through Business Volunteers’ boardCONNECT experience. You will learn how to prepare for the event, navigate the event itself, and ultimately find a match in your board service journey. Please read everything carefully and scroll down.
REGISTER FOR THE EVENT
If you haven’t already, click here to complete your board candidate registration. Failure to complete this step may result in you being turned away from the event!
Once you have submitted your boardCONNECT registration form and received the email confirmation, you can proceed by reviewing the rest of this page.
REQUIRED STEPS BEFORE THE EVENT
REQUIRED STEPS DURING THE EVENT
Questions? Check the FAQs section or email boardleadership@businessvolunteersmd.org!
BEFORE THE EVENT
REVIEW EVENT INFORMATION
boardCONNECT brings together community-minded professionals seeking to join nonprofit boards with a diverse range of nonprofit organizations seeking board members. In this round robin-styled event, professionals and nonprofits engage in brief conversations, rotating throughout the event. The goal is to find matches in which a nonprofit and a professional express mutual interest and want to continue the conversation. Each boardCONNECT event results in numerous successful matches and new board members.
Important Notes
- Nonprofits in attendance will cover a variety of missions, such as environmentalism, supporting youth, and more.
- At the beginning of the event, you (the candidate) will schedule interviews with the nonprofits that resonate with you most. At the end of the day, only one Constellation employee will sit on a nonprofit board at any given time… so we recommend interviewing with as many nonprofits as you are willing!
- A “mutual match” from this event occurs when both you and a nonprofit you met with say “YES” to continuing your conversation after the event.
- The only commitment required from you and any nonprofit you are “mutually matched” with is that you have an additional meeting to continue exploring the opportunity. Further conversations will determine if you are ultimately elected onto the nonprofit’s board.
- Each nonprofit has their own interview process and procedures, which can take various forms and periods of time.
- There are no guarantees you will be successfully matched with an organization or ultimately receive a formal board position.
PARTICIPATING NONPROFITS
We are thrilled to announce five nonprofits who will participate in the event! Please click on the tiles below to see more information on each nonprofit.
Please note that additional nonprofits may be added or exchanged. If the list of nonprofits changes, you will be notified via email from our team at boardleadership@businessvolunteersmd.org.
SUBMIT YOUR RANKING FORM
Once you have reviewed the nonprofits listed above, we ask you to submit the following Ranking Form with the nonprofits you’d most like to speak with. Please submit this ranking form WELL BEFORE the start of the event! It will make scheduling run more smoothly the day-of.
You do not have to list all the nonprofits in your ranking form. However, we strongly recommend you rank all five, as you will have enough time to speak with all of them if you choose! Many past boardCONNECT attendees have fallen in love with a nonprofit they never expected to speak with initially.
PREPARE FOR THE EVENT
When: Thursday, October 23, 1:00pm-4:00pm. Scheduling begins promptly at 1:00pm!
Where: Zoom (https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85386708630?from=addon)
Event Run of Show
How to Prepare for the Event
- Review the nonprofits in advance and submit your ranking form to make your scheduling process as quick and smooth as possible.
- Plan to arrive ON TIME OR EARLY so you can schedule interviews with your preferred nonprofits!
- Be professionally dressed.
- Have a pen and paper ready to take notes. You will want to keep track of which nonprofits resonate with you most.
- HAVE FUN! Enjoy meeting incredible nonprofit leaders in this engaging event. Thank you for participating!
Email boardleadership@businessvolunteersmd.org if you have questions.
DURING THE EVENT
REVIEW YOUR SCHEDULE
Interviews with nonprofits will be scheduled VIRTUALLY ON OCTOBER 23, 1:00PM ON A FIRST-COME, FIRST-SERVE BASIS. Upon your arrival in the Zoom room, you will complete brief form to mark your place in line. Then you will enter a breakout room with one of Business Volunteers’ staff members, who will schedule you according to availability and your completed ranking form.
Please remember that you must submit a ranking form BEFORE you are scheduled, and that scheduling is done on a first-come, first-serve basis. If you have a few nonprofits you especially want to speak to, you should submit your ranking form well in advance AND arrive at or before 1:00pm to secure your place in the registration line.
When your ranking form has been processed by Business Volunteers’ staff, your interview schedule will populate in the cards below (Pro tip: refresh your browser if you don’t see anything!) Scroll to find your name and click on your card to view your schedule. You may also use the “Filter” function in the top left corner to find your card more easily.
Interviews last 10 minutes each. If you have a large gap between some of your interviews, you may choose to leave the room (or your computer) for a break. However, you MUST be back in your seat in time for your next interview! The event will not wait for you if you do not return on time.
COMPLETE THE MUTUAL MATCH FORM
- Review your candidate conversation schedule.
- Answer the following question for each round: Am I interested in continuing a conversation with the nonprofit?
- It is CRITICAL that your decision is aligned to the correct ROUND. Please look at your schedule above and double check your choices and rounds before submitting.
- Make sure to hit SUBMIT at the bottom!
Business Volunteers will review the responses of nonprofits and candidates and share your mutual matches within one week.
FAQs
Make sure you have registered for the event, submitted your Ranking Form, AND reviewed all the information under REQUIRED STEPS BEFORE THE EVENT.
Unless there is an emergency (ie, illness), none of the participating nonprofits already listed will change. However, if enough board candidates register for the event, we may admit more nonprofits from our waitlist and update the Participating Nonprofits section accordingly. We will also notify you via email should this occur.
Yes, please! Submit your Ranking Form before the event if at all possible. You will not be able to schedule your interviews until your ranking form is submitted.
Yes, that’s okay! However, when you submit your Ranking Form, please still list all the nonprofits. You can tell our staff which nonprofits you actually wish to speak with while you are scheduled.
If you still have questions, please contact Business Volunteers’ team at boardleadership@businessvolunteersmd.org. Thank you!