The Board of Trustees shall elect a member in good standing, willing and able to serve. The elective officers of the LGA organization shall be a President, Vice-President, and a Development Coordinator, all of whom shall be elected by the Trustees at their annual meeting by majority vote. They shall hold office for the calendar year next following their election or until their successors are elected and qualified.

In addition to the elective officers enumerated, there may be created, from time to time, such further offices as may appear desirable, and such offices shall be filled by the President by appointment with the approval of the Board of Trustees.

Board meetings will be held by teleconference monthly at a time to be determined.  The Robert's Rule of Order will be followed.  An outlined agenda will be provided by the President prior to each meeting.  The meeting minutes will be recorded and distributed among Officers and Board of Trustee members within 48 hours of the meeting.

Duties of Officers

Marketing Committee
HELP WANTED
Individuals are needed to contact different media outlets to submit press releases, post on various blog sites, work on reciprocal links, and other marketing assignments.

Membership Committee
Tom of Special Delivery 4 U
Tom contacts other lawn greetings business owners who are not aware of our forum and association, and invites them to check us out and register.  He welcomes each new member that has registered to the forum and makes sure they understand how to maneuver around the forum, points out our forum rules and guides them through the forum. 

Newsletter Committee
April of A Sign of Surprise
April compiles and produces our newsletter. She will be interviewing other members, collecting articles and other information on lawn greetings and similar subjects to be included in each newsletter and collaborate to bring new information to our members. 

Development Committee
HELP WANTED
Individuals are needed to communicate with vendors, members and other individuals to promote the LGA and develop relationships with them. We are looking for those with new ideas on how to develop the industry and are willing to implement those ideas.

Stork Committee
Karin of The Stork Connection
Karin will be researching online forums, blogs, articles, etc. and post rebuttal statements to quell the anti-stork publicity that has been happening.  She also researches facts and figures for kidnappings and has implemented a letter writing campaign to hospitals, news media, birthing centers, Doctor's offices and various parenting groups.

Operation Pink Flamingo Committee
Sue of Mingo Mingo
Sue will keep this charity organized and be the main contact person for those in military camps who submits a request for pink flamingos. Donations will be sent to her, she will keep track of donations and ship them out. Photos, videos and other correspondence will be reported to the association by her.

Expectations for Officers Positions

(Please read carefully and thoroughly)

• Participation! Operating Officers need to be active on the forum, carry regular conversations with other members on the forum and monitor the forum at least daily or every other day. This is mandatory and vital to build a relationship with our community.

• Be a Team Player! Although you will have your individual responsibilities, we operate as a team and will need to present ourselves as a team to the public. Each volunteer will be recognized within the organization. However, when addressing the public, we will not single out anyone and refer to activity and statements as by the Operating Officers or Board of Trustees. If there is a conflict among the ILGA, this gives us a safety net against pointing fingers at any individual. We are praised as a team, we take the fall as a team. If you cannot be a team player, do not consider volunteering.

• Be a Pioneer! Don’t wait for someone to hand you homework. Take initiative and seek out new ways of doing things, new methods, better forms of communication, and improvements on our system. If you see something better, offer it to the table, present it to us with vigor and full knowledge of it. We will discuss it to see if it is right for us and if it is attainable for us either now or in the future. However, before you officially put something into place, it will need to be approved by the Operating Officers and/or the Board of Trustees.

• Meet deadlines! If you are given a task or volunteer to work on a project, if a deadline is given or offered, you MUST complete it by that deadline or at least check in on a regular basis to give updates on the project. We understand some projects will take longer than others or will be ongoing. A monthly report will be expected on the long-term projects.

• Use your time wisely! We completely understand that you are busy and have a life outside of the forum. However, we do need you to accept responsibility if given a project or task. So if you think the project is too big or time consuming for you, ask for help or withdraw from the project. Don’t feel bad in doing so, because it is better than stringing it along, never getting it done, then loosing your credibility over it. Take notes, add it to your calendar, put sticky notes on your fridge, do whatever you need to do to remind yourself about it. We won’t accept “I forgot” or “I’ve been too busy” or “I’ve got other things going on”. We all have a life and occasionally forget, but when it comes to consistency, you need to produce and not rely on excuses.

• Pay attention! We are all adults here and when there is a discussion about something, we want to make sure you understand it and not have to constantly remind you later about it. We will offer courtesy reminders on some things, but in general, we will not be holding your hand. That leaves the responsibility left up to someone else, and in some cases can be a huge inconvenience, can cause conflicts and overall is counter-productive. Take the time to concentrate on this and stick with it or you will be doing us no good. Also, we don’t expect it to be perfect. We know that everyone has strengths and weaknesses in certain areas. Just do your best and we can all help each other to complete the task.

• Speak up! If you have a question, ask it. If you need clarification, request that it be explained. If you have ideas, please state them. Communication is vital and if you have a question or concern, it needs to be voiced to avoid conflict later. Just remember that what you say, you will need to stand behind also. Others may speak up too and you may not like what they have to say. You should not criticize what you do not understand – there may be a good reason for it. Ask for clarification, and ideas are ALWAYS welcomed.

• This is not a popularity contest! Please don’t volunteer with the intent of being “in the know” or in the “clique”. This is not high school, we are all here to serve a common goal. Think this through before you decide to volunteer, not because you think you might have something to gain.

• You will be used! Expect it, we need all the help we can get. So if you say you will do something or want to help, we will hold you to it. Getting used is a good thing; being taken advantage of is not. We will never take advantage of your kindness, hard work and dedication, we appreciate it tremendously! However, if you have helped us in the past but have not held up to our expectations later on, we hold no obligation to you either. Please keep this in mind.

• Practice what you preach! You must be a paid member to hold an officer position. You must abide by all membership and forum rules. If you are going to represent the ILGA, you need to stay on the same page with the rest of the team and follow through. As a representative of the ILGA, you will be expected to maintain confidentiality, higher ethics, respect and integrity. If you do not, you will be relieved from your duties and removed from office.

• Ensure positive closure! If you plan on ending your volunteer involvement, please notify us and let us know ahead of time. We know life happens and people change and we completely understand and thank you for all your help. If you are asked to resign your volunteer services, you have the right to know why and can offer a rebuttal. However, the Board of Trustees has the final say, without retribution.

To summarize:

Make sure you want to commit before you do volunteer, know in your heart that you want to do this because you are dedicated to the cause. Know that you need to follow the rules, be open to change and willing to learn about new things. Be dependable, efficient and most importantly be active!

We are looking for individuals who can be there for us to help us grow. We cannot expect anything less or the LGA will not succeed in its mission.

Send your nominations to admin@lawn-greetings.org
Please include any experience the nominee has and why they would make a great officer.