Why have organizational structure?

Many years ago I was asked to take over a PTO organization that had been running out of volunteers. They had been trying to find a new President for a few years and no one wanted the job. Silly me said I would do it. Little did I know what I was stepping into.

Over the next month I heard from many people that they were not confident in the Treasurer's accounting practices. The school principal and I started having meetings and going over every bank statement, every deposit slip, every penny spent and came to the same conclusion, money was missing. We just were not sure how much.

So what did we do? We fired our current CPA that was 1) a friend of the current Treasurer and 2) was over 600 miles away! We hired a local CPA that I could meet with personally to go over past financials and formulate a plan moving forward to be transparent with the parents and staff of the school with all future financials. Our new CPA went through our accounting software, past tax records and all financials that we had and did feel money was missing, but couldn't account for exactly how much. The Principal and I discussed it and came up with a number that if our new CPA thought more than that was missing we would go to the authorities. We didn't reach that number. But what we did do was essentially fire the Treasurer and the Principal banned them within the school district from ever having a role dealing with money again.

But we still had a problem. Parents and staff didn't trust the PTO and because of that didn't want to volunteer. There was only a small handful (like 3!) people doing everything. We kept all the same fundraising functions, activities, and sponsorships that the PTO had always had but with only three people instead of the 15-20 from the past. We were exhausted! There was no trust and we needed help.

So what did I do? I started posting the monthly financials and bank statements (account number redacted) on the front bulletin board of the school; I started advertising for specific job/volunteer positions that we needed, complete with job description; I started holding regular meetings open to all; and I would sit and answer questions from parents and staff, sometimes for hours, after school, at activities or on the phone or via email. Slowly parents started volunteering again. Meetings went from three of us to five to ten. Activities were more participated in. New activities were created. Sponsorships were starting to flow back in.

What am I getting at in all of this? A few things. First, if you do not have organizational oversight or structure you open the door for nefarious things to potentially happen. When money goes missing or trust is lost, people are much less likely to give or volunteer because they don't want to be there when things go south. When that happens people lose faith and volunteerism goes down. Second, if there is no organizational structure, it is very difficult for people to buy into your vision. They want to help but you can't tell them what you need or where you need them. Having job descriptions is super helpful for someone to see if they are able to dedicate the time. Or sometimes a couple people can team up to fill one position. The more people that see your vision and want to help, the stronger the organization.

Organizational structure is the backbone of your organization. It is a not a static thing; it is always evolving as your organization evolves. You should always look at it and modify when needed, but you should also always go back to it when you are in a pinch or a rut and ask yourself if this is the direction that was originally intended? Does this agree with our mission?

If you need help with your structure, or getting back on track, please reach out to us. We might not have seen it all but we have seen enough we can definitely help. jkyouthsportsconsulting@gmail.com.

-Karen