So now you got hold of the paperwork that need to be prepared to actually start an association. You have found the right people, you have even assigned the board that consists of a president, a general secretary, and a treasurer. The question is: on what basis did you assign these roles? Was it just for the sake of the paperwork? Or did you actually go through all the responsibilities of each role?
One of the most important steps for an association to be organized is to have a well-maintained board.
3.1. The board and management responsibilities
Before digging deep into the board’s responsibilities, legally, in Tunisia, the board members do not get paid, as a board member, if you are in the association for the purpose of earning money, this is not the place for that. It should be done voluntary. For that reason, board members of an association in Tunisia will most likely have another paid job outside the association.
We have a lot of examples in Tunisia of the board being too involved in the associations’ daily activities, one cannot differentiate between the president and the project manager, the board and management, that is one of the common errors, when this occurs, it can only mean that the association’s board and management are not organized or did not go through their responsibilities.
The basic responsibilities of the board:
- Identifies the vision and the values of the association
- Works on recruiting the executive office (management)
- Works on establishing a framework for the management
- Works on fundraising
- The treasurer makes sure that the association is following the governmental financial policies for associations
- The board makes sure that the association abides by the Tunisian Associative Law
- Makes sure that the association works with integrity
- Makes sure that the association does not deviate from the vision
- Regularly evaluating the association
The basic responsibilities of management:
- Identifies the ways that lead towards achieving the vision and mission of the association
- Works on hiring the right people for the mission
- Works on developing projects that align with the association’s vision
- Go through the whole cycle of projects
- Reporting to the board
