Nonprofit Board Positions

Are you an energetic community member, passionate about supporting a charity? Does helping wildlife align with your values? If so, this may be the position for you!

Position: Treasurer, Board of Directors
Type: nonprofit board position / volunteer
Reports To: Board Chair, Board of Directors & Membership
Reports From: Co-Executive Director(s)
Organization: Wildlife Rescue Association of BC 
Average Hours: 10 – 12 hours per month

Organization

The Wildlife Rescue Association of British Columbia (WRA) is a charitable non-profit dedicated to improving the welfare of urban wildlife. WRA partners with the community to protect wildlife by promoting coexistence and providing rescue and rehabilitation for animals impacted by human activity. With a wildlife hospital and Support Centre located on the south shore of Burnaby Lake, WRA engages tens of thousands of community members and provides care to thousands of animals each year from across the Lower Mainland, throughout British Columbia, and beyond.

WRA has steadily evolved and adapted since it started in 1979. More recently, we have worked hard to re-align organizational strengths to accomplish greater mission achievement in response to an ever-increasing number of wildlife needing help. This allows WRA to operate one of the busiest wildlife rehabilitation facilities in Canada.

WRA is now looking to recruit board members to contribute to our renewed growth and relevance.

Board of Directors

The role of the WRA Board of Directors is to:

• Provide leadership and oversight of the organization and its activities
• Represent the interests of its members, and the broader community
• Ensure broad organizational accountability and transparency; and
• Facilitate active and meaningful external relationships.

Board members are passionate about WRA’s mission and are committed to the organizational values of caring, collaboration, creativity and respect. In addition, as WRA embarks on innovative fund development initiatives moving forward, board members will be working collaboratively with senior staff to achieve critical philanthropic goals.

The WRA Board of Directors has a governance mandate and develops policies and practices to allow senior staff to align operations with WRA’s mission, vision and values, as well as strategic objectives.

The Board of Directors meets on a monthly basis and oversees the work of board committees that meet periodically to carry out specific roles. The Board reports annually to the membership and is individually and severally responsible for ensuring that the bylaws of the organization are followed. Ongoing work includes board recruitment, strategic planning, and performance evaluations of senior staff (Co-Executive Directors).

Board Recruitment

The WRA Board of Directors is currently recruiting for a Treasurer. The Treasurer is the primary financial officer and steward on the Board, and partners with senior staff to maintain the organization’s long-term financial sustainability through financial planning, annual budget preparation, regular financial reviews and periodic reporting (quarterly and annually).

Treasurer Roles & Responsibilities

The Treasurer works in partnership with the Co-Executive Directors to ensure that effective financial systems and procedures have been established, are being consistently followed, and are in line with best practice and legal requirements. The Treasurer acts as an information and reference point for the Board: by summarizing current financial status; clarifying financial implications of proposals; confirming legal requirements; obtaining relevant documentation; and helping the Board manage financial risk through the development and implementation of financial policies.

• Oversees the management of the finances of the organization, including the budget, as approved and reviewed by the Board and managed by the Co-Executive Directors and/or other senior staff.
• Ensures the keeping of clear and accurate financial records, reports, and returns as necessary to comply with the BC Societies Act and the Income Tax Act.
• Ensures financial policies and procedures are adhered to by the Board and staff.
• Provides quarterly reports to the Board on the financial state of the organization, ensuring the Board understands the finances of the organization so that sound decisions can be made.
• Serves as Chair of the Finance Committee.
• Acts as a signing officer of the Board.
• Meets annually with the auditor to finalize the financial statements of the organization and presents the statements to the membership at the Annual General Meeting.

Treasurer Qualifications

The ideal candidate will have the following:

• A professional accounting designation (e.g., CA, CGA, CMA, CPA).
• Professional experience in annual accounts review and reporting.
• Familiarity with business accounting methods and practices.
• Familiarity with online accounting software (QuickBooks).
• Availability to mentor staff in learning financial systems.
• Previous experience as a non-profit treasurer preferred.

The Treasurer role renews annually according to the WRA Bylaws, and candidates are asked to consider making a minimum two-year commitment from the time of appointment/election.

Board Responsibilities

All members of the Board have the following duties:

• Commit to the WRA mission, vision, and values
• Represent and report annually to the WRA membership
• Follow WRA’s Bylaws and best practices in non-profit governance
• Maintain arms-length relationships with each other and third parties
• Practice high standards of confidentiality and avoid conflicts of interest
• Participate in strategic planning and performance review for the organization
• Establish policies and procedures to meet regulatory and other legal requirements
• Develop, review and approve new governance and operational policies
• Attend and participate in all meetings of the Board and membership
• Serve on one or more board committee(s) and actively engage in work
• Participate in the recruitment, management and evaluation of the Co-Executive Director(s)
• Support ongoing activities of the Board, including recruitment and self-evaluation
• Support the organization’s development and culture of philanthropy as a donor
• Represent WRA as an ambassador to professional and personal networks
• Know the community issues relevant to the mission and objectives of WRA

Board Member Qualifications

Ideal candidates will have the following attributes:

• Ability to actively listen to multiple views and work well as part of a multi-dimensional team
• Skilled at cultivating relationships with staff, other board members, volunteers and donors
• Understands the importance of a healthy board culture and inspirational leadership
• Familiar with meeting Rules of Order, the BC Societies Act and organizational bylaws
• Previous governance-level experience on a non-profit board of directors
• Commitment to follow through on tasks and complete assignments
• Strong organizational skills with attention to detail
• Excellent communication skills

To learn more about WRA, please visit our website (http://www.wildliferescue.ca).

To apply for this position, please submit your resume with a letter of interest in a single PDF file, to the attention of the WRA Board Development Committee, to recruitment@wildliferescue.ca

Please mention you saw this at GoodWork.ca.

Applicants are advised that recruitment is a multistep process that may take a period of months to be completed. WRA thanks all applicants in advance for their interest, patience and understanding.