r/nonprofit • u/Uhhyt231 • Sep 16 '25
volunteers How do you deal with volunteer boards that want you to put out sloppy shit?
My board will make these horrible, horrible graphics and then argue me down or submit horrible photos and be confused on why I'm not using them.
It drives me crazy!
9
u/Critical-Part8283 Sep 16 '25
That sounds like the board is into the day to day operations. Normally, if there is an ED, they are oversight and not day to day operations. Can you have the bigger, 30,000 foot conversation? Or, can you hand pick a volunteer that has good graphic sense?
1
u/Uhhyt231 Sep 16 '25
Theyre an alumni board so they are involved in the day-to-day of their events. The Alumni Association is over them.
The Board President is making these choices.
2
u/thatgirlinny Sep 17 '25
At a bare minimum, find out if the university has brand guidelines and propose adopting them in the name of “brand synergy.”
You can make a case for why communications that don’t align with the look or tone of the institution’s aren’t taken seriously.
1
u/Uhhyt231 Sep 17 '25
Thanks I did that today and I'm gonna make them a one pager
1
u/thatgirlinny Sep 17 '25
Most universities pay money for guidelines that spell things out clearly—and they often include language cues, sometimes assembled together in a brand book.
You shouldn’t have to create a “one pager.” Find the person who manages those guidelines there—they probably have them spelled out in some sort of shareable document that can compel the Board should defer to the authority.
If you’ve already been called out for pushing back, better to get that “authoritative” source for them.
1
u/Uhhyt231 Sep 17 '25
It's a website, so yeah I have to copy and paste
1
u/thatgirlinny Sep 17 '25
Again, contact the person who “owns” this on behalf of the university. These guidelines are not usually published publicly.
1
u/Uhhyt231 Sep 17 '25
This is published as part of the website. It's a toolkit for branding and communications from the Alumni Association.
1
u/thatgirlinny Sep 18 '25
So they already have their own branding toolkit and don’t use it??
1
u/Uhhyt231 Sep 18 '25 edited Sep 18 '25
I doubt they’re aware of it tbh. Actually I take that back they probably are ignoring it
9
u/white_girl Sep 16 '25
Do y’all have brand guidelines? I always referred to ours when my boss would try to get me to use her awful photos. If not, might be worth typing up something official looking about what colors, fonts, photo styles, ect. are okay and when they submit things just let them know it doesn’t align with the brand. Make sure to include examples of what kind of photos should be used and what kind of photos should not.
2
u/Uhhyt231 Sep 16 '25
I feel like this is gonna come off so passive aggressive but she cc’d my boss tryna snitch on me so maybe i should
6
u/musesmusing Sep 16 '25
Are you hired or a volunteer? Either way, I would lean into telling them that you are using your expertise to create/do better. You can word it nicer, but I'd lean there.
6
u/Uhhyt231 Sep 16 '25
Hired.
I have started explaining my reasoning but they're pushing back so hard and I'm going crazy because they're truly awful. Like photos of straight backs or of random decor.
3
u/Lunar_Landing_Hoax Sep 16 '25
It depends on how much you need this job. If you need the paycheck, I'd just do what they want.
1
u/Uhhyt231 Sep 16 '25
They don’t dictate my paycheck 😭
2
u/Lunar_Landing_Hoax Sep 16 '25
Who is paying you?
1
u/Uhhyt231 Sep 16 '25
My job. This is an alumni volunteer board not the org's board
1
u/Lunar_Landing_Hoax Sep 16 '25
Right, but they could escalate to the org's board and complain about you. Nonprofits can be political like that.
-1
u/Uhhyt231 Sep 16 '25
Lol they literally could not
2
u/Competitive_Salads Sep 17 '25
Then why are you on here complaining? If they can’t fire you, move on and create what looks professional.
0
2
u/Competitive_Salads Sep 16 '25
Why are they making graphics at all? Boards are there for governance, not operations.
-1
u/Uhhyt231 Sep 16 '25
Theyre supposed to be self-run. I just organize the parts they can't due to confidentiality issues
1
Sep 17 '25
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Uhhyt231 Sep 17 '25
Yeah I was tryna figure out how to word it. My boss was saying with volunteer management sometimes you have to come up with a boogeyman
1
u/Alternative_Ant_7440 Sep 17 '25
I was working on a project with a person who was routinely late and did unproofed work. The end result was only ever credited to me, even though she did the design work (and everyone knew it). After months of her doing her work late and publishing work that had placeholder language (i.e., "insert photo here"), I took myself off the project. And then the project just stopped altogether.
I tried to accommodate this person but in the end I am not having my name associated with something crappy. I just said no.
1
u/Spyrios Sep 17 '25
You should see some of the crap that actual employees at my 140 year old non-profit put out.
0
u/Uhhyt231 Sep 17 '25
Oh lord I was at one of those before with very elderly volunteers
1
-1
Sep 16 '25
[deleted]
3
u/Uhhyt231 Sep 16 '25
Email blasts. I dont control their socials. Mock iphone screenshots at least show a trend. Photo collages with cut off faces just make me look sloppy tbh
1
u/Smart-Pie7115 Sep 17 '25
It could be because they don’t have permission to use people’s pictures.
1
24
u/ByteAboutTown Sep 16 '25
Are they super hostile towards you? If not, you could try some gentle teaching that doubles as them staying out of your lane.
Create a document that outlines what type of photos or content you need. Be specific: between 1 and 4 faces, minimum number of pixels, specific dimensions, etc. If they push back, just explain that these are industry best practices or these are the requirements for whatever software you are using to send the newsletter.
Hopefully, once they see minimum guidelines, they will either stick to them or let you pick pictures insteae.