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What Type of Organizational Structure Is Best for You?

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What Type of Organizational Structure Is Best for You? YOUR STRUCTURE • What type of organizational structure is best for you? • How much formality do you want? • Who will serve as your fiscal agent? • Do you have legal protection for your byway members? Making the Grassroots Grow: Building and Maintaining Effective Byway Organizations YOUR STRUCTURE Various types of organizational structures have evolved to meet the needs of many different byways. For example, the byway organization for the Ashley River Road (South Carolina) grew out of local efforts to preserve the region’s historic and scenic character. In 1995, the National Trust for Historic Preservation listed the Ashley River Historic District as one of the “Most Endangered Places.” A community workshop held in 1996 chartered the Ashley River Conservation Coalition (ARCC), a private nonprofit corporation, to design and coordinate a community-based comprehensive growth management plan for this threatened area. ARCC prepared the corridor management plan and nomination for the 2000 designation of the Ashley River Road as a National Scenic Byway. Visitors can tour Drayton Hall, the oldest preserved plantation house in America that is open to the public. YOUR STRUCTURE: YOUR Types of Organizational Structures: Several Models Work for Byways hat do scenic byways have in common with lemonade STRUCTURES TYPES OF ORGANIZATIONAL W stands and Egyptian pyramids? Each requires some level of organization. Of course, most eight-year-olds can Keep the get a roadside beverage enterprise up and running in a matter TIP! Law on of hours while the pyramids took lifetimes to create. Still, Your Side the key is finding the structure that serves you without getting in your way. The same can be said of assembling a byway organization. As you evaluate your organization’s structure Fortunately, you don’t need to study lemonade stands or and recruit volunteers, it is pyramids to successfully create a byway organization. In fact, very important to inform there are several basic organizational models that can be volunteers of any legal risk personalized to fit most byway situations. Each model has its own characteristics, strengths and limitations. or liability they assume in associating with your Choosing the Right Organization for You organization and the actions There are many valid forms of organization for byways. In fact, they should take to avoid there may be more than one structure that will meet your liability. (See Appendix B.) needs. The key is to pick the one that best serves your interests and best reflects the group that you have gathered. This guide introduces basic organizational structures. You may find that your byway is best served by more than one of these basic models. When it comes to byway organizations, there are very few “purebreds.” Most groups are “hybrids;” they have selected a mix of organizational pieces that fit their specific needs. In addition, many groups find that their organizations evolve and change over time. As the needs of the byway change, an organization recreates itself to meet new and different corridor needs. Select a structure that meets your current needs and understand that it is a “work in progress.” Every so often, it’s a good idea to evaluate your organizational structure to make sure it is working for you. Making the Grassroots Grow: Building and Maintaining Effective Byway Organizations 65 YOUR STRUCTURE: YOUR Common Structures Organizational Models TYPES OF ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURES TYPES OF ORGANIZATIONAL A. Citizen Group D. Government Agency as Lead The simplest model is the citizen’s group, Another fairly simple format is when a a collection of community members or single government entity agrees to be concerned citizens who gather together the lead agency for the group, allowing to accomplish a goal. the group to utilize its legal status and B. Nonprofit Organization administrative structure. An individual organization, usually a E. Joint Powers Entity nonprofit corporation, is also made An organization made up of governments up of private citizens, though the act that can include public entities such as of becoming a legal organization municipalities, the USDA Forest Service and carries specific requirements, benefits the State Department of Transportation. and obligations. F.Customized Structure C. Cooperative Agreement An organizational hybrid created to meet This is an agreement between organizations unique byway needs. interested in working together in a relatively formal manner. 66 Making the Grassroots Grow: Building and Maintaining Effective Byway Organizations 46 YOUR STRUCTURE: YOUR How Much Formality? If non-governmental entities (citizens and private organizations) are the primary members of the group, then Far and away decide how formal an organizational structure needs to be. “ If you are just starting to pursue byway designation, you may not the best prize need a very formal organization and may do fine with some well-organized and committed individuals. If you have secured life offers is the TYPES OF ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURES TYPES OF ORGANIZATIONAL designation and are now looking to implement a corridor management plan that will impact a variety of communities, chance to work the effort it takes to create a formal organization is probably well worth the effort. Remember, an organizational structure hard at work should meet the needs and goals of the individual byway group. Strength does not always flow from structure if the structure is worth doing. not right for the organization. ” Theodore Roosevelt Eventually, your group may consider the more formal structure of incorporation. A legal designation, incorporation carries certain benefits, but the creation and maintenance of a corporation requires efforts that may take time away from your primary focus. Again, there are no absolutes. If you are not planning to have paid employees, grants, contracts or cash donations, you may be able to set up a citizen group without pursuing formal incorporation. You can have another agency (private nonprofit or some kind of public entity) serve as your fiscal agent and act as your financial administrator. You still make the decisions, but the fiscal agent carries out receiving, tracking, and disbursing of funds on your behalf. This service may cost money. For those groups who lack financial background or a legal structure to handle financial matters, a fiscal agent may be a good option. Making the Grassroots Grow: Building and Maintaining Effective Byway Organizations 67 YOUR STRUCTURE: YOUR Are Government Agencies Involved? Organizational A single governmental agency may take leadership responsibility TIP! Growing for the byway. This can often be a very simple arrangement, Pains especially when a large portion of the corridor runs through federal or state land. If it seems that most or all of the players at the table are TYPES OF ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURES TYPES OF ORGANIZATIONAL Organizations move through representatives of government entities, then it may be life cycles, just as people do. worth forming a joint powers entity. This is a formal way for Author Judith Sharken Simon government agencies to work cooperatively through the formation has identified “5 Life Stages of of a joint, yet separate entity. This new organization—the Nonprofit Organizations”: joint powers entity—allows participating members to transfer Stage One: Imagine and Inspire authority to the joint powers entity for specific roles or services. Doing so can reduce duplication of services and increase continuity. (“Can the dream be realized?”) If not all of the primary players are government entities and/or Stage Two: Found and Frame you don’t need or want to transfer authority, then a cooperative (“How are we agreement (also called a memorandum of understanding or interagency agreement) may be the answer. Cooperative going to pull agreements can involve public (government) and/or private this off?”) entities. A cooperative agreement outlines how two or more Stage Three: Ground and Grow entities will relate in a particular setting. # (“How can we build this to be viable?”) Stage Four: Produce and Sustain (“How can the momentum be sustained?”) Stage Five: Review and Renew (“What do we need to redesign?”) It may be helpful to recognize your byway’s stage of development. 68 Making the Grassroots Grow: Building and Maintaining Effective Byway Organizations YOUR STRUCTURE: YOUR COPY AND DISTRIBUTE Key Organizational Questions Keep these questions in mind as you select among organizational structures. • WHAT is your byway’s purpose? What organizational structures will best meet your needs? TYPES OF ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURES TYPES OF ORGANIZATIONAL • WHO is interested in, or impacted by, what happens to the byway corridor? How will the diversity of interests be represented? • WHERE is the corridor located? State, federal, or private lands? • WHO will provide human and financial support? Citizen volunteers? Government employees? Local businesses? SIDE A Center Resource Byways America’s by Created Making the Grassroots Grow: Building and Maintaining Effective Byway Organizations 69 YOUR STRUCTURE: YOUR COPY AND DISTRIBUTE Key Organizational Questions (continued) • WHAT are your funding sources? Federal? State? Local? Private? Corporate? Individual? TYPES OF ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURES TYPES OF ORGANIZATIONAL • HOW will finances be handled? Fiscal agent? Incorporation? • WHAT needs are not being met by your current organizational structure? SIDE B Center Resource Byways America’s by Created 70 Making the Grassroots Grow: Building
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