Things you can use without hiring anybody.
Most of what breaks a volunteer organization is fixable by the people already in the room, provided somebody hands them the right checklist. Here is the checklist.
Financial Controls Self-Assessment
Twenty-five questions, about fifteen minutes with your treasurer and one other board member. It covers cash handling, signing authority, reconciliation, segregation of duties, and board oversight — and it scores itself, so you finish knowing which three things to fix first.
It is genuinely useful on its own. If you work through it, fix what it finds, and never contact me, that is a good outcome and the reason it is free.
Print it, put it in front of two people, and argue about the answers. That argument is the point — it is worth more than any web form, and it is usually where a board works out what it actually needs to do.
I ask for an email address so I can follow up once — did it arrive, did it raise anything, is there a question I can answer. That is the whole reason. You will not end up on a drip sequence.
If you want to hear when the rest lands
Entirely optional, and nothing above is gated behind it. Roughly monthly, only when there is something genuinely worth reading.
Until this is wired up, email hello@garethgilson.ca and I will add you.
In progress
These are being written. If one of them would be useful to you now, say so and I will prioritize it.
Treasurer’s Handbook
What a volunteer treasurer needs to know in their first month, written for someone who did not ask for the job and does not have an accounting background.
AGM Runbook
Agenda, chair’s script, motion wording, minute template, and a post-meeting filing checklist. Everything you need to run a ninety-minute AGM.
Board Policy Starter Set
Signing authority, expense and reimbursement, cash handling, conflict of interest. Plain-language templates you can adopt in one meeting.
Volunteer Role Library
Written descriptions for the jobs every organization relies on — bounded, specific, and honest about the hours.