One thing I can't stand...

[misanthrope]

...are those I call Board Barons.

You know the type. They're people who aren't content to be altruists, there has to be something in it for them. They won't join a charity group or work anonymously for the greater good. No, they have to be board members, that's their singular goal.

They collect board memberships like others do stamps or coins, compiling the lengthy roster beneath their names like an ambitious high schooler accumulating club and committee participation as evidence of their worthiness. In fact, I'd be willing to bet most of the Board Barons I know WERE those type kids in high school.

Board Barons are never the ones you see doing the actual work. They aren't the ones swinging the hammers for Habitat (unless the photographers are there), they aren't manning the chow lines in soup kitchens (and certainly NEVER washing dishes in the back), they aren't the ones cleaning cages at animal shelters or loading trucks at the food bank.

They are in it for their own glorification. They want others to look and point and say, "See what a great person they are." And meanwhile, they stand on the backs of many others who are content to labor anonymously, the ones who really make things happen on a day-to-day basis.

The false charity of the self-aggrandizing makes me sick.

And the saddest part of it is, they are always the ones edified in our communities. They are the ones with the statues and names on the buildings and the lofty elegies. They are the ones remembered most when they were actually in it all for themselves and their fragile little egos.

[Rabrrrrrr]

1. But, to their credit, they also tend to be the major donors

and give a shitload of money to the work that IS being done.

[misanthrope]

3. A few, yes...

..but most of the Board Barons I know give very little fiscal support to "their" charities. In fact, I even know a few who skim from the organizations in slight ways.

And, yes, they are giving time by attending meetings, but its not the sacrifice they make it out to be. There's no "dirty work" involved. They use it as a bragging point, or to get whatever perks they can from it. And ultimately, the time they are putting in is actually toward themselves.

I realize these types will always plague us, but it doesn't make them any less irritating.

[Rabrrrrrr]

6. Sur, you get assholes in all organizations, and at all levels

But you can't broadbrush from a few.

And sometimes, even a specific board member isn't giving much, their very presence will help generate income either through their contacts, or by making other people feel that the board must be well managed to have such people on it.

Let's face it, I'd kill to have a Henry Kravis or a Rajat Gupta or Ted Turner or Dick Fuld on my board, even if none of them actually gave anything other than their rolodex and some peer pressure and the weight of their name.

[rateyes]

2. Pay them no mind...

they will always be there taking credit for others work. But, what matters is not who gets the credit for the work, but that the work gets done. "The last shall be first, and the first shall be last."

[sui generis]

4. They do bring in the bucks

how is that worse than giving time or effort? How would you feel if a board member said your contribution wasn't worth as much as theirs because you merely gave time and effort instead of money? Believe me, nobody on the board is giving 'til it hurts.

In fact most people who give up income time to donate volunteer time are giving significantly more relatively, than the pure donor or the "board" member who either gives his or her own or plays his contact book.

There are good board members and bad board members, don't paint with such a broad brush. Most of the ones I know always give credit where due. They sit on multiple boards with more and less power in each organization because they either provide a significant portion of the actual funding, have unique social connections or because they are themselves "the connection".

I know a couple of self-important morons too - everyone laughs at them behind their side and puts up with them so long as goals are being met.

c'est la vie!

[NV Whino]

5. Arianna Huffington had a great idea

You can read about it in her book, Fanatics and Fools (p. 293-297 ).

Slate magazine yearly rates the Slate 60 (charitable givers). Huffington came up with "the Slate 60 Huffington Virtue Remix," which awarded minus points for self-aggrandizing gifts, plus points for gifts that help overcome poverty, alleviate suffering and turn lives around.

The book is a bit out of date at this point, but still worth a read for items such as the above.