Core Leadership Roles

A Member-led Time Bank
(from the Start-Up Manual)

As you and your core group plan, organize and operate your Time Bank, make sure you get the people-support you will need. You need a number of different individuals to join you in planning and setting up the Time Bank. Our experience has taught us that Time Banks nearly always fail when they are staffed by one person who has lots of enthusiasm and vision, but still is only one person! In truth, Time Banking is all about ‘team leadership’ so creating a Time Bank where members are fully engaged and invested in its operations and management is vital to its success. If you know that you do better behind the scenes than leading and inspiring others, find someone as your partner who likes and is good at the front-person role.

Everyone is so busy these days that it’s challenging to get folks to take on a leadership position unless it is shared, rotated -- or paid. Make sure there are at least two leaders to take on the roles described below for your Time Bank. For anything larger than a Friends Time Bank, you will need three or more people sharing the leadership. Once you get going it is a good idea to have the past, present and future coordinator work as a team and rotate every 6-12 months. Membership fees are modest so they will not cover the cost of a paid position. But nothing prevents you from paying the leaders some bonus Time Dollars™ in recognition for the work they have done.  

There are six main leadership roles in a Time Bank:

  • Role I Time Bank Ambassador
    • Member Recruitment
  • Role II. Membership Coordinator
    • Member Orientation, ‘Keeping in Touch’; Making matches
  • Role III. Events Coordinator
    • Focuses on all group activities of the Time Bank
  • Role IV. Webmaster
    • Training New Members on On-Line Time Banking; Running the on-line community page
  • Role V. Admin
    • Collecting dues, Financials/Budgeting, Fund raising
  • Role VI. Team Leader
    • Makes sure that everyone is happily taking responsibility for their role.

For a Friends Time Bank, two people could do all six roles. There doesn’t have to a separate person for each role. We have separated all the leadership roles so you can make sure that every role has at least one person who is accountable for making things in that happen in that area of activity.