Board Information
How to Join the Board of Directors
You must be a TOC Member to participate on the Board. The Board meets virtually ten times a year (typically the week before each club meeting). Each Director on the Board is responsible for certain duties - a short list is provided below for each position.
Contact secretary@torontobirding.ca if you would like to join the Board of Directors to fill one of the open positions listed below.
Open Positions
President
Outings
- Plan outings at least a month in advance.
- Contact incumbent leaders and ask them if they are willing to lead the same outing again.
- Cultivate new leaders and new events or routes.
- Coordinate with the newsletter editor to ensure details of upcoming and past outings are included in the newsletter.
Director at Large
- No specific assigned duties.
- Assists other directors with different projects as needed.
- Responding to emails regarding communications and media (articles, interviews, videos).
- Assists either recruiting new members and new volunteers to help lead bird walks and events.
- Assist with the newsletter and website if possible.
Secretary (starting April 2026)
- Record accurate minutes for Club Meetings, Board Meetings, and Annual General Meetings (AGM), including information shared, key decisions, motions, and action items. Official minutes are required for TOCs status as a not-for-profit corporation.
- Coordinate AGM agenda, board member annual reports, and ensure the upcoming AGM materials and previous AGM draft minutes are shared with club members in advance of the AGM.
- Act as a central point of contact for public and member inquiries, answering questions or forwarding them onto the appropriate board member.
- Collaborate on Board meeting's agenda planning, confirm meeting details, and send reminders to ensure meetings run smoothly.
Filled Positions
Conservation
Director at Large
- No specific assigned duties.
- Assists other directors with different projects as needed.
- Responding to emails regarding communications and media (articles, interviews, videos).
- Assists either recruiting new members and new volunteers to help lead bird walks and events.
- Assist with the newsletter and website if possible.
Membership
- Oversees the Members database that allows new members to sign up and make payments, existing members to renew and donate.
- Hand out members’ name tags, welcome guests and new members, and answer questions at in-person meetings.
- Replies to email queries, generally about becoming a member or changing status.
Newsletter Editor
Programs
- Find diverse and interesting speakers that reflect the club’s interest for the club’s 10 monthly meetings and coordinate all speaker communications.
- Set up tech for in-person club meetings and Zoom webinars for virtual club meetings.
- Update the website with meeting details, send meeting reminder emails to membership and assist with club communications as needed.
- In the absence of a President, reach out to diverse members from the club to help chair TOC’s monthly club meetings.
- Maintain a record of the meeting number and date for each club meeting.
Records
- Manage the High Park Hawk Watch by finding volunteers and entering data to HawkCount.org.
- Coordinate the Toronto Christmas Bird Count by assembling sector leaders, connecting volunteers to available sectors, and entering data on Audubon website.
- Enter historic or incidental rare bird sightings to the TOC eBird account.
Treasurer
- Supervising all financial aspects of the TOC and being a good steward of the Club’s money, acting on behalf of the members and with the approval of the Board
- Keeping the Board well-informed about the TOC’s financial position and any related issues
- Creating and maintaining all the TOC’s financial record-keeping
- Producing accurate and transparent financial reports at year-end
- Issuing CRA-compliant tax receipts to donors to the TOC
- Developing the TOC’s annual budget, with input from and the approval of the Board
- Filing the TOC’s annual tax return with the Canada Revenue Agency