This is a brief account of how Romina,the chair of Subud Germany, sees the role of the board in a flourishing national Susila Dharma organisation.

The advantage of having a Susila Dharma board is to have a face and a body to speak with, hopefully several people to allocate the work to, several shoulders, and an address. You can start as a single person, but sooner or later you will appreciate having partners with different expertise like finance, fundraising or marketing. Especially when dealing with donations, it is helpful if they are checked by a 'second set of eyes'.

If you start alone and you want to grow to a team, you can begin in your local group and at the next regional or national meeting. The best way to find partners is to show your enthusiasm for your intention. An ambitious presentation of your goals will electrify others. If people want to join in, it is helpful to describe precisely what your need will be in the proposed board to-be. In the beginning of a board´s term it is important to develop a strong bond. It is worth while spending some time getting to know each other. As you take advantage of the expertise people offer, success in supporting projects will strengthen the bond and the board can feel the personal value each member brings in to the team. For retired people in Subud, SD work is an opportunity to share their expertise.

In some cases young people from outside Subud may take notice of your SD work and ask to volunteer. This is a perfect opportunity to talk about Subud and the latihan.

Regarding resources, if there are Subud premises it might be reasonable to use them for the office. The board can meet here and all documents kept on the premises.

The board should have clear operational guidelines including agreed processes for working together and decision making. The two main aspects of SD work are management of the board's activites and project liason. Ideally, each project will be represented by one member of the board, leaving the chair to draw on the knowledge and awareness of the current state of each project. In addition to the basic tasks it is helpful to have members on the board who are experienced in fundraising and networking.

With a yearly retreat to clear the goals for one year, the board empowers its members. With a well-prepared annual meeting and presence at Subud meetings, the board maintains the contact to donors. With capacity building workshops, (held by SDI during AGM) and networking with other SD teams during congresses and zonal meetings, the board can be enabled to work well. (Romina) NB It would be very useful to hear about the SDs who are achieving the maximum within the constraints of their national situations. Remember that one size does not fit all. (RB)

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These Spotlight articles are intended to focus on issues facing SD national boards and to raise discussion between interested members. So, please add any further thoughts and experiences to: Raphael at randhbate@gmail.com