A committee is a group of enthusiastic people who care about their group or organisation, want to see it thrive and are willing to take responsibility for making that happen. A committee position requires good organisational skills, a willingness to give up some spare time and the ability to co-operate with others.
Committee or management teams tend to work best with clear and defined roles. The simplest way to do this is to have a role description for each position on the committee or management team. It means whoever is in the role understands what their job is and what they are responsible for, helps all members to understand what everyone does and can be invaluable if an occasional territorial dispute crops up.
Example roles and responsibilities
This is an example list of the roles that make up a committee and a rough guide of the areas that each person looks after. You do not necessary have to fill all of these roles, but this gives a good sense of what is required:
Chair
The figurehead for the group, represents the group on an official basis, the person who unites the committee and who has an overview of all activity within the committee.
Treasurer
Looks after everything financial to do with the group
Secretary
Deals with all correspondence for the group and minutes all meetings
Vice chair
Supports the chair in their role as a representative of the group and stands in when the chair is unavailable
Librarian
Sources and obtains sheet music for the group, and manages the dissemination and collection of music to and from members
Marketing officer
Looks after all promotional activities such as posters, advertising, social media
Event manager
Liaises with performance venues and oversees arrangements on performance day to ensure that everything goes smoothly
Membership secretary
Separate to the secretary, the membership secretary keeps a record of current membership details and may assist in the collection of membership subscriptions
Fundraiser
Separate to the Treasurer, they seek out funding opportunities and complete and submit funding applications
Resources (available for Making Music members)
Running a committee
- Running a committee part 1: Roles and responsibilities
- Running a committee part 2: meetings, communication and ways of working
- Running a committee part 3: recruitment and problem solving
- Roles of a music group committee
- Conflicts of interest
- The Charity Trustee handbook
For the chair
- Role of the chair
- Creating a strategic plan
- Succession planning
- Group policies - what you need to have
- Child safeguarding
- GDPR: What you need to know
For the secretary
For the event manager
- A how-to guide to managing events
- Music licensing, copyright and permissions
- Performing Rights (PRS) fees
- Engaging professional artists and subsidies
- Recommnded rates for engaging musicians
- Health and Safety (including assessment template)
- Alternatives to putting on a formal concert
For the treasurer
- Top tips for treasurers
- Group accounts templates
- Financial policy template
- Increasing your income: overview
- Getting your pieces right: what to think about and why
- Performing Rights (PRS) fees
- Recommended rates for engaging musicians
- How to claim Gift Aid for your group
- Gift Aid and membership subscriptions
- Orchestra Tax Relief
- Value Added Tax (VAT)
- Which bank account should we use (not for profit organisations)
- Point of sale applications and card readers
- Applying for grant funding
For the librarian
For the fundraising officer
- Increasing your income: overview
- Applying for grant funding
- Funding finder
- Local authority arts funding index
- Local councillor funding index
For the marketing officer
- Social media concert tips
- Website health check
- Top photography tips
- Poster templates
- Where to list your events online
- Tips for approaching the media
- Marketing resources for your group
We hope you find this Making Music resource useful. If you have any comments or suggestions about the guidance please contact us. Whilst every effort is made to ensure that the content of this guidance is accurate and up to date, Making Music does not warrant, nor accept any liability or responsibility for the completeness or accuracy of the content, or for any loss which may arise from reliance on the information contained in it.
