Forbes lists seven ways nonprofit service can benefit your career and life in general:

– Become a stronger and more confident person in your day job and your personal life

– Develop team leadership skills

– Learn to think like a CEO

– Master budgets

– Get comfortable with raising money

– Expand your network and broaden your thinking

– Identify and hone your own strongest skills

The motto of Rotary is “Service Above Self,” so it is no surprise that Lake Placid Rotarians serve on boards. A recent informal survey shows that three out of four Lake Placid Rotarians sit on two or more nonprofit boards in our area and beyond. Even our local Rotary club has its own board led by president Kate Thompson, who recently signed up for a second consecutive year as club president.

It is logical that so many Rotarians serve on so many boards. Here is a partial list of nonprofit boards with Lake Placid Rotarians as members:

Adirondack Film

Adirondack Foundation

Adirondack Health

AdkAction

AuSable River Valley Business Association

Community String Orchestra

Educational Opportunity Fund for the Lake Placid Central School District

Essex County Prevention Team

Girl Scouts of Northeastern New York

Lake Clear Association

Lake Placid Community Ski Program

Lake Placid Housing Co-op

Lake Placid Institute for the Arts & Humanities

Lake Placid New York Rotary Foundation

Lake Placid Olympic Museum

Lake Placid Outing Club

Lake Placid Sinfonietta Advisory Board

Mountain Lake Academy

National Speakers Association Foundation

New York State Board of Regents

North Country Public Radio (NCPR) Advisory Board

North Elba Zoning Board of Appeals

Planned Parenthood of the North Country NY

Relay For Life

ROOST

Rotary Club of Lake Placid

Upper Jay Art Center Advisory Board

Sean Donovan, a Lake Placid Rotarian, writes about serving on the Zoning Board of Appeals and the Lake Placid Olympic Museum Board of Trustees: “This has exposed me to several parts of the bigger picture, such as: Even when looking at such boards or groups in a positive light, you discover that they strive do even more good than may be apparent to one looking in from the outside. At times your own aims, desires, or personal likes have to take a back seat to more important matters. Observing others’ commitment to service, sense of teamwork, and their skills in accomplishing tasks is at times humbling but almost always illustrates the positivity of community involvement.”

Another Lake Placid Rotarian, Chandler Ralph says, “When I first retired, I was at a Girl Scout Conference in Ohio. I met another woman who had recently retired. I asked her how she focused on which organizations she would embrace as a volunteer. She gave me great advice: ‘Select only 3 organizations and define your passions. Then volunteer with those organizations that reflect your passions.’ Mine were birds (Adirondack Center for Loon Conservation Board,) inspiring girls towards leadership (Girl Scouts of Northeastern New York) and contributing to our community both locally and Internationally (Rotary International.) Some of the best advice I ever received.”

Being on a board teaches you to think more strategically. It teaches you how to listen more carefully to people with opinions different from your own. It helps you be a better financial manager. It grows your network of acquaintances. Rotarian Debbie Erenstone says, “I appreciate how much I learn from fellow Rotarians. I believe the collective knowledge base and experience of our club helps me to better serve the organizations that I care about. I have learned so much from my fellow Rotarians and made many important connections within the community thanks to the relationships I’ve built as a Rotarian.”

In a 2018 “Better World Leadership Nonprofit Board Leadership Study” of people who serve on nonprofit boards, Korngold Consulting, LLC, found that:

– 69% of participants said they had grown as leaders

– 69% felt more useful

– 68% felt more confident

– 65% were prepared to take on more responsibility

– 64% found more meaning in their careers

– 55% described themselves as better qualified to receive a promotion

1.8 million nonprofit board seats open up in the U.S. every year. That is a lot of opportunities for service and influence. You have probably thought about the legacy you will leave to your family and those who will follow you. Board service is a way to have a lasting positive effect on working toward a mission that you care about.

And it doesn’t have to be forever. One Rotarian wrote, “I’ve been on lots of boards, but I’ve been spending the last several years getting off of them.”

The Lake Placid Rotary Club meets weekly on Thursday mornings at 7:20 at the Hampton Inn. Please contact RotaryLakePlacid@gmail.com for info.

(Martha Pritchard Spear is a member of the Rotary Club of Lake Placid.)