Volunteer Job Descriptions

Updated 12/16/2025

All positions require internet access and email.

Time commitments are for the person in charge, not assistants.

If interested in helping, click on and fill out the following form:

Board of Directors (BofD)

Members of the board are elected to a two-year term by a vote of the membership and begin their term at the June board meeting. Nominations for open positions are solicited in the January issue of The BN Expediter.

  • Manage the affairs of the organization.
  • Select officers annually, and fill vacancies as needed.
  • Attend quarterly BofD meetings, either in person, via Internet video, or by phone.
  • Time commitment: 2 hours per quarterly board meeting, plus preparation time.

    • Officers

    Officers are elected by the Board of Directors at the June Board meeting.

    President

    • Assemble agenda for quarterly BofD meeting.
    • Preside over quarterly board of directors meeting.
    • Final decision-making authority on organizational issues (in close coordination with BofD).
    • Write annual president’s message in The BN Expediter.
    • Attend quarterly BofD meetings, either in person, via Internet video, or by phone.
    • Time commitment: a couple hours a month, but varies.

    Vice President

    • Assist the president as needed.
    • Take over president’s role in the president’s absence.
    • Attend quarterly BofD meetings, either in person, via Internet video, or by phone.
    • Time commitment: a couple of hours a month, as needed.

    Secretary

    • Record the minutes of the meetings of the members and of the board of directors.
    • Store official documents of the corporation, and make electronic copies of them available as needed.
    • Attend quarterly BofD meetings, either in person or via Internet video
    • Time commitment: a few hours every quarter to record and distribute meeting minutes.

    Treasurer

    • Maintain the organization’s bank accounts and other financial accounts (PayPal, etc.), deposit funds coming into the organization, pay the bills on a timely basis and maintain records of expenditures.
    • Maintain a liaison with the manager of the company store regarding the income and expenses of the store.
    • Maintain a liaison with the membership secretary with respect to membership dues payments.
    • Propose an annual budget to the BofD and provide timely reports on the organization’s income and expenses throughout the year.
    • Make appropriate annual filings with the IRS.
    • Attend quarterly BofD meetings, either in person, via Internet video, or by phone.
    • Time commitment: 1-2 hours/week

    Other Positions

    Positions are filled by the Board of Directors when vacancies occur.

    Managing Editor of The BN Expediter

    • Oversee the production of 4 issues of The BN Expediter each year.
    • Solicit articles, photos and other materials for publication.
    • Work with authors to produce high quality articles.
    • Plan and arrange each issue.
    • Use a desktop publishing system (currently QuarkXPress) to produce a PDF of each issue.
    • Work with the printer to print and mail each issue.
    • Time commitment: a few hours a week, plus up to 100 hours quarterly to lay out each issue.

    Membership Secretary

    • Receive membership dues.
    • Forward membership payment checks to the treasurer .
    • Update treasurer monthly on status of membership payments.
    • Update board of directors with membership data.
    • Send renewal reminders to members whose membership is expiring.
    • Send mailing lists to printer for each issue of The BN Expediter.
    • Time commitment: On average, less than an hour per week, except for November and December, when most renewal notices are sent out and renewals are received.

    Company Store Manager

    • Process and record all company store sales.
    • Package and ship company store orders.
    • Maintain and store company store inventory.
    • Prepare quarterly reports detailing inventory, sales, etc.
    • Coordinate financial matters with treasurer (deposit checks received; submit expense reimbursements).
    • Maintain order forms and coordinate uploading/replacement of order forms with webmaster.
    • Time commitment: average of 30 minutes per week, but varies seasonally with orders.

    Webmaster

    • Oversee the organization, content and evolution of the website.
    • Ensures website is up-to-date and accurate.
    • Work with contracted system administrator to maintain and update website.
    • Time commitment: 10 hours per month (varies).

    Social Media Manager

    • Update social media platform(s) as necessary with organizational highlights, announcements, changes and events. Updates must be crafted for both the public and organizational members.
    • Monitor social medial platform(s) for incoming inquiries. Research and coordinate/provide responses as necessary.
    • Manage FOBNR social medial accounts, profiles, and settings to ensure “public facing” appropriate content and service provider policy compliance.
    • Time commitment: 1.5 hours per month.

    Web Site Contact

    • Welcome new members by sending a letter and gift of a FOBNR pen.
    • Answer questions about FOBNR membership and publications. Problem-solve any difficulties.
    • Research and write occasional short articles for the “Contact Corner” feature of The BN Expediter based on questions received.
    • Attend BofD meetings as needed as a consultant with non-voting status.
    • Participate in FOBNR email discussion group as needed.
    • Send “Thank You” letters acknowledging donations to FOBNR.
    • Time commitment-varies: Prepare the welcome materials for a new member- a few minutes; Short, easy questions- a few minutes or hours. Add more time if a Contact Corner article is written; Researching and writing a longer article may take many hours over several weeks or months-depends on the nature of the question and resources available.

    Archives Coordinator

    • [Note: All archive materials are housed at the Pacific Northwest Railroad Archive (PNRA) in Burien, Washington]
    • Manages the acceptance, transportation and other logistical tasks associated with donations of archival material.
    • Is the interface between the PNRA and the FOBNR and attends, usually via the internet (e.g., Zoom) all regular meetings of the PNRA.
    • The current time commitment is about a few hours a month.

    Calendar Coordinator

    • Receive and collect photo submissions for the next BN calendar.
    • Work with photo selection team to pick 12 monthly and one cover photo for the next year’s calendar.
    • Time commitment: minimal as photos arrive, then 10-20 hours, usually in June, selecting the photos and writing captions.