Whether a nonprofit is a traditional charity or a sporting club, the one thing that all non-profits share in common is the great need for volunteers.  According to the latest figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, it is becoming harder for non-profits to recruit all of the help that they need.  Fewer Australians are donating their time and talents to their favourite causes.  One way that non-profits can broaden their appeal to volunteers and donors is by seeking greater gender balance on their boards.

Boards can increase their gender balance by seeking out qualified women to fill visible leadership roles in their organisation. The role of the volunteer treasurer has typically been filled by men in the past, but it is a role that may be better suited to a woman’s unique traits and strengths.

According to research reported in an article by PCMA Convene women are more effective than men in over 16 key leadership areas, including:  taking initiative, analysing issues and solving problems, communication, collaboration and team work, displaying a high degree of honesty and morals, as well as being results driven. Each of these areas is directly related to the skillset that a treasurer needs to be successful.

The same report found that organisations that have greater gender balance are also more profitable. While earnings are not the focus of non-profits, revenue remains important so that non-profits can achieve their service goals while operating in a sustainable manner.

Since the research seems to suggest that women naturally acquire skills that make them well qualified to fill the role of treasurer, and since women make up slightly over half of Australia’s population, one might reasonably expect to find large numbers of women serving as volunteer treasurers. While it is common to find female treasurers at smaller community based charities, such as those organised around school or children’s activities, few of the larger boards and high profile sports clubs select women to serve in the role of treasurer.

Hopefully, as women take on a greater number of leadership roles in our government and workplace it will dispel any lingering stereotypes that might hold back the board of a club or charity from appointing a woman to be the volunteer treasurer. After all, the NSW Premier Mike Baird just increased the gender balance of his cabinet earlier this year by appointing Gladys Berejiklian, the former Transport Minister, to be the state’s first female Treasurer while also appointing the former Minister of Family and Community Services, Gabrielle Upton, to be the state’s first female Attorney General. If a woman is qualified to fill the role of Treasurer for the state of New South Wales, surely a woman can be qualified and well suited to fill the role of volunteer treasurer at our larger non-profit clubs and charities.