Board of Directors (Volunteer)
Daly City,
CA,
United States
Saved by the Saddle Foundation is building its founding board, and these are unpaid governance seats. This is not a ceremonial role. We are looking for directors who will read the materials, show up, ask hard questions, and put their name behind the work.
Directors set the mission and annual priorities, approve the budget, oversee leadership, adopt governance policy, and make sure the Foundation meets its legal and reporting obligations. We especially need experience in nonprofit governance, accounting or audit, nonprofit or equine law, fundraising, veteran services, youth services, and equine welfare.
Expect four to six hours a month: quarterly board meetings, one committee, and preparation time. Every director signs our conflict of interest policy annually and completes a background and reference check before appointment.
If you want to give professional expertise without taking on a board seat, apply to Skilled Professional Volunteer instead.
After you apply: someone from the founding team will contact you to talk through your background and what drew you to the work. The Foundation is a newly forming 501(c)(3) and the board is being assembled right now, so these conversations happen on a rolling basis.
Every Role Here Is Unpaid
Saved by the Saddle Foundation is a nonprofit. Board seats and volunteer roles are all unpaid, including our board.
What You Would Do
- Set the mission, strategy, and annual priorities
- Approve the budget and review financial statements
- Oversee and evaluate executive leadership
- Adopt governance policy: conflict of interest, whistleblower, document retention, gift acceptance
- Ensure legal, tax, and reporting obligations are met
- Open doors to donors, partners, and funders
- Serve on at least one committee
Background We Need
- Nonprofit governance and 501(c)(3) compliance
- Accounting, audit, or CFO-level oversight
- Nonprofit or equine law
- Fundraising and major gifts
- Veteran services
- Youth services, education, or child safety
- Equine welfare, rescue, or therapeutic riding
You do not need all of these. You need one of them, and the judgment to know where your expertise ends.
Time Commitment
- Quarterly board meetings, about two hours each
- One committee, roughly monthly
- Preparation time before each meeting
- Four to six hours a month on average
- Fixed, renewable terms
Unpaid position
What We Ask of Every Director
- Sign our conflict of interest policy annually
- Make a personally meaningful financial contribution each year, at whatever level is meaningful for you. There is no minimum. We ask for full board participation because funders ask us whether we have it.
- Act in the Foundation's best interest, not your own
- Complete a background check and reference check before appointment
What Happens After You Apply
We review your application, then set up a conversation with our board chair and corporate secretary. If there is a fit on both sides, you meet the full board, we complete background and reference checks, and the board votes on your appointment.
Expect the process to take several weeks. We would rather take our time than get this wrong.