Board of Directors Orientation Manual for a non-profit : Case: The Vietnamese Student Association in Finland

Abstract

This is a project- oriented thesis with an Orientation Manual for new-coming members of Board of Directors as the outcome. The Orientation Manual will serve as guidelines for Board members to carry their roles in the association and helps creating working relationship among Board members. The thesis was commissioned by the Vietnamese Student Association in Finland – a non-profit that was founded in 2003 and is currently based in Helsinki. The association provides sport, education and culture- exchange activities to preserve and promote the unique of Vietnamese culture to the Finnish community.

The project began in December 2013 and was ready to deliver in May 2014. There are three main parts in the thesis structure: the theory, the research and the actual Orientation Manual.

The theoretical framework focuses on human behaviour in non-profit sector, which includes volunteer motivation and Board behaviour as the association leaders. These issues are discussed from extensive sources of academic articles and literature. The second part is a research which is conducted from both management and non-management point of view in order to gain practical understanding of the matters.

The Manual is built based on desktop reasearch of manuals from similar local non-profit, findings from theory study and results research. Upon delivered, the Manual is considered valuable documentation for the commissioning association.