Facilitator Kit

Read this out loud to open (2 min)

"W.I.N. started in 2002 and we are building it back. We are writing down our own history so that every board member can tell the same story, and so the workers who built this are in it. We want what worked and what didn't. Nothing you say leaves this room in public form unless you tell us it can. If you'd rather a story be recorded without your name, say so and we'll do that."

Ground rules (3 min)

• One person speaks at a time; everyone speaks once before anyone speaks twice.
• We do not debate whose memory is right — we write down both versions.
• The longest-serving person in the room does not set the frame for everybody else.
• Anyone can say "off the record" at any point, and the notetaker stops writing.

The four questions

Names, dates and campaigns mentioned (notetaker)

What belongs in the public version — ask the room (7 min)

Get explicit permission before any worker's story or name goes into print.

Close (5 min) and follow-up

• Thank the room. Say what happens next and when they will see the draft.
• One-page summary written within 48 hours, while it is fresh.
• Recurring themes tagged and carried to the next board meeting.

Pass 1 — Look back

What clearly worked: workers got paid, an employer changed, congregations showed up.

What did not work, or stopped mattering

Pass 2 — The current context

Warehousing and logistics · hospitality · health care · fear in immigrant communities · stretched agencies · scarce legal help. A workers' center that answers every problem answers none of them well.

Pass 3 — Choose no more than three

What W.I.N. is explicitly NOT doing in 2027

Naming the "not" is what makes the "yes" real — and it is what protects a first employee from being buried.

1. Money — can we actually carry this position?

• Projected revenue covers the position for multiple years (a three-year view, not one funded year).
• We know which revenue is committed and which is hoped for.
• Months of operating reserve on hand: ____________

True annual cost of the hire

2. The job — one job, not every job

• Written job description built from the 2027 priorities (Sheet 2).
• Top three duties named and ranked — those three ARE the job.
• Everything below the line written down as explicitly NOT this job.
• Salary range decided and stated in the posting.

3. Employer setup — before day one

• EIN obtained (IRS Form SS-4).
• Registered with the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development, and with the state for withholding.
• Workers' compensation checked: in Tennessee, non-construction employers generally must carry coverage at five or more employees, and nonprofits get no special exemption — at one employee it is usually optional, but decide on purpose and write down why.
• Unemployment insurance checked: a 501(c)(3) in Tennessee generally becomes a liable employer at four or more employees in each of 20 different calendar weeks in the current or preceding year; 501(c)(3)s may elect to be a reimbursing employer instead of paying premiums.
• Federal taxes understood: 501(c)(3)s are exempt from FUTA but NOT from FICA or income tax withholding.
• Form W-4 collected on or before the first day; Form I-9 within three business days of the start date.
• Payroll handled by a provider or bookkeeper, with the 501(c)(3) determination letter on file with them.
• Written personnel policy adopted by the board BEFORE the first day — not after the first problem.

4. Supervision — decided in advance

• The board supervises the employee as a body, through the chair or one designated officer.
• In writing: what the employee decides alone, what needs the chair, what needs a board vote.
• Written evaluation scheduled at 90 days and annually, with the criteria handed over on day one.
• No individual board member gives the employee direct assignments.

5. The handoff — what the board stops doing

If members keep running the programs after the hire, W.I.N. will pay for staff and still be a volunteer organization.

6. Governance — the board's own turn

• Board job description rewritten for governing, not doing.
• Finance, Governance and Fund Development committees named, with chairs.
• If a founder or board member becomes the paid staff person, they step off the board.
• Recruiting for the gap: finance, legal or HR, and fundraising reach — while keeping worker and congregational voices central.
• 100% board giving achieved or dated (see the Board Fundraising Training).
• Board self-assessment scheduled, and some board time held without staff present.