As our Society grows, we want to improve the ways we can help our members in their quest to build family history legacies, and join with like minded people in a productive and cooperative environment; enjoying the search and improving research techniques along the way.

If you would like to help us, we are in need of volunteers to assist with specific areas of our organization.  Please consider stepping forward for one of these positions and working with a friendly and inviting group of volunteers on our Board of Directors. Time and effort level may be minimal, but your impact will be major. 

Communications Coordinator

Duties: Facilitate communications between our special interest member groups and the Board of Directors, specifically with the Newsletter Editor so that activities and stories can be published in the bi-monthly newsletter. Work with the Social Media Chair, Webmaster/Technologist, and President, to better communicate with our members and with external societies, museums, and libraries with which we do business.

The coordinator of course will have good communication skills, and knowledge of how to write clear and helpful emails internally and externally.

Hospitality Committee Member

Duties: greet and welcome guests at our in-person and hybrid meetings. Maintain Welcome packets to give to the guests. Work with others on the hospitality team to ensure all are welcome at our meetings, and encourage guests to join our society. Coordinate or at least communicate to ensure that there are refreshments to present to our members and guests at our meetings.

The position requires an open communicative style of relating to strangers and regular guests. Simply being friendly is a huge attribute to possess for this job.

Beginners Interest Group

Duties: Help facilitate a monthly discussion group of 7 - 10 members who are interested in getting started on the basics of genealogy research and documentation. Organizing the monthly meetings with notifications will be one of the tasks to complete. This is a new group that is in formation currently.

Good communication skills and an open, friendly conversation style is part of this role. You will get lots of help from the technology chair, to set up the meetings with Zoom if you like, send notices, and several Board members will participate in the meetings to help if you like.

Northbrook Library Help Volunteer

Duties: Volunteer on the 1st Wednesday of the month between 3-5pm at the Northbrook Library to help patrons who "drop-in" to learn about genealogy. Join several other NSGS members who already volunteer, and pick the Wednesdays that fit into your schedule. It is easy and fun, and requires a minimal amount of time commitment through the year. the library provides and sets up the laptops at a desk on the 2nd floor.

Requires a desire to help people get started with genealogy, particularly using the library edition of Ancestry.com. Enjoy meeting people and watching their excitement as they discover what they can find about their ancestors online.

Financial Oversight

Duties: Lead the audit committee in the mandated non-profit organization annual financial audit. Make recommendations for improving secured financial activities. Report to the Board with a written evaluation of the audit results.

The director will have a background in finance and accounting and of course will be interested in working with numbers as well as developing a positive working relationship with the Treasurer and Board members.

Leadership Development

Duties: Lead the annual board nominating committee to retain and recruit skilled volunteers from the membership to serve on the Society’s Board of Directors. Actively seek out skill backgrounds from our members and encourage those individuals to share a little time and effort to improve our society. Review and update as necessary the Standard Operating Procedures for our Board of Directors to reflect current practices and improvements to fill gaps in coverage.

Good people communication skills with a friendly and encouraging approach will be essential to have in this role. Must have a positive outlook to improve the organization’s leadership.

Webmaster or Web Site Maintenance Team Member

Duties: Update the Society’s website pages to be current with helpful information for our members. Work with the friendly Board of Directors to get events and messages out to our members. Utilize an easy to learn and easy to use web page tool. Work with other web design team members, or lead the team as the Webmaster.

Good design skills and familiarity with messaging platforms and a background utilizing online website tools is a beneficial skill set to have for this position.

Library Liaison

Duties: Work with the Program Chair and Board of Directors in coordinating partner programs with the local libraries and museums who host the society monthly meetings. Communicate with the local librarians to plan and schedule the society’s monthly meetings. Partner with the Social Media, Webmaster, and Communication Coordinator to promote library shared activities. 

Requires good communication skills, a friendly and positive attitude and a desire to improve the working relationships between organizations.