The North Carolina Museum of Art (NCMA) Volunteer Board was formed in 1967 by the creation of a Steering Committee under the North Carolina Art Society. An organizational memo, dated October 1967, explained the purpose of the organization of volunteer museum aides as fostering interest in the museum and increasing membership in the society and engaging in activities to promote the purpose of the museum. This memo stated that the museum already had a small number of dedicated volunteers already working in the museum outside the docent program. Funding for volunteer activities was made through the North Carolina Art Society.

A steering committee was apppointed to organize the volunteer and museum aide work through 1972. In 1974, a volunteer board was organized to continue the operation of these activities within the NCMA. This board coordinated volunteer positions within the museum, including staffing the information and reception desk, the bookshop, a rental and sales gallery, hospitality services, the reference library and assisting with office work in the North Carolina Art Society.

The Volunteer Board's yearly activities began in August and ended in June. Volunteer positions during the slow summer months were either assigned to high school and college students or were left vacant. Each fall the organization would hold a recruitment meeting and orientation to train and assign volunteer positions.

The Volunteer Board coordinated the volunteers' work with the North Carolina Art Society and NCMA staff. The North Carolina Art Society acted as the membership arm of the NCMA. The records provide insight into the process of assigning volunteer positions/jobs and training procedures. Each year the Board organized a thank you party for all volunteers in recognition of their contributions to the operation of the NCMA.

The Volunteer Board actively participated in two national volunteer groups, Volunteer Committee of Art Museums (VCAM) and the United States Association of Museum Volunteers (USAMV) by sending representatives to conferences. The board also made efforts to report volunteer activities at NCMA to VCAM on a regular basis.

In conjunction with the NCMA docent organization, the Volunteer Board participated in the production of a newsletter to communicate activities to the volunteers. From 1975 through 1982, the newsletter was produced through the Education Department of NCMA. The Volunteer Board, in 1983, formed a newsletter committee to take over the duties of producing a volunteer and docent newsletter on a regular basis.

The NCMA Volunteer Board continued to be funded by the North Carolina Art Society until about 1982. Subsequently, the NCMA took over funding of some activities for the volunteer organization. The Volunteer Board continued to receive funds from the North Carolina Art Society for travel and registration to the VCAM Conferences. These funds were placed in the NCMA Foundation Account to be drawn during Conference years. The Volunteer Board also began to collect dues of five dollars from each volunteer to help defer additional costs/ A non-profit bank account was opened in the Volunteer Board name and was used to collect dues as well as pay for the costs of publishing the newsletter and other expenses not covered by NCMA or the North Carolina Art Society.

Guidelines for volunteers were written by the Volunteer Board in 1978. The board considered creating bylaws and a consitution, much like the NCMA docent organization. It decided instead on guidelines because such a document would allow changes without the formality of passing amendments. The guidelines were revised again in 1982 and in 1984. The 1984 revision of the guidelines defined the purpose of the NCMA Volunteers as follows: to promote the welfare of the North Carolina Museum of Art and to promote public interest and participation in volunteer activities of the museum; to coordinate, strengthen, and assist in the training of such volunteers; to assist and cooperate with the North Carolina Museum of Art and its staff in any or all of its efforts and programs.