Bylaws Summary

The Board of Directors of this Club.

A Member of this Club’s Board of Directors.

A standing committee consisting of the current President and all Past Presidents of this Club who are currently active members of the Club.

A Member, other than an honorary Member, of this Club.

Rotary International.

The twelve-month period that begins on July 1 of each calendar year.

The governing body of this Club shall be the Board consisting of thirteen (13) Members of this Club, namely, seven (7) Directors elected in accordance with Article 3, Section 2, of these Bylaws, and the President, President- Elect, Secretary, Treasurer, Sergeant-at-Arms, and the Immediate Past President.

At a special meeting of the Past Presidents Council held at least two (2) months prior to the meeting for election of Officers, the President-Elect shall ask for input from the Past Presidents Council for nominations for President-Nominee, Secretary, Treasurer, and Sergeant-at-Arms. The President-Elect shall then approach those Members nominated to seek their consent to serve as an Officer. At least one (1) week prior to the meeting for election of Officers, the President-Elect shall notify the Members of the Club of the nominations in writing and request any additional nominations from the membership. At the meeting for election of Officers, the President-Elect shall present the candidates nominated and ask for a vote of the Members present in accordance with Article 7. Should more than one (1) Member be nominated for any officer position, a ballot vote shall be conducted. The candidate for President-Nominee elected in such voting shall assume office as President-Elect on the first day of July immediately following the vote.

The seven (7) Directors shall consist of the Directors of the standing committees discussed in Article 9 which consist of Membership, Club Administration, Public Relations, International and Local Service, and The Rotary Foundation along with two (2) Directors-at-Large. These Directors will be chosen by the President-Elect with input as requested from the Past Presidents Council.

The Officers and Directors, so elected and chosen, together with the immediate Past President, shall constitute the Board.

A vacancy in the Board or any office shall be filled by action of the remaining Directors.

A vacancy in the position of any Officer-Elect or Director-Elect shall be filled by action of the remaining Directors-Elect.

It shall be the duty of the President to preside at meetings of the Club and the Board, and to perform other duties as ordinarily pertain to the office of the President.

It shall be the duty of the President-Elect to serve as a Director and to perform such other duties as may be prescribed by the President or the Board. The President-Elect is also responsible for promoting attendance at District Conference, managing the Red Bad New Member Orientation program, and identifying his/her Board of Directors in a timely fashion.

It shall be the duty of the Secretary to

1. keep membership records;
2. record attendance at meetings;
3. send out notices of the Club, Board and Committee meetings;
4. record and preserve the minutes of such meetings;
5. report as required to RI, including changes in membership;
6. perform other duties as usually pertain to the office of the Secretary.

It shall be the duty of the Treasurer to have custody of all funds, accounting for it to the Club annually and at any other time upon demand by the Board, and to perform other duties as pertains to the office of the Treasurer including maintenance of bank accounts and banking software and interactions. Upon retirement from office, the Treasurer shall turn over to the incoming Treasurer or to the President all funds, books of accounts, or any other Club property.

The duties of the Sergeant-at-Arms shall be to set up and break down our designated room for weekly meetings, maintain all related supplies, and other duties as may be prescribed by the President or the Board. It is strongly advised that the Sergeant-at-Arms convene a committee to assist with the above duties.

The Club shall hold a minimum of two (2) assemblies, one (1) each in July and January of the current year, which shall serve the purposes of semi-annual meetings to inform the Members of official Club business, establishment of Club goals and objectives for the current year, and a progress report of said goals and objectives. Additional assemblies may be held at the discretion of the President or the Board.

The regular weekly meetings of this Club shall be on Wednesday at 12:15 p.m. Due notice of any changes in or canceling of the regular meeting shall be given to all Members of the Club. All Members excepting an honorary in good standing in this Club, on the day of the regular meeting, must be counted as present or absent, and attendance must be evidenced by the Member being present for at least sixty (60) percent of the time devoted to the regular meeting, either at this Club or at any other Rotary Club, or as otherwise provided in the standard Rotary Club Constitution, Article 8, Sections 1 and 2.

One-third of the membership shall constitute a quorum at the assemblies and regular meetings of this Club.

Regular meetings of the Board shall be held monthly at a time preceding the regular weekly meetings. Special meetings of the Board shall be called by the President, whenever deemed necessary, or upon the request of two (2) Directors, due notice having been given.

A majority of the Directors shall constitute a quorum of the Board.

The admission fee shall be $300.00 to be paid as part of the first payment of dues made by a newly-inducted Member.

The membership dues shall be approximately $375.00 per quarter, due and payable on the first day of July, October, January and April, with the understanding that a portion of each quarterly payment shall be applied to each Member’s subscription to the RJ official magazine.

• Rule of 85: $128.00/Quarter plus cost of meals when eating – dues are full member dues minus the cost of meals
• Rule of 85: age plus time in Rotary equals 85 with a minimum of 20 years of service to Rotary
• An Associate Member is still an Active Member and an integral part of our club, meaning they attend social and project activities when they can, they attend in person and pay for meals at the door when they can, they participate in club operations in some form, and they attend regular meetings on Zoom about 80% of the time.  An Associate Member pays a Room/Technology Fee to help cover the club’s costs to provide a meeting place and to provide Zoom services of $50/quarter.

Dues shall be subject to annual review by the board.

The business of this Club, including election of Officers, shall be transacted by viva voce vote. The Board may determine that a specific resolution be considered by email vote rather than by viva voce vote.

The Four Avenues of Service are the philosophical and practical framework for the work of this Rotary Club. They are Club Service, Vocational Service, Community Service, and International Service. This Club will be active in each of the Four Avenues of Service.

Club Committees are charged with carrying out the annual and long-range goals of the Club, based on the Four Avenues of Service. The President-Elect, President and Immediate Past-President should work together to ensure continuity of leadership and succession of planning. When feasible, Committee Members should be appointed to the same committee for a minimum of two (2) years to ensure consistency. The President-Elect is responsible for appointing a Director to chair each standing committee, and each Director is responsible for appointing

• Membership - This committee should develop and implement a comprehensive plan for the recruitment and retention of Members.
• Club Public Relations - This committee should develop and implement plans to provide the public with information about Rotary and to promote the Club’s service projects and activities.
• Club Administration - This committee should conduct activities associated with the effective operation of the Club.
• Local Service Projects - This committee should develop and implement local projects that are in alignment with the seven (7) areas for focus determined by Rotary International: (1) promoting peace, (2) fighting disease, (3) providing clean water, (4) saving mothers and children, (5) supporting education, (6) growing local economies. And (7) The Environment.
• International Service Projects - This committee should develop and implement international projects that are in alignment with the seven (7) areas for focus determined by Rotary International: (1) promoting peace, (2) fighting disease, (3) providing clean water, (4) saving mothers and children, (5) supporting education, (6) growing local economies and The Environment. .
• The Rotary Foundation - This committee should develop and implement plans to support The Rotary Foundation through both financial contributions and program participation.

Additional sub-committees may be appointed, as needed. The President shall be ex officio a Member of all committees and, as such, shall have all the privileges of membership therein. Each committee shall transact its business, as is delegated to it in these Bylaws, and such additional business, as may be referred to it by the President or the Board. Except where special authority is given by the Board, such committees shall not take action until a report has been made and approved by the Board. Each Director shall be responsible for regular meetings and activities of the committee, shall supervise and coordinate the work of the committee, and shall report to the Board on all committee activities.

The duties of all committees shall be established and reviewed by the President for His or Her year. In declaring the duties of each, the President shall make reference to appropriate RI materials. The Service Project Committees will consider vocational service, community service and international service avenues when developing plans for the year. Each committee shall have a specific mandate, clearly defined goals, and action plans established by the beginning of each year for implementation during the course of the year. It shall be the primary responsibility of the President-Elect to provide the necessary leadership to prepare a recommendation for Club Committees, mandates, goals and plans for presentation to the Board in advance of the commencement of the year, as noted above.

Upon written application to the Board, setting forth good and sufficient cause (i.e. declining health, financial difficulty and family crisis), leaves of absence may be granted excusing a Member from attending the meetings of the Club for a specified length of time, not to exceed one year. A member’s dues payments must be up-to-date before such a request may be granted be granted.

Prior to the beginning of each fiscal year, the Board shall prepare a budget of estimated income and expenditures for the year, which shall stand as the limit of expenditures for these purposes, unless otherwise ordered by action of the Board.

The Treasurer shall deposit all Club funds in a bank, named by the Board.

A thorough review of all financial transactions by an independent,, qualified person(non-treasurer) or accounting firm shall be done every 3 to 5 years. i. Best Practice: Prefer an accountant from another Club to complete this review.

The Club shall maintain a form of checks and balances to prevent mismanagement by requiring all moving money to have approval from more than one board member.

The fiscal year of this Club shall extend from July 1 to June 30, and for the collection of Members’ dues, shall be divided into four (4) quarterly periods extending from July 1 to September 30, October 1 to December 31, January 1 to March 31, and April 1 to June 30. The payment of per capita dues and RI official magazine subscriptions shall be made on July 1 and January 1 of each year, on the basis of the membership of the Club on those dates.

The prospective Member shall be informed of the purposes of Rotary and of the privileges and responsibilities of membership by attending a Prospective Member Orientation which shall also be attended, at a minimum, by the President-Elect and the nominating Member. Following this event, the prospective Member shall be requested to sign the membership proposal form and to permit his or her name and proposed classification to be published to the Board, and then the Club, as outlined below.

The name of a proposed Member, proposed by an active Member and endorsed by two (2) other Members of the Club, shall be submitted to the Board in writing, through the Club Secretary. A transferring or former Member of another club may be proposed to active membership by the former club. The proposal shall be kept confidential, except as otherwise provided in this procedure.

The Board shall ensure that the proposal meets all the classification and membership requirements of the standard Rotary Club constitution.

The Board shall approve or disapprove the proposal within thirty (30) days of its submission, and shall notify the proposer, through the Club Secretary, of its decision.

If the decision of the Board is favorable, the name and proposed classification of the prospective Member shall be published to the Club.

If no written objection to the proposal, stating reasons, is received by the Board from any Member (other than honorary) of the Club within seven (7) days following publication of the information about the prospective Member, that person shall be considered to be elected to membership. If any such objection has been filed with the Board, it shall vote on this matter at its next meeting. If approved despite the objection, the proposed Member shall be considered to be elected to membership.

Following the election, the President shall arrange for the new Member’s induction and new Member Rotary literature. In addition, the Secretary will report the new Member information to RI. The President-Elect will schedule the new Member’s participation in the “Red Badge Program”, which will include attendance at new Member classes designed to educate the inductee on Rotary International, as well as assimilate him/her to the workings of the Club. Upon completion of these classes, the new Member will be required to select a club project, committee and/or area of service to with which to volunteer!

The Club may elect, in accordance with the standard Rotary Club Constitution, honorary Members proposed by the Board.

The Club may elect, in accordance with Rotary International’s Guide to Corporate Membership, “Model A” Corporate Members, if proposed by the Board. 

The Club shall not consider any resolution or motion to commit the Club on any matter until the Board has considered it. Such resolutions or motions, if offered at a Club meeting, shall be referred to the Board without discussion.

Agenda

• Meeting called to order
• Invocation/Prayer
• Pledge of Allegiance
• Introduction of visitors and guests
• Correspondence, announcements and Rotary information
• Committee reports, if any
• Any new business
• Address or other program features
• Weekly program/speaker
• Library book presentation
• GRSP raffle drawing
• Any unfinished business
• Four-way Test
• Adjournment.

These Bylaws may be amended at any regular meeting, a quorum being present, by a two-thirds vote of all Members present, provided that notice of such proposed amendment shall have been emailed to each Member at least ten (10) days before such meeting. No amendment or addition to these Bylaws can be made which is not in harmony with the standard Rotary Club Constitution and with the Constitution and Bylaws of RI.