Article 1 Definitions
1. Board: The Board of Directors of this club.
2. Director: A member of this club’s Board of Directors.
3. Member: A member, other than an honorary member, of this club.
4. RI: Rotary International.
5. Year: The twelve-month period that begins on 1 July.
Article 2 Board
The governing body of this club shall be the board consisting of seven (7) members of this club, namely, one (1) director/board member elected in accordance with Article 3, Section 1, of these bylaws, and the President, President-Elect, Secretary, Treasurer, Lunch Treasurer, and the Immediate Past President.
Article 3 Election of Directors and Officers
Section 1 – At a regular meeting one month prior to the meeting for election of officers, the presiding officer shall ask for nominations by members of the club for President-Elect, Secretary, Treasurer, Lunch Treasurer and one (1) director. The nominations may be presented by a nominating committee or by members from the floor, by either or by both as a club may determine. If it is determined to have a nominating committee, such committee shall be appointed as the club may determine. The nominations duly made shall be voted for at the annual meeting. The candidates for President-Elect, Secretary, Treasurer and Lunch Treasurer receiving the most votes shall be declared elected to their respective offices. The one candidate for director receiving the most votes shall be declared elected as director. The President-Elect shall serve as a director for the year commencing on the first day of July next following the election, and shall assume office as President on the first day of July immediately following that year.
Section 2 – The officers and directors, so elected, together with the immediate past president shall constitute the board.
Section 3 – A vacancy in the board or any office shall be filled by action of the remaining directors.
Section 4 – A vacancy in the position of any officer-elect or director-elect shall be filled by action of the remaining directors-elect.
Section 5 – The President-Elect shall appoint the Sergeant-At-Arms.
Article 4 Duties of Officers
Section 1 – President . 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 president.
Section 2 – President-Elect . It shall be the duty of the President-Elect to serve as a director; to preside at meetings of the club and the board in the absence of the President; and to perform other duties as may be prescribed by the President or the board.
Section 3 – Secretary . It shall be the duty of the Secretary to keep membership records; record attendance at meetings; send out notices of club, board and committee meetings; record and preserve the minutes of such meetings; report as required to RI, including the semiannual reports of membership on 1 January and 1 July of each year, and prorated reports on 1 October and 1 April of each active member who has been elected to membership in the club since the start of the July or January semiannual reporting period, report changes in membership; provide the monthly attendance report, which shall be made to the district governor within 10 days of the last meeting of the month; collect and remit RI official magazine subscriptions; and perform other duties as usually pertain to the office of secretary.
Section 4 – Treasurer . 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 treasurer. 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.
Section 5 – Lunch Treasurer . It shall be the duty of the lunch treasurer to collect all lunch payments from members and guests; to have custody of the lunch account funds; to pay lunch bills when received; to report monthly to the Treasurer and to report annually to the club or at any other time upon demand by the board; and to perform other duties as pertains to the office of lunch treasurer. Upon retirement from office, the lunch treasurer shall turn over to the incoming lunch treasurer or to the president all funds, books of accounts, or any other club property.
Section 6 – Sergeant-at-Arms . The duties of the sergeant-at-arms shall be such as are usually prescribed for such office and other duties as may be prescribed by the president or the board.
Article 5 Meetings
Section 1 – Annual Meeting. An annual meeting of this club shall be held in the month of December, at which time the election of officers and directors to serve for the ensuing year shall take place.
Section 2 – The regular weekly meetings of this club shall be held 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 honorary members, or members excused pursuant to Article 8, Sections 3 and 4 of the Rotary Club constitution) 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’s 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.
Section 3 – One-third of the membership shall constitute a quorum at the annual and regular meetings of this club.
Section 4 – Regular meetings of the board shall be held every other month. Prior to assuming office as president and with the consent of the incoming board, the president-elect shall determine the day and time of board 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.
Section 5 – A majority of the directors shall constitute a quorum of the board.
Article 6 Fees and Dues
Section 1 – The admission fee shall be $0.00 to be paid before the applicant can qualify as a member.
Section 2 – The membership dues shall be $250.00 per annum, payable annually on the first day of July or upon admission to membership, with the understanding that a portion of each annual payment shall be applied to each member’s subscription to the RI official magazine. If membership begins on or after April 1, dues will be waived for the current year.
Article 7 Method of Voting
The business of this club shall be transacted by viva voce* vote. The board may determine that a specific resolution be considered by ballot rather than by viva voce vote.
* Viva voce vote is defined as voting conducted by vocal assent.
Article 8 Four Avenues of Service
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.
Article 9 Committees
Section 1 – 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 planning. When feasible, committee members should be appointed to the same committee for three years to ensure consistency. Prior to taking office as president, the president-elect is responsible for appointing committee members to fill vacancies, appointing committee chairs and conducting planning meetings. It is recommended that the chair have previous experience as a member of the committee.
Section 2 – Standing committees should be appointed as follows:
- 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.
- Service Projects This committee should develop and implement educational, humanitarian and vocational projects that address the needs of its community and communities in other countries.
- The Rotary Foundation This committee should develop and implement plans to support The Rotary Foundation through both financial contributions and program participation.
Section 3 – Additional ad hoc committees may be appointed as needed.
(a) The president shall be ex officio a member of all committees and, as such, shall have all the privileges of membership thereon.
(b) 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.
(c) Each chair 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.
Article 10 Duties of Committees
Section 1 – 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 committee will consider vocational service, community service and international service avenues when developing plans for the year.
Section 2 – 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.
Article 11 Leave of Absence
Section 1 – Upon written application to the board, setting forth good and sufficient cause, leave of absence may be granted excusing a member from attending the meetings of the club for a specified length of time.
Section 2 – Such leave of absence does operate to prevent a forfeiture of membership; it does not operate to give the club credit for the member’s attendance. Unless the member attends a regular meeting of some other club, the excused member must be recorded as absent except that absence authorized under the provisions of article 8, sections 3 and 4 of the standard Rotary club constitution is not computed in the attendance record of the club.
Article 12 Finances
Section 1 – 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 budget shall be broken into two separate parts: one in respect of club operations and one in respect of charitable/service operations.
Section 2 – The treasurer shall deposit all club funds in a bank, named by the board. The club funds shall be divided into two separate parts: club operations and service projects.
Section 3 – All bills shall be paid by the treasurer or other authorized officer after one other officer approves their payment.
Section 4 – The lunch treasurer shall deposit all lunch funds in a bank, named by the board.
Section 5 – All lunch bills shall be paid by the lunch treasurer or other authorized officer after one other officer approves their payment.
Section 6 – A thorough review of all financial transactions by a qualified person, who is appointed by the board and is not one of the club treasurers, shall be made once each year.
Section 7 – Officers having charge or control of club funds shall give bond as required by the board for the safe custody of the funds of the club, cost of bond to be borne by the club.
Section 8 – The fiscal year of this club shall extend from 1 July to 30 June.
Section 9 – Members shall pay their annual dues on 1 July, or upon joining the club.
Section 10 – The payment to Rotary International of per capita dues and RI official magazine subscriptions shall be made on 1 July and 1 January of each year on the basis of the membership of the club on those dates.
Section 11 – The payment to Rotary District 7510 of per capita dues shall be made on 1 July of each year on the basis of the membership of the club on that date.
Section 12 – Federal tax returns shall be submitted to the Internal Revenue Service on 15 November of each year.
Article 13 Method of Electing Members
Section 1 – The name of a prospective member, proposed by an active member 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.
Section 2 – The board shall ensure that the proposal meets all the classification and membership requirements of the standard Rotary club constitution.
Section 3 – The board may designate the Membership Committee to act on its behalf as outlined in this article, Sections 1 and 2. The committee shall submit to the board for its consideration, a recommendation regarding whether or not to approve the proposed member.
Section 4 – The board shall approve or disapprove the proposal within 30 days of its submission, and shall notify the proposer, through the club secretary, of its decision.
Section 5 – If the decision of the board is favorable, the prospective member shall be informed of the purposes of Rotary and of the privileges and responsibilities of membership, following which 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 club.
Section 6 – 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 information about the prospective member, that person, upon payment of the admission fee and annual dues (if not honorary membership), as prescribed in these bylaws, 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, upon payment of the admission fee and annual dues (if not honorary membership), shall be considered to be elected to membership.
Section 7 – Following the election, the president shall arrange for the new member’s induction, membership card, and new member Rotary literature. In addition, the president or secretary will report the new member information to RI and the president will assign a member to assist with the new member’s assimilation to the club as well as assign the new member to a club project or function.
Section 8 – The club may elect, in accordance with the standard Rotary club constitution, honorary members proposed by the board.
Article 14 Resolutions
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.
Article 15 Order of Business
- Meeting called to order.
- Introduction of visitors.
- Correspondence, announcements and Rotary information.
- Committee reports if any.
- Any unfinished business.
- Any new business.
- Address or other program features.
- Adjournment.
Article 16 Amendments
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 mailed 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.
These bylaws were approved by the Rotary Club of Flemington in June 2007.
On 12/4/2014, the Board (with prior club approval) voted to amend the total number of board members to seven (7) as noted in Article 2 and Article 3, Section 1.
On 4/15/2015, the Club (with prior Board approval) voted to amend the by-laws to hold board meetings every other month as noted in Article 5, Section 4.