THE Delaware woodworkerS
welcoming woodworkers of all skill levels
2004
THE DELAWARE WOODWORKERS GUILD BY-LAWS
ARTICLE 1 NAME AND PURPOSE
The Delaware Woodworkers Guild is a 501(c)(7) organization with the purpose to share woodworking knowledge and techniques; to educate through demonstrations, courses and shop visits; to create an inclusive social network for area woodworkers of all ages, and to help charitable causes in our community with our woodworking skills
ARTICLE 2 MEMBERSHIP AND DUES
MEMBERSHIP: Membership in the Guild is established by filling out the appropriate application, agreeing to the purpose of the Guild, and paying the annual
dues. Membership is continued by paying annual dues by the third meeting of each year.
PROSPECTIVE MEMBERS: Prospective members may attend a meeting as a guest of the Guild. If the individual chooses to join the Guild, he/she may do so by completing the membership application. He/she may pay the annual dues at that time, or by paying at the next meeting and giving it to the Treasurer.
GUESTS: A member may periodically invite a guest on a one-time basis; the member would be responsible for the meeting costs for the guest should there be any.
DUES: Dues are collected on an annual basis in an amount recommended by the Board of Directors and approved by Membership at the Annual Meeting. Dues are collected from January through March to cover the operating, special program, and administrative expenses of the Guild. A membership year runs from January 1 to December 31
ARTICLE 3 OFFICERS AND ST ANDING COMMITTEES
OFFICERS: Elected officers of the Guild are President, Vice-President, Secretary, and Treasurer. The elected term is one year and officers may succeed themselves. In the event the President does not complete his/her term, the Vice President shall succeed him/her. Other vacancies will be filled by appointment by the President.
STANDING COMMITTEES: There are (5) five standing committees: Program, Membership, Election, Audit, and Raffle. The Vice President is the Program chairperson; other Standing Committee chairpersons are appointed by the President.
The responsibilities of these committees are:
PROGRAM: Plan and schedule the monthly programs of the Guild. Arrange for appropriate meeting space, speaker arrangements, and other special needs, including expenses.
MEMBERSHIP: Develop plans and actions to communicate the existence of the Guild to the public in the region, contact perspective members, and be on hand to welcome new members at the monthly meeting.
ELECTION: Plan and conduct the Annual Election of Officers at the Annual meeting. Count and report the results of the Election at the meeting to the President and meeting attendees.
AUDIT: Conduct a financial audit of the Guild accounts and financial activities at year end. Report the results to the President at the January meeting and provide a report to the membership.
RAFFLE: Organize and run raffles at Guild meetings.
ARTICLE 4 DUTIES OF THE OFFICERS
PRESIDENT: The President speaks for and represents the Guild to the public. He/she presides at all membership meetings and meetings of the Board of Directors. He/she is responsible for seeing that purpose and procedures of the Guild are followed and for the overall planning and directing the activities of the Guild.
VICE PRESIDENT: The Vice President shall act on behalf of the President when requested by the President. In the event the President does not complete the term, the Vice President shall assume the duties and appoint a successor as Vice President. The Vice President is the Program Committee chairperson.
SECRETARY: The Secretary shall keep the minutes of all meetings and maintain the archives of the Guild.
TREASURER: The Treasurer controls the accounts for the funds of the Guild. He/she shall receive all dues, make disbursements, and maintain a checking account. He/she shall work with the President in developing/maintaining a budget. He/she shall report the financial position of the Guild to membership at least quarterly. Treasurer shall maintain the active membership lists and work with the Editor keep membership list up-to-date.
ARTICLE 5 DUTIES OF OTHER GUILD OFFICES:
EDITOR: The Editor is responsible for publishing monthly news to the membership by e-mail (or mail as appropriate). The news should include recent membership meetings, a meeting notice for two months forward, outside and member advertisements, new member announcements, etc. He/she maintains the Guild mailing list(s), working with the Treasurer. Editor shall maintain the Guild email and all responses.
LIBRARIAN: The Librarian is responsible for the lending library of the Guild. The library consists of books, drawings, cd/dvds, video tapes, catalogs, etc. He/she will disperse/collect the items at monthly membership meetings. Members will make lending requests by e-mail or telephone to the Librarian.
RAFFLARIAN: The Rafflarian is responsible for organizing and running the raffles at the monthly and Annual meetings.
WEBMASTER: The Webmaster has administrative access to and maintains the Guild website.
ARTICLE 6 BOARD OF DIRECTORS
MEMBERS: The Board of Directors shall consist of the elected officers of the Guild, plus two members appointed jointly by the President and Vice President.
MEETINGS: Meetings of the Board of Directors will be called by the President or, in his/her absence, called by the Vice President. At least two Board meetings are mandatory: January, to review and accept the Audit report and to confirm the budget and program for the year, and October/early November, to review and accept the budget and program for the next year.
QUORUM: At least four members of the Board are required for a quorum.
DUTIES: The Board of Directors determines and guides the implementation of Guild policies, programs and practices to ensure the Guild operates for the purposes approved by the members. The Board of Directors shall see to the establishment of procedures designed to guide the operations of the Guild.
ARTICLE 7 ELECTIONS
COMMITTEE: The President shall appoint a nominating committee consisting of at least one member of the Guild.
NOMINATIONS: Any member may submit a nominee for any elected position, or self- nominate. Only members who have satisfied their annual dues requirement can be nominated. Nominations may be submitted at or after the October meeting.
ELECTIONS: Elections will be held during the Guild’s November meeting. At the time of the election of officers, the ELECTION committee chairperson shall request nominations from the floor, and when nominations are closed, the election will proceed by ballot or voice vote. The committee will count the votes and immediately communicate the result. Only members who have satisfied their annual dues requirement can vote.
ARTICLE 8 MEETINGS
The Annual Business Meeting and Elections will be held at the November meeting. The Regular meetings will be held on the 3rd Wednesday of each month, subject to the schedule drawn at the beginning of each year, and modified on an as-needed basis.
Special meeting of the Membership may be called by the President upon request from the Board of Directors. Such meetings would have a restricted agenda, confining the business to a specific topic. Additionally, to meet the scheduling needs of invited presenters, regular meetings will be rescheduled well in advance.
Ordinary business requiring a vote for passage will require a majority of members in attendance. Fiduciary matters such as the Annual Budget or expenditures requiring member contributions will require a 2/3 majority of members present.
ARTICLE 9 LIBRARY
The Guild will establish collections of woodworking information including, but not limited to such items as project plans, drawings, material specifications, wood working
publications, specialty tools, industrial and consumer information, training schedules and informational seminars and meetings and a catalog of Web sites containing these data.
The ownership of these items shall be with the Guild unless the contributor desires to retain ownership. In the event of the dissolution of the Guild, all information archives will be donated, free of charge, to an appropriate lending library. The name of which will be decided by the Librarian. The Librarian will return all “lent” items to their original owner, if reasonably possible.
ARTICLE 10 LIABILITY RELEASE
Members hold the Guild, its Directors, and members harmless from any injury incurred during training classes or meeting demonstrations, etc.
ARTICLE 11 DISSOLUTION
Upon dissolution of the Guild, the Board of Directors, or in the absence thereof, an elected committee may, after paying or making provisions for payments of all liabilities of the Guild, dispose of all assets of the Guild in accordance with the meaning of the 501(c)(3) Internal Revenue Code, or the corresponding section of any future federal tax code.
ARTICLE 12 AMENDMENTS
These by-laws may be revised at any regular meeting; notice of the pending change must be given at the previous meeting. A copy of the proposed amendment/revision will be e- mailed to each member and included in the e-mail will be the date of the scheduled vote.
Following discussion, a vote by members present will be taken; 2/3 majority of total members voting is required to adopt the amendment/revision.