FAIRFIELD WOMEN’S CLUB BY-LAWS

Article I:  Name

1.1           The name of the club shall be Fairfield Women’s Club.

Article II:  Objective

 2.1       The purpose of this Club is to promote new social interests, coordinate events for the community and pursue intellectual and civic improvement.

Article III:  Membership

 3.1       Any Woman who resides in the development of Fairfield is eligible for membership.

3.2       No Fairfield resident shall be allowed to attend more than two (2) meetings as a guest within a one (1) year period without then joining the membership of the Club and paying the designated dues.

3.3      A member is required to pay dues. She shall share duties, as needed, for various club activities. She shall be eligible to serve as an officer or chairperson. Any member planning to move from Fairfield
shall notify the Second Vice President.

       3.4     Non-resident members shall be sponsored by a Fairfield Women’s Club member in good standing. The dues will be the same as for  general  members. Non-resident members shall have the same rights as a  Fairfield Women’s Club resident member except will not be able to hold office.

Article IV:  Dues

4.1       The annual dues shall be payable at the June meeting. Full dues are payable from June through May.

4.2       Amount of dues shall be reviewed by the membership and voted upon at the April meeting.  A majority vote of paid members in attendance is necessary for a change.

Article V:  Executive Committee

 5.1       There shall be an Executive Committee composed of the elected officers, who, upon installation shall also be known as the Board of Directors of the Fairfield Women’s Club.  Both quorums shall be three (3).

5.2       A vacancy in any office, excluding that of President, shall be appointed for the unexpired term by the Executive Committee. It shall have the authority to declare a vacancy in any office, or committee,
excluding that of President, for failure to perform the respective duties.

5.3      The Executive Committee shall meet once a month prior to the general meeting. Special meetings of
the Executive Committee may be called by the President.

5.4       The Executive Committee shall formulate plans and policies and shall take care of business occurring between General Meetings and report any such business at the next General Meeting.  The Executive Committee shall also make recommendations for the benefit of the Club.

5.5      The Executive Committee shall submit a budget for approval at the August Board meeting. The approved budget shall be distributed to members attending the September General meeting.

Article VI:  Committees

6.1      The President shall have general supervision over the following committees: By-Laws, Caring and all Fundraising and Activity Committees. The First Vice-President shall have general supervision over the Hospitality Committee.

6.2      All committee chairpersons shall be appointed by the President and approved by the Executive Committee. Committee chairperson are not considered board members.

6.3      Committee chairperson needing to make expenditures that are five percent or more over the amount budgeted must obtain prior approval of the Executive Committee.

6.4       Duties of the Committee Chairperson:

(A)    By-laws: Shall review and make recommendations concerning the By-laws of the club to be presented at the March meeting and voted upon at the April meeting.

(B)    Hospitality: Shall secure hostesses for all meetings of the club. She will also be responsible
for arriving thirty (30) minutes early and staying as long as necessary.
 Each hostess unable to serve at her scheduled time shall notify the Chairperson.

(C)    Caring: Shall be responsible for sending cards and performing other acts of caring toward club members when informed of a need for such action by other club members.

(D)    Fundraiser and Activity: Committees shall be responsible for the date and time of activity; reserving the site for the activity; concessions; soliciting participants, sponsors and donors; staffing on the day of the event and writing thank you notes to sponsors and donors.

6.5      All incoming committees shall meet prior to the August Board Meeting to formulate tentative plans for the forthcoming year. All committee chairpersons must meet with the Executive Committee for
the approval of tentative projects and plans before presentation to the membership. All committee chairpersons shall review and consider the committee reports from the previous year.

6.6    Each chairperson may request to attend any Executive Committee meeting. The President may also request any chairperson to attend an Executive Committee meeting. In each instance the President will determine the time chairpersons need to arrive.

6.7      Temporary committees shall be appointed as deemed necessary by the Executive Committee and shall report to an Executive Committee member.

6.8      Chairpersons of all committees (Standing and Temporary) shall keep a notebook of committee
information to hand over to the next chairperson. Chairpersons of all committees (Standing and Temporary) shall submit to the President a written report at the June meeting following their tenure in office. The report is to include details of work done, budget report, evaluations and suggestions. The report is to be passed on to the next chairperson. All reports can be made available for review by the club membership.

 Article VII:  Elected Officers and their Duties

 7.1       Elected officers shall be:  President, First Vice President, Second Vice President, Secretary and Treasurer.  Term of office shall be one year.

7.2       The President shall:

(A)       Preside at all meetings of the Club and Executive Committee.

(B)       Be ex-officio member of all committees, except the Nomination/Election Committee.

(C)       Have authority to write and sign checks.

(D)       Have general supervision over the Club.

(E)       Be responsible for passing on committee chairperson’s records.

(F)       Serve in and advisory position for one year following tenure of office.  As advisor, she can request to attend any board meeting or the President may invite her to attend any board meeting.  She is not a voting member of the Board.

(G)       If needed, appoint one (1) member from the Executive Committee to collect mail from the designated postal box.

7.3       The First Vice President shall:

(A)       Serve an as assistant to the President and in her absence shall perform the duties of that office.

(B)       Be responsible for General Meetings and special activities.

(1)       General Meetings consist of guest speakers, demonstrations and group activities.

(2)       Special activities consist of special interest groups, field trips and other activities.

(C)       Have General Meeting schedule outlined for approval of the Executive Committee.

(D)       Reserve the club meeting place for General Meetings.

(E)       Be responsible for room arrangement, décor, door prizes, and other details at the General Meetings.

(F)       Have authority to write and sign checks.

7.4       The Second Vice President shall:

(A)       Serve as Membership Chairperson by promoting membership.

(B)       Be responsible for greeting guests, signing in members and guests and recognizing new members at each meeting.

(C)       Encourage new members by sending invitations to new residents.  Contact eligible guests who have attended two (2) meetings to join.

(D)       Be responsible for organizing New Members socials.

(E)       Have authority to write and sign checks.

7.5       The Secretary shall:

(A)       Keep the minutes and attendance of each meeting of the Executive Committee as well as the minutes of the General Meeting.

(B)       Read the minutes of the preceding meeting.

(C)       Keep on file in the book of minutes the original copy of the By-laws Amendments and all correspondence papers of the Club.

(D)       Keep an accurate list of officers and committee members.

(E)       Have authority to write and sign checks.

(F)       Conduct all correspondence as directed by the President.

7.6       The Treasurer shall:

(A)       Formulate a tentative budget for review and approval at the June General Meeting.

(B)       Collect all dues, receive all club money and make authorized disbursements as per the budget.

(C)       Keep and itemized account of all receipts and disbursements.

(D)       Render a balanced report at Executive Committee meetings and General Meetings.

(E)       Compile and maintain an accurate list of paid members.

(F)       Have books in order by June meeting following term in office.  Books may be audited by a committee consisting of three (3) members appointed by the President.  The audit shall take place prior to the July meeting.

(G)       Compile and distribute an end-of-the-year report to be presented at the May General Meeting.

Article VIII:  Non-elected Officers and their Duties

 8.1       The non elected officer shall be Parliamentarian.  The Parliamentarian shall serve in an advisory position.  Term in office shall be one (1) year.

8.2       The Parliamentarian shall be prepared to state and interpret the guidelines of the By-laws and Robert’s Rules when called upon by the President. 

Article IX:  Meetings 

9.1       Special meetings may be called by the President, and only such business for which the meeting was called shall be transacted at such meeting.

9.2       Majority of the paid membership present shall constitute a quorum.  If a member has moved from Fairfield after paying dues, she shall not be considered as a member in determining the quorum.

9.3       The March General Meeting shall be the Nomination meeting.  The April General Meeting shall be the Election meeting.  The May General Meeting shall include the installation of officers.

9.4       If necessary, meetings of the Executive Committee shall be held preceding each General Meeting of the Club.

9.5       The fiscal year shall be from June 1 to May 31, inclusive.

Article X:  Nomination and Elections

10.1     All officers shall serve for a term of one (1) year or until their successors are elected and installed.  No member shall hold more than one (1) office at any one time:  no officer shall be eligible for the same office for more than two (2) consecutive terms.

10.2     The President shall appoint (1) general club member to serve as chairperson of the Nomination/Election Committee.  One (1) member shall be elected from the Executive Committee.  Three (3) members shall be elected from the body at the February meeting.  Anyone on the Nomination/Election Committee may be nominated for office, but after being nominated, said member shall resign from the Committee.  The chairperson of the Nomination/Election Committee shall appoint a replacement.

10.3     It is the purpose of the Nomination/Election Committee to present a slate of qualified candidate(s) for each office at the March General Meeting.  The Committee is not required to nominate more than one (1) candidate for a given office, but may do so.  Nominations from the floor are in order for each office at the March meeting, providing consent by the nominee is given.  No person may run for more than one office.  If nominated for more than one office, the nominee must decline all but one nomination.

10.4     The Nomination/Election Committee is responsible for reporting the results of the election after the ballots have been counted (see Section 10.5).

10.5     Election

(A)       Election shall be by ballot at the April General Meeting.  Members unable to attend the April meeting may vote absentee (see Section 10.6).

(B)       Members shall obtain their ballots when they sign in and their names will be checked off the list of eligible voters.

(C)       The President may vote by ballot at the time other members vote.

(D)       Voted ballots shall be counted by two or more members of the Nomination/Election Committee.

(E)       In case of a tie, the Committee chairpersons shall announce those candidates who won their elections, new ballots are then distributed and a revote is taken for the office(s) in which a tie vote occurred.  Absentee ballots are to be counted along with the re-voted ballots.

(F)       Those eligible to vote shall be members as described in Article III.

(G)       A vacancy in any office, except that of the President, shall be appointed by the Executive Committee.  In the event of the vacancy of the Presidency, the First Vice President assumes the position.

(H)       In the event of the resignation of any officer-elect, the position shall be filled by a special election with the previous officer for the position filling the vacancy in the interim.

10.6     Absentee Voting

(A)       Any member unable to attend the April meeting may vote absentee if notice is given to the Nomination/Election Committee at least two (2) weeks prior to the April meeting.

(B)       The Nomination/Election Committee shall send to the member the absentee ballot, a self-addressed outer return envelope and an inner return envelope.  Absentee ballots shall be a different color from the standard ballot.

(C)       The Chairperson of the Nomination/Election Committee shall bring all unopened inner return envelopes to the April meeting.  The names of all absentee voters will then be checked off the list of all members eligible to vote, the envelopes shall be opened in the presence of two (2) or more committee members, and the folded ballots shall be deposited in a receptacle for ballots for later counting with the ballots of those members who are present.

Article XI:  Checking Account

11.1     The checking account is maintained as part of the Fairfield Village Community Association (FVCA) account.

11.2     All members of the Executive Committee have authority to write and sign checks.

(A)       Signature authority is updated annually with the installation of each new Board.

Article XII:  Parliamentarian Authority

12.1     Robert’s Rules of Order, newly revised shall be the authority on all questions of parliamentary procedure not covered in these By-laws.

Article XIII:  Amendments

13.1     These By-laws may be amended by two-thirds vote of the members present at a General Meeting, provided amendment(s) has (have) been presented to the membership at a previous General Meeting.

The Fairfield Women’s Club is a 501(c)4, a tax-exempt non-profit organization.