Comparisons and Contrasts - Research in Progress

First, I want to apologize to Tim for missing his broadcast yesterday.  I got busy outside and lost track of time - NO EXCUSE!  I'll do better next Sunday.  :)  And while I'm on the subject, Tim does a great job hosting Pagan Perspectives on talk radio.  http://www.blogtalkradio.com/pagan-perspectives  This is an interactive show, so please listen to the show, call in and participate!

I've always believed that one can tell the nature of an organization by how the Articles of Incorporation and/or Bylaws are written. Last night I took some time to look up the bylaws of several pagan groups and churches around the country.  Some were very good - others belied a deep, dark secret that seemed to be more common than not.

Whenever an organization has a set of organizing documents that contains a rigid administrative organizing structure, be very very wary.  For instance, in many of the documents I researched there were a few that had common provisions that indicated that these organizations weren't much more than a clique set in stone.

   (1)  The organizing board membership is perpetual, has no provisions for removal or replacement, and the organization's existence hangs solely on the participation of the organizing board.
   (2) The Board of Directors is hand picked AND there's no provision for the general membership to altar the Board.
   (3)  There's "levels" of membership in the organizing documents and everyone on the Board is automatically given the highest level of membership while the general membership that come afterwards has to "earn" that same level of membership through fulfillment of acts, achievenments, etc...

Ok, there's no doubt that when organizing there has to be a Board, and without a doubt that Board has to be given the authority to act on behalf of the organization. Organizatons, like people, change and evolve however. In time the Board needs to change and evolve as well.  If one finds an organization where the leaders are specifically named and their positions are static (meaning they are not voted into office), RUN.  This isn't a benevolent organization, it is a power trip.  A true beneolent Nonprofit has provisions to vote their Board and officers into and out of office.

Organizing Board Members should be representative of the community in which the organization establishes itself, and they should have a proven, verifyable track record that would qualify them for the position just as if they had been nominated and elected by the general membership. There should be a provision in the organizing documents for the replacement of those same Board members based on a specific timetable or set of circumstances.  For instance, with our Board of Directors, it has been proposed that the Board consist of a representative from each of the Wiccan/Pagan organizations, and that person shall serve until recalled or replaced by their respective organizations.

In this way, an organization doesn't suddenly find itself not being represented on the Board, and it also has personal control over who represents them on the Board. The Board itself is not allowed to "throw" someone off the Board (except for extreme misconduct) nor is it able to pick and choose from each organization's membership to decide who will be on the Board.  This type of setup empowers each organization to not only have a voice, but also have a vote on all matters coming before the Board.

Some of the Bylaws allow for a "proxy" to cast a vote for a Board Member.  I personally don't like proxy votes.  Usually the Board will know beforehand of the agenda for the meeting (pre-determined agendas are a must) and if there is to be a vote, a Board Member who cannot attend should be able to cast a vote via a sealed envelope to be opened in their absence at the time of the vote. In my experience, all such votes were sent via US Mail and remained sealed until the vote was taken. The written vote was then entered into the permanent record and kept on file with the minutes of the meeting.

Some organizations allow for the appointing of representatives based on the number of members in each community organization. For instance, if an organization has 1-50 members, they get one representative on the Board; 51-100 gets 2 representatives; 101 and above gets 3 representatives and so on.  This is a provision our Board will have to discuss and the membership will have to decide upon.  While there should be at least 1 representative on the Board from each organization, the general membership may feel such a tiered structure is appropriate.

Our organization is slightly different in that we have an organization within an organization.  The Church Board will be nearly totally independent of the Corporate Board.  For the time being, the Corporate Board reserves the exclusive right to ordain and license ministers in the church. The reason for this is that the IRS requires ministers to have completed a course of study before being legally ordained and licensed. Since that curriculum hasn't been established within the church yet, the church cannot legally fulfill the requirement of that law. The Corporate Board however already has in place legal equivalencies that allow for the fulfillment of that law and the legal ordination and licensing of ministers. In time, the Church will assume the legal authority to ordain its own ministers.

The other overlap is in regard to the Treasurer of the Church. The Treasurer will be elected by the Church Board intially, but will not be a voting member of the Church Board.  The Treasurer will, however, become a sitting member of the Corporate Board of Directors.   In structuring the position in this way, it allows the Treasurer to also act as the auditor of the Church who reports directly to the Corporate Board.  Unlike most organizations, we will require 2 signatures on a check (or transaction of any type) for the financial instrument to be valid.  One of those signatures will be either the President or Vice President (Priest or Priestess) of the Church. The other signature MUST be the Treasurer's (or if the Treasurer is not available, the CEO of the Corporation's signature but only in rare circumstances will this ever happen.)  In this way, there's a check and balance aspect to the Church finances and we avoid any conflict of interest.  There will be a physical form that must be signed by both authorized parties for all electronic transactions (including debit card transactions should the Church decide to procure debit cards.) This may seem like overkill, but past experience has shown that this is the best and safest way to ensure the security of Church finances.

I will have several hard copies of various Bylaws from similar organizations for the Board to review when the time comes to start drafting the Church Bylaws.  It is important that the Board take its time in drafting the administrative documents.  I would like to see a full Board (or nearly full) seated before we begin this process.  One of the keys to the success of organizing the Church is that there be ample representation of the individual organizations that will be involved.  Compiling a set of Bylaws and THEN inviting organizations to join is neither productive nor conducive to participation.

I will continue with my research today to find more examples of how others have structured their organizations.  Don't forget the meeting tomorrow evening of Oakshade Sanctuary at 7pm at Phelps Grove Park in Springfield.  Have a great day folks!