I am hip deep in bylaws, 3 sets of bylaws for 3 different organizations.
Most every organization I belong to loves to ignore their bylaws. Usually they cant even locate the bylaws if challanged to follow them.
I started to write a lot of boring details, but really who here cares? No one!
Suffice to say that six months ago I took the bylaws in hand of my largest organization because I am now the board secretary. I volunteered to be on the board after seeing the incredible chaos the organization had become. Fortunately, several old timers in our neighborhood also stepped forward to solve the chaos.
So we got the bylaws in hand, meaning that we organized them and rewrote them to reflect motions that had passed to amend the bylaws years before but had never been incorporated into the text. We cleaned up the text with stylistic improvements, and mounted the new document on the website so now everybody can find bylaws whenever they need them at any time. Imagine that!
And now, we are in one of those stressed situations where we have to read the bylaws to see how we should act because we are spending a crap load of money outside of the budget within a very short timeline and we need to know how to call a special meeting, who needs to be there, what is the quorum, etc.
It is great because we can all read the same set of bylaws on our website and understand what we have to do!
In working woth so many sets of bylaws, I am jonesing to simplify them so that all of the archaic and idiosyncratic bits are eliminated. I want these organizations to actually follow their bylaws and in order to do that, the documents need to be broadly written. Each President has had their little hobby horse and adds tiny details into to the documents for the detriment of all.
we stopped our most recent President from requireing that new Presidents must have been a member for 5 years. I am talking down another President in another organization who wants to raise requirements for the President position, one she herself probably couldnt even meet.
Just call me the Bylaws Queen.
At the moment I am researching why, exactly, my tiny plant society needs an
executive Committee in addition to a Board.
Am also researching WHEN it is ok, according to Roberts Rules, to suspend the bylaws. These groups are fond of suspendng their bylaws but I suspect they are not doing it legally.
All of my organizations are registered corporations with the state, and they are required to follow state law.