JUNIOR AUXILIARY OF CLARKSVILLE, ARKANSAS, INC.
STANDING RULES
1. NAJA MEETINGS
- The National Annual Meeting shall have at least one member, preferably the President, in attendance for the chapter to remain in good standing.
- The NAJA Area Meeting shall have at least three (3) members in attendance for the chapter to remain in good standing.
2. REPORTS
A. Each Committee Chairman shall submit a Service Project Report and an itemized financial report of expenses to the Vice President/Projects Chair no later than six (6) weeks after the completion of the project or by the next chapter meeting, whichever occurs last.
B. Should a Committee Chair call/hold a committee meeting without notifying the President, Vice President/Projects Chair, and Historian, the Committee Chair will not receive credit for the hours earned in said meeting.
C. Any Committee Chair not complying with Section 2.B. above shall be notified by the Vice President/Projects Chair and Hours Chair that she has lost hours as provided in Section 2.B above.
3. FINANCE COMMITTEE POLICY
A. There shall be an annual meeting of all Committee Chairmen and all members of the Executive Board to review current Standing Rules, particularly those that apply to Chapter financial policy. This meeting shall be held at the beginning of each fiscal year (May 1) and shall be chaired by the Finance Committee Chairman.
B. The Chapter shall not act for others as a fund-raising agent. Any organization or agency requesting a donation from the Chapter shall supply to the Finance Committee Chair:
1. Proof of its IRS Section 501 (c) (3) designation, and
2. A written verification insuring specified use of donated funds.
C. The Finance Committee Chairman shall report the financial status of the requesting organization or agency and of the Chapter to the Executive Board to be used in the consideration of a request for funds.
4. ELECTION OF OFFICERS AND VACANCIES IN OFFICE
A. There shall be a nominating committee whose function shall be to prepare a slate/ballot of officers. The committee shall be composed of at least (5) members appointed by the President (or Executive Board). There should be a representative from the current provisional class.
B. All members are encouraged and urged to contact the Nominations Chair with names of candidates they wish to see on the slate/ballot.
C. The committee will present a slate of officers to be voted on each April by the general membership. If there is more than one name presented for an office, the committee will present a ballot to be voted on by the general membership.
D. The President shall be responsible for appointing a member to fill any vacant office that occurs during the year. The member appointed does have the option to decline the appointment.
5. CHANGE IN STATUS
A. Those members having completed five (5) years of active service, and having accrued the highest number of cumulative total hours shall be given priority to change status to associate or life. At no time shall the Chapter’s active membership fall below twenty (20). Those members eligible and desiring a change in status may choose one of the following:
1. Associate status – This status requires that the member pay association dues. Associate members may nominate new provisionals. Associate members are not obligated to work or sell tickets to the Chili Supper or Sweetheart Ball; however, the Chapter would welcome their assistance should they wish to participate.
2. Active Associate status – This status requires that the member pay association dues and chapter dues. Active Associate members may nominate new provisionals. Active Associate members must serve 24 hours per year in order to retain the right to vote on new members. They will be required to work the Chili Supper, but will not be required to sell tickets unless they so desire.
3. Life status – This status requires that a member pay the equivalent of ten (10) years association dues. Life members may nominate new provisional members. Life members are not required to work or sell tickets to the Chili Supper or Sweetheart Ball; however the Chapter would welcome their assistance if they should wish to participate.
4. Active Life status – This status requires that a member pay the equivalent of ten years (10) years association dues and yearly chapter dues. Active Life members may nominate new provisionals, and must serve 24 hours per year in order to retain the right to vote on new members. They will be required to work the Chili Supper, but will not be required to sell tickets unless they so desire.
B. A commitment card will be filled out by each member who is eligible to change status. This card will give the member the opportunity to designate which class of membership she intends to take, what projects she will continue to participate in, and what meeting, committees, etc. she would like to be notified of. The telephone list/email list will list all designations separately.
6. MANDATORY PARTICIPATION
A. All provisional and active members are required to participate in some capacity in the following by carrying out duties as designated by the project chair. Attendance and hours will be expected with allowances of serving hours in preparations and clean-up made for special circumstances to be considered by the project chair and committee. Exceptions will be made with Vice President/Projects Chair and Project Chairapproval for emergencies (i.e. birth, death, hospitalization).
1. Chili and Chocolate Cake Supper
2. Sweetheart Benefit Ball
3. Special called meetings (voting on projects and provisionals, in particular). These meetings are vital to the Chapter. If a member is unable to attend, she shall notify the President, Vice President, or Recording Secretary as soon as possible. In the event that there is a conflict with the schedules of several members, the special called meeting may have to be rescheduled.
B. Should a member be unable to attend any project for which they have signed up, prior notice must be given to the appropriate Committee Chair. If the specific Committee Chair is unavailable, notice must be given to the Vice President/Projects Chair. It is the responsibility of each Committee Chair of a project to report to the Hours Chair any unexcused absence. Any member who fails to notify the Committee Chair of her absence will lose double the hours of the assigned time slot for the project. (i.e. A member who had signed up for a two hour time slot will lose four hours.) Additionally, all members are responsible to find a substitute person to fill her time slot.
7. GIFT EXPENDITURE GUIDELINES
The following is a recommended guideline for gifts purchased by the Chapter.
A. The $5.00 chapter dues is designated for internal chapter gifts, and if this allocated money is depleted before the end of the J. A. year, the chapter will request additional funds from the members.
B. Illness
1. Provisional/Active member – hospital stay or same day surgery – a gift valued at not more than $15.00.
2. Provisional/Active member – serious illness – a card or note.
3. Provisional/Active member immediate family member – serious illness card or note.
4. Associate/Life member – serious illness – card or note.
C. Death
1. Provisional/Active member –memorial valued at not more than $50.00.
2. Provisional/Active immediate family member – memorial valued at not more than $25.00.
3. Provisional/Active extended family member – card or note.
4. Associate/Life member – memorial valued at not more than $25.00.
5. Associate/Life member immediate family member – a memorial valued at not more than $25.00.
6. National/Regional Officers or their immediate family members – card or note.
D. Birth
1. Provisional/Active member – a gift valued at not more than $15.00.
E. Gifts that are given by the Chapter to an Active member (i.e. outgoing President) should not exceed $75.00.
8. PROJECT BUDGET GUIDELINES
A. No project committee shall exceed its budget without presenting a formal request for additional funds to the Board for a vote, prior to the expenditure exceeding the budget amount.
B. After completion of a project, all members must turn in receipts and check request forms to the Committee Chair or to the Vice President/Projects Chair within two (2) weeks, or by the next meeting, whichever takes place first, in order to be reimbursed for the money spent.
C. Items purchased for a project must have a separate receipt from other personal purchases.
D. If a member wishes to donate items for a project, the member must fill out a donation form and inform the Committee Chair of the value of the donation so that correct project records may be kept.
9. MEMBERSHIP PROCEDURE
A. Junior Auxiliary of Clarksville, Arkansas should keep a membership of no more than forty (40) members, and no less than twenty (20) members.
B. A prospective member should be proposed by a member of Junior Auxiliary of Clarksville, Arkansas, who is a good standing, and seconded by another member, also in good standing. No member in good standing may propose and/or second more than five (5) prospective members.
C. A prospective member must be eliminated from consideration if she receives three (3) or more objections from voting members. Never base an objection or approval on a prospective member’s income, social status, appearance, race or age (21 is the minimum national age requirement), etc. Possible areas of objection may include:
1. Extremely hard to work with, possible damage to the Chapter internally.
2. Strong personality conflicts that would harm relations of the existing Chapter.
D. After prospective members are confirmed by a vote of the membership, a letter of invitation shall be issued to each prospective member within thirty (30) days of the vote.
E. If those prospective members who were invited should decline, the nominations chair and her committee will proceed down the list of nominees in order of votes received and invitations will be extended to those women until provisional membership slots are filled. Exceptions would be when nominated members fail to have 50% of the voting members support. The nominations chair and her committee will exercise extreme discretion in areas of tie votes.
F. A written invitation may not be extended to a potential member more than twice. The Nominations Chair is responsible for monitoring and maintaining that information.
G. An informational meeting will be held to acclimate prospective new members to the objectives and duties of J. A.
1. If provisional invitations extended are less than (5), the nominations committee can choose whether to hold the informational meeting, or host individual meetings with these prospective members. The informational meeting will be organized by the current (incoming) provisional trainer.
2. Prospective members may then, in writing, accept or decline the invitation within eleven (11) days of the informational meeting.
3. Prospective members accepting the invitation to join J. A. shall then be deemed “Provisional members”.
H. Induction of new members will be held in February so that provisional members will be official Junior Auxiliary members by the Projects/Membership Election meetings.
Amended: September 3, 2009
Amended: October 4, 2012
Amended: November 7, 2013