Some clubs have moved to a Leadership Council Model instead of a typical club board model of club leadership. You can read more about some of those clubs below or click here to view it in document format.
Leadership Council Models
The following is a list of clubs that are operated by a Leadership Council instead of a standard club board. When available, their Bylaws have been included. If your club operates with a different structure than a typical club board and you would like to share how you do things, please send the details to [email protected].
FF of Austin
From Kay Binder: Attached is a copy of our By-Laws which explains the way we govern our club. About 9 or 10 years ago we decided to restructure the way we lead to make it easier to get members willing to take on responsibilities of leadership. The typical hierarchy model overloaded some officers. This new leadership council model spreads responsibility and has worked very well for us. The pandemic caused problems, but we have begun to rebuild, and new members mentored by older members have stepped up to learn our system of leadership council. Bylaws for the FF of Austin
FF Los Angeles
Temporary working structure for Coordinating Council during the year 2016.
The Leadership Team of the Coordinating Council shall consist of the Director, Secretary, Treasurer, past president/director, & 5 elected coordinators. It will be responsible for the standing committees under their portfolios. No fewer than 4 elected members shall be a quorum. Additional members may be elected by a majority vote of the present members of the Leadership Team.
Duties: of the Team will be to approve of any expenditure of over $300, confirm appointment of Exchange Directors and new committee chairs, plan events of the club and meetings and approve new exchanges. Minutes of their monthly meeting shall be distributed to members of the Coordinating Council.
The Leadership Team will be elected at the last general meeting of the year and serve for one year beginning on January 1. There are no term limits. Notice of the election shall be given at least 21 days in advance of the election.
The Coordinating Council shall consist of the Leadership Team, the standing committee chairs and all other members that wish to attend. Also included are the Exchange directors for that year, the past year and the next. Council meetings shall be held according to a schedule determined by the Leadership Team.
Meetings of the membership: There shall be quarterly membership meetings, or more as called for by the Council or membership. Special meetings may be called by 15 members in good standing, or called by the Team majority with at least 2 weeks prior notice.
Finance: The annual dues shall be approved by a two-thirds vote of the council and be payable by November 15 for the following year. From July 1st through August 31 a reduced rate of ½ the annual dues can be offered. Members joining after September 1 shall be considered members for the remainder of the year and the following year.
These are temporary working rules for FFLA for the year 2016. Standing Rules and amended by-laws still are effective. These rules can be changed by a majority vote of the Leadership Team or Council.
FF Pikes Peak Region
From Steve Tindall: The Pikes Peak Region Friendship Force Club has been operating under a Leadership Council since 2004 and it has worked very well for our club. We have no formal succession plan, however, any member of the Council can become the acting Council Coordinator in the Coordinator’s absence and Council members, through their involvement with members at large, are well suited to recommend future Council members.
I am including some excerpts from our bylaws which describe our Council.
- Background:
- At the conclusion of 2003 our club was unable to find a President for 2004.
- The club voted at its November 2003 meeting to suspend Article IV of our By-laws for a period of one year and elect a council of seven persons to manage club activities in 2004.
- At our November 2004 meeting the club members voted to extend the suspension of Article IV of our By-laws for an additional year to see if the success of this type of club management would continue.
- The membership elected the same council of seven persons to manage club activities in 2005.
- Formal adoption
- We changed our bylaws to reflect the change at our annual general membership meeting in November, 2005.
- We also officially changed our name from Friendship Force of Southern Colorado to Friendship Force of the Pikes Peak Region to more accurately describe the area in which our members live and to which we invite other clubs throughout the world.
- Article V – Officers
Section 1
There shall be seven elected officers who will constitute the Leadership Council. Each officer will serve in a leadership position that has specific duties and responsibilities.
- “The Magnificent 7”
- Leadership Council Coordinator
- Secretary and Historian
- Treasurer
- Exchange Coordinator
- Events Coordinator
- Membership and Publicity Coordinator
- Newsletter Editor
- Leadership Council Coordinator
Shall be the principal point of contact for the club and is responsible for FFI communications and local club communications.
Specific duties include:
- Presiding at all meetings of the Leadership Council and the Board of Directors;
- Serving as liaison with FFI and with other international organizations;
- Serving as official spokesperson for the club.
- Secretary & Historian
Shall be responsible for meeting minutes and club history. Specific duties include:
- Recording the minutes of each meeting of the club and the Board;
- Sending a copy of the minutes to all members of the Leadership Council within a week after each such meeting;
- Keeping the records of club actions and activities for historical purposes;
- Handling correspondence of the club as directed by the Leadership Council;
- Issuing all official notices;
- Maintaining possession and supervision over the property of the club.
- Treasurer
Shall be responsible for all monies received and disbursed. Specific duties include:
- Maintaining membership records and conducting communication with FFI regarding membership, dues, etc.
- Depositing club funds in the bank approved by the Board;
- Keeping the books of accounts of the club;
- Presenting a Treasurer’s report at all meetings of the club and the Board, and providing a copy for the Secretary;
- Signing or countersigning withdrawal of the funds of the club;
- Arranging for payment of accounts owed by the club;
- Preparing the books for an auditing committee appointed by the Leadership Council prior to each annual meeting of the club.
- Exchange Coordinator
Shall be responsible for the recruitment of exchange directors, training of exchange directors, and generally overseeing the exchange program.
- Events Coordinator
Shall be responsible for planning membership meetings, social events, and coordinating activities with the Senior Center.
- Membership and Publicity Coordinator
Shall be responsible for recruitment of new members, fundraising, publicity.
- Newsletter Editor
Shall be responsible for publishing the quarterly newsletter and producing mailings, as directed by the Leadership Council, to inform the membership of scheduled events.
FF of San Diego
From Jacqueline Portman: We were not able to find a President for the club for 2022, so I talked with the FFPikes Peak Region club and the LA club to study their idea of a council. Our club has come up with a hybrid model that we think will work well. You will see that in subdividing the role of the President, we hope to entice more members to become a part of the Council. In addition, we will provide training for Council Members to take over the leadership roles. We hope to involve the members more by having them nominate their fellow members to join the Council. In that way, new members can become involved more quickly and older members will have the support of the club to continue their leadership.
We have gone through the following steps:
- Composed a draft of the revised bylaws
- Met with 5 Board members to revise the draft.
- Voted as a Board of Directors to approve the amended bylaws.
- Presented the proposed changes to the bylaws to the general membership.
Bylaws for the FF of San Diego
FF of Western Colorado:
From Dan Clancy: The Western Colorado club does have a Leadership Council model. The model works very well for us. We usually have 35-50 members, and we have 10 positions on the Council. Members are voted into these positions by the membership after expressing their interest in wanting to be a member of the council. We have designated positions and roles for each member of the Leadership Council. The Member-At-Large position is designed to give a member that is new to the council a spot to participate in the council meetings, help council members that need a little more manpower for some project, and generally prepare to take one of the other positions on the council at the next voting cycle. The Member-At-Large position is the only position designed to act like a succession plan to take a council position. By-Laws for the FF of Western Colorado
