BY-LAWS
BYLAWS
Rogue Valley Networking Council
ARTICLE I
Name
The name of this Council shall be Rogue Valley Networking Council (RVNC)
ARTICLE II
Purpose
A. RVNC is a Council of non-competing, professional business people who meet on a weekly basis to share information pertaining to the local business communities as well as each individual business.
B. Information is shared in the form of leads. These leads are shared as a group in an effort to help members expand their businesses and keep themselves aware of changes in the community.
ARTICLE III
Members
A. Membership in RVNC is not restricted by reason of race, color, religion, sex, national origin or age.
B. Each member is allowed to represent only one business category EXCLUSIVELY. This Principle of Exclusivity encourages the free and easy exchanges of leads among members, minimizing competitiveness when two or more same-field businesses vie with each other for the same lead.
C. Prospective member applications must be reviewed by the Board, after conflicts and references have been checked, before a prospective member may be allowed to join. An applicant shall be eligible to join as soon as it is cleared by the board.
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D. The new member shall provide a picture of themselves and marketing remarks describing their business specialty and added to
the Membership page on the RogueValleyNetworkingCouncil.com website. To remain active, members have a responsibility to attend at least 3 meetings a month and are requested to provide leads bi-weekly to share with other members. Members who expect to miss more than 2 consecutive meetings should contact a Board member with an explanation.
E. Each RVNC member is expected to use the leads obtained through or Council EXCLUSIVELY for the business under which membership was granted. Members arer to use the RVNC membership website, emails or contact list for the sole purpose of promoting their business and RVNC related business and shall not be used to promote personal political or religious opinions. RVNC uses the honor system. If that trust is violated, the offended member may bring the matter up to the Board.
F. Membership Fees:
1. There is an initial fee of $50.00 to join RVNC to cover costs such as providing members with start-up information, Council pamphlets, etc.
2. Membership dues are non-refundable and are paid monthly by automatic withdrawal and are currently the equivalent of $20.00 a month, and are subject to change.
3. Dues must be paid in full within 15 days of net due . Past due members are subject to deactivation of membership. See Item J.4. Membership Deactivation.
4. RVNC membership fees are collected on a monthly automated basis. When the account reaches a balance of $2,500.00 or more the board and membership are to approve of a donation to community non-profit organizations. The non-profit organizations may not be religious or political in nature. No more than $1,000.00 can be given at any one time to any non-profit organization.
5. When a member receives business from a lead supplied by another member, the recipient of business lead pays the Council 5% (not to exceed $100.00 per transaction) of the increase (profit) up to $1000 cap per year. This contribution is voluntary for business owners and may not work for some Members of the RVNC. This is a “Thank You” or contribution to RVNC and the member who provided the lead. All dollars collected will be used to help fund RVNC activities in community donations, advertising or events. When payment of the amount is made for a lead sale, the Treasurer must be notified of the name of the payer and the name of the member who supplied the lead. This information will be used in further recognition of contributing members. This contribution is voluntary for business owners and may not work for some Members of the RVNC.
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G. Leads
1. Leads are the essence of RVNC. If a member is unable to attend a meeting, leads, will still be sent regularly.
H. Meeting Itinerary
1. Meet at 11:30 to eat lunch (30 minutes)
2. 12:00 President/Vice President – Quotes, Treasurer Report, & Visitor acknowledgements (5 mins)
3. Member presentations/updates about their business (1Minute each)
4. Visitor Presentation at the end after all Members have presented (1minute)
5. Member Speaker **presentation and Q & A for the Speaker (8 mins & 2 mins Q & A)
6. 30 second testimonials from the Membership after Member Speaker presentation
7. Guest Speakers: From time to time we have guest speakers. The meeting may be altered to have
enough time for a guest to present up to 15 minutes. 10 minutes to present and 5 minutes for Q & A.
A. To allow more time the course of the meeting with a guest speaker may be changed to add or
include any Member testimonials during the Members 1 minute presentation.
8. Meeting adjourned by 12:45
** The speaker may bring a door prize or promotional items to give at the end of the presentation.
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I. Guests
1. RVNC members are always encouraged to bring guests as potential application for RVNC membership. Most importantly, it is the inviting member’s responsibilities to check with the Board to ascertain if there is a duplicate business-field representation of the guest with a current member’s business. The Board shall review prospective member applications, after conflicts and references have been checked, before a prospective member may join. An application shall be eligible to join as soon as the Board determines the new business is eligible.
2. Members have exclusivity in one Business Category, and Guests should only be invited if we have an open and un-filled Business Category available for them.
3. When inviting Guests always determine which Business Category they would be representing, and check to see if it’s available within our group before extending an invitation. In other words, please qualify your guests before inviting them.
4. If the Guest is wishing to join a Business Category that is not on the targeted list of Business Categories, please check with someone on the Board ahead of time for approval and/or check on the website which will have a current list of available Business Categories.
5. Guests seeking to join RVNC in an open and un-filled Business Category may come to our group up to two times before needing to make a decision.
6. Guests need to be invited by a current RVNC Member in good standing. This means that Guests can not invite Guests.
7. Invitations to Guests who are not seeking a Business Category, such as spouses, friends, staff members, parents, and other business associates, unless medically necessary, should only be invited once per quarter.
8. As an incentive and courtesy the first visit of Qualified Business Guests may have their lunch purchased by the person that invited them or by the RVNC.
J. Membership Deactivation. Members may be deactivated from RVNC for the following reasons. A Board member will notify members regarding deactivation.
1. Attendance: When a member’s absences exceed 3 in a quarter, without explanation, a deactivation notice will be sent to that member.
2. Bylaw violation: the Board may deactivate a member for a serious bylaw violation.
3. Complaints: if a Council member renders poor quality of product or service, resulting in direct member or customer complaint to RVNC, that member may be deactivated from the Council after review and majority approval for deactivation by the Board.
4. Past Due Membership Fees: Members whose dues become past due 15 days will be subject to deactivation.
ARTICLE IV
Board of Directors
A. The RVNC Board is elected by the Members and an instrumentality of the Council’s members.
B. Board membership shall consist of 8 Members including RVNC officers and others persons deemed suitable by general consensus of the sitting Board members.
C. Elected Board Members are to be RVNC Members first for at least one year and meet the guidelines under Article III of the RVNC By Laws.
D. Board Members are to have 24 months to serve.
E. Officers of the RVNC can be Board Members, i.e. Vice President, Treasure, Sergeant at Arms. However, the President does not vote.
F. Board meetings are once a month and will be held prior to regular meetings (usually the second Thursday of the month) and at special times as deemed necessary by the general membership or the Board members.
G. Appoint 2 Board members to conduct an audit of the RVNC funds in October and April. Results will be reported to the Board who will then report to the membership.
E. If a grievance or conflict includes a Board Member or Officer Member said member shall refrain from voting on resolution of grievance.
F. Honorary Board Positions Presently include the Founder - Don McCoy, Jim Irons and Steve Zambonin.
ARTICLE V
Officers
A. RVNC’s business years starts January 1st and ends December 31st. Terms of office for all officers shall be for a period of one year, coinciding with RVNC’s business years.
B. Elections shall be held each November. Names of the officer candidates will be made available to the membership at the 1st meeting of November for a vote. At that time nominations will be accepted from the floor. Results of the elections will be announced at the end of the meeting. Elected officers will be installed at the 1st meeting in January. The presence of each RVNC member during election week is very important.
C. A list of officers and responsibilities of each position:
1. President:
Responsibilities include:
a. Stimulate and encourage member participation in RVNC activities to maintain the stability, continuity and success of all members.
b. Conduct all membership meetings
c. Direct and organize all Board meetings as well as address all items brought before the Board by presenting them to all RVNC members at a regular business meeting for a majority vote.
d. Keep informed about all membership lists, reports and press reports.
e. If the President cannot preside at a Board or membership meeting, the following order will be observed to preside at the meeting in question: VP Membership, VP Programs.
f. The President is a non-voting Member of the Board except to break a tie vote.
2. Vice-President:
Responsibilities include:
a. Screening of guests and prospective members to avoid conflicts of business interest with other current members.
b. Responsible for all information material to be made available to membership at each meeting.
c. Present a Membership Report to general membership at every meeting.
d. Record and present any membership-related awards at each meeting.
e. Inform the Board about all changes in membership.
3. Vice-President Membership Programs:
Responsibilities include:
a. Plan the programs of RVNC and present this plan to the Board for discussion and acceptance and then final presentations to the membership.
b. Direct membership through the leads portion of membership meetings.
c. Set goals for organizational lead production and encourage the membership.
d. Compile a regular report of the above responsibilities.
e. Maintain a calendar of dates for reservations for individual brainstorming and membership Showcase Presentations, inviting new members to participate.
4. Secretary:
Responsibilities include:
a. Handle intra-Council correspondence when needed.
b. Update bylaws as changes occur
c. Custodian of RVNC supplies and materials
d. Track lead production and publish status reports in conjunction of sign-in-sheets
e. Keep meeting notes and disperse to the Board members
5. Treasurer:
Responsibilities include:
a. Maintain and be a custodian of the RVNC checking account. This account will be in the name of the Treasurer and presently the Founder.
b. All account statements will be sent by the Treasure with copies of all transactions sent to the Bookkeeper.
c. Collect all dues, dues reminders to unpaid members, 5%lead payments and any other funds due RVNC.
d. Provide a Treasure’s report for membership at the last meeting of each quarter.
e. Pay all bills and donations approved in writing by the President within 3 to 10 days after receipt.
5. Sergeant at Arms:
Responsibilities include:
a. Keep track of timely matters: Start and endings of meetings and timekeeper of Showcase Presentations.
b. Keep order and semblance to weekly meetings.
c. Keep track of meeting attendance thru use of sign-in-sheets.
ARTICLE VI
By-Laws
RVNC By-Laws can be amended when a member recommends a change at one meeting and that change is accepted by a majority vote by Board members at the following meeting.
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- Last approved amendments April 14, 2022