Constitution and Bylaws

ARTICLE I – NAME

This organization shall be known as the Vancouver Newcomers Club or VNC, a social club with paid membership and volunteer service. Address will be the club’s website.

ARTICLE II – PURPOSE

The purpose of this organization is to welcome women new to the Vancouver area and to build and sustain long lasting friendships among the members.

VNC is an independent club, a separate entity, and a member of the larger association – The National Newcomers Association of Canada.

ARTICLE III – MEMBERSHIP

Section 1: Eligibility: prior to her application for membership, a woman must have resided in Vancouver for not more than five years. The area of residence will be Vancouver or neighbouring communities that do not have newcomers club. Membership will remain active as long as the member has paid dues for the current year. Any extenuating circumstances may be brought before the executive committee. Membership can extend to potential members with life-changing situations (recent divorce, widowhood, or retirement) within last one year of her applying for membership to the club. Evaluation and approval will be on a case-by-case basis by the executive committee. At the time of joining new members may be provided with a soft copy of the bylaws. 

Section 2: Membership in the Vancouver Newcomers Club is calculated from July 1 to June 30. Membership dues will be $50.00 per year, payable on July 1 each year when membership is renewed, but not later than August 31. New members, joining after April 1 till June 30 will pay $25. Dues are not refundable. Members who fail to renew their membership by August 31 will be notified and cease to be members if they fail to pay their dues, unless they have a substantial reason which will be determined by the executive board.

Section 3: Participants in VNC activities must be members, unless authorized by the executive committee. A potential member may attend two activities before joining the club.

Section 4: A membership may be terminated for (i) nonpayment of dues beyond three months after the new term starts, (ii) two incidents of concerning behaviour (iii) going against the bylaws, which the executive board may deem reasonable.

Section 5: The membership list must not be used for the purpose of soliciting or selling. The list is only for the members to connect with each other; it must not be forwarded or sent to anybody outside the VNC, including any associated club, without the consent of the executive board. If a member abuses this bylaw, it will result in automatic dismissal from the Club, after one written notice. The membership list will include a reminder of this ruling.

Section 6: Members have the right to withhold any personal information from the membership list they deem fit.

ARTICLE IV – MEETINGS

Section 1: Regular meetings of the Club will be held on first Tuesday of the month or on a date set by the executive committee. This meeting will be called Monthly Dinner where the members may socialize, organize some activities like inviting a guest speaker, a seminar, games, potlucks, outdoor activities, and they can be informed of any updates regarding the club. Members will pay for their own drinks and dinner. The bill for the guest speaker, if any, will be paid from the Club funds. The monthly dinners can be arranged by the assigned members of the executive board. Any other member may volunteer to help with the arrangements.

Section 2: Meetings of the executive committee will be on the call of the President or, majority of the board members if an urgent issue needs to be discussed or decided.

Section 3: After the election of the new executive, both the outgoing and incoming executive officers will have a joint executive meeting, at which time all records and files, in the possession of the outgoing executive members, will be handed over to their successors.

Section 4: Business may be transacted by a majority of the active executive members present at any regular board meeting and a majority of members present at the AGM. 

ARTICLE V – RESOLUTIONS and AMENDMENTS

Section 1: RESOLUTIONS: Ordinary resolutions may be passed by the executive board and conveyed to all the members by the President. Resolutions passed by the General Body will be confirmed in the next executive board meeting and conveyed to the members.

Section 2: AMENDMENTS TO THE BYLAWS: A committee will be set up by the board to draft any amendments to the bylaws. The committee will consist of President, Vice President, and one executive member. The committee will draft and propose the amendments to the executive board. The board will finalize the draft. At the AGM/SGM, President will inform the membership about the revisions in the bylaws and email a pdf copy of the amended bylaws to the members for their vote in favour or for any changes and ask for their response within 5 days, after which the bylaws will be finalized. The bylaws are then recorded accordingly by the President and confirmed by the executive board. A pdf copy of the bylaws must be uploaded on the website.

ARTICLE VI– EXECUTIVE OFFICERS

The executive officers of the Club are President, Vice-president, Secretary, Membership, Treasurer, Newsletter Editor, Webmaster, and Activities Coordinator. This list is a general guideline. Other positions may be added as needed, and some may be eliminated, depending on the circumstances. Past President on board or the additional executive member will have no voting rights unless there is a tie.

A file folder for each position must be maintained by the executive officer with her updates/notes and will be handed over to the next person holding that position. This may be a hard copy or soft copy which can be transferred to the successor. An executive position may have a unique generic email address. Password must be maintained and the email address with the password will be handed over to the successor.

Duties of Elected Officers of the Club generally will include, but not be limited to: 

President:

• Organizes and chairs monthly dinners and the AGM, which includes reservations and setting the agenda with updates from the board members.
• May appoint members of the executive board to arrange the monthly dinners. 
• Calls and chairs executive meetings.
• Oversees general workings of the Club. 
• Acts as liaison with other clubs like Vancouver Newcomers Alumnae and the National Newcomers Association of Canada, or any other relevant club. Vice-president:

Vice-president:

• Assists the President and assumes the President’s duties when necessary.
• In the absence of the President, the Vice-President will be the Acting-President and chair the executive meetings, monthly dinners, and the AGM.
• In case of the President’s resignation, the Vice President will act as the Interim President till the executive board confirms her appointment as the President for the rest of the term. In such a case, another board member may be appointed as the Vice-President. If the vice-president is not willing or available to act as the interim president, the executive board will elect one from the board members, for the rest of the term.
• Chairs and forms the nominating committee. Assists the executive board members to elect the new executive board before her term is over or when the new board must be elected.

Secretary:

• Records minutes of the executive board meetings, sends to the President for revision/edits and then distributes to the board members or uploads on the shared drive. The minutes are approved and passed by the board in the next board meeting.
• Records the minutes of the AGM; sends to the President for revision/edits. After the edits, distributes the minutes to the executive board for approval and confirmation. By August 1st, the president will email the minutes of the AGM to all the members and ask for any clarification within next 5 days, after which the minutes will be finalized and passed.
• Must maintain a copy of agenda and approved minutes together in a file (soft/hard).

Membership:

• Signs up new members and remits any fees received to the Treasurer.
• Sends welcome email to guests and club information to new members.
• Maintains membership spreadsheet and sends updated list of general members and executive board members to membership each month. If there is no new member in that month, a list need not be sent to the membership.
• Sends fee reminders to members for the next year’s dues and updates fee spreadsheet as fees received in coordination with the treasurer.

Treasurer:

• Is custodian of Club funds, managing the receipt, disbursement and deposit of funds, and the record keeping of funds.
• Is one of the authorized signatories on the checks, as per the bank’s requirement.
• Reports membership payments to Membership; and provides payment receipt to payee.
• Reconciles monthly bank statements with receipts and files them as hard or soft copy.
• Presents financial overview, after August 1 to the Board.
• Prepares annual budget in cooperation with the President, after discussion and decision of funding allocations by the executive committee.
• Maintains a spreadsheet of planned expenses, actual expenses, and income, and reports deviations of spending to the Board. Answers financial inquiries of any Club member.
• Presents a written financial budget report to the executive board for approval before presenting at the AGM for the next year.
• Maintains a list of passwords for bank account, vnctreasurer@gmail.com, for handover to new Treasurer. Each treasurer will change the passwords after takeover.

Newsletter Editor:

• Collects information on monthly basis for the newsletter.
• Prepares and distributes monthly newsletter.
• May be the point of contact for Join me, besides the Activities Coordinator.

Webmaster:

• Maintains domain name and website hosting to ensure good standing.
• Maintains the website and updates information on the website.

Activities Coordinator:

• Liaises with Activity conveners.
• Liaises for Join Me events between the interested member and the Newsletter Editor.
• Ensures that members are informed about VNC Activities and special events.
• Liaises with Newsletter editor and Webmaster to update information about all the activities and events.

ARTICLE VII – ELECTIONS

Section 1: Executive board members will be elected at the June Annual General Meeting for a minimum of two-year-term. Each term is from July 1st to June 30th. A board member may volunteer to extend service on the executive board for the third year.

Section 2: An executive member should have a minimum one-year experience as an executive board member before being elected as the President.

Section 3: In March of the term ending year of the serving executive board, information about the new board selection will be conveyed via the newsletter to invite members to volunteer for the positions on the new board. The Vice-president, as the Nominating Chair (per Article 6), no later than April, will appoint a committee to include the Nominating Committee Chair, a member of the current executive committee, and a representative from the membership at large.

An executive member who has finished her tenure may volunteer to extend her service or nominate her successor and accordingly inform the nominating committee. The nominating committee will finalize the nominations and inform the board before their meeting in May and the names will be announced in the June Newsletter, which is sent out by the end of May. The nominated board members will be introduced in person at the AGM in June and approved by the members.

Section 4: Vacancies in elected offices during the term will be filled for the remainder of the term by appointment by the executive committee.

Section 5: The outgoing President automatically becomes Past President and may attend executive meetings in an advisory capacity. The Past President has no voting rights at an executive meeting unless there is a tie.

ARTICLE VIII – TERMINATION and RESIGNATION

An executive member may resign from her position after giving one month notice to the President and will continue till the board finds a replacement to fill in that vacancy. The President may resign from her position after giving one month notice to the executive board. It is mandatory for her to call for a board meeting to handover to the vice-president. If the vice president does not want to step in, the board will then elect one of the executive members for the position, by secret ballot.

ARTICLE IX – ACTIVITIES

Section 1: Members, who are interested, may form an activity group upon request to the Activities Coordinator. Coordinator will confirm dates/days for any activity, keeping in mind other activities on the monthly Calendar.

Section 2: Each activity group will be in keeping with the objectives of the club and will establish guidelines that do not conflict with the bylaws of the Club.

Section 3: Each group will have a convener and will be self-supporting and coordinate with the Activities Coordinator for the dates and the relevant activity or event.

Section 4: The club will host one annual gathering for all the members. From the annual income, after the expenses are budgeted, the club will allocate 30% of the funds towards an annual gathering or special events around the year. If there is a deficit, the board may decide that the club matches the member’s contribution for an annual gathering.

Revised, approved & uploaded on VNC website: September 11, 2023.