It was about 2 years
ago that Dogwood’s membership first voted on and unanimously approved the first
set of Dogwood Standing Rules. I wrote
the rules because Dogwood's administrative procedures weren’t documented and
also because it’s the approach recommended by FMCA. If you think about your own life experiences
in business, government or civic organizations, most have rules. They may be called by other names like Policy
and Procedures but in each case, they’re intended to document what the policy
is and how to carry out the policy. It’s
an approach that has been proven to work.
The rationale goes something like this:
If procedures are documented and something goes wrong, you have the
opportunity to determine the source of the problem and make corrections that
will provide a documented path forward that is intended to avoid having the
same problem again.
Are Dogwood’s
standing rules perfect? Probably not,
but they satisfy the intended purpose. The procedures also support processes
that may not be obvious. As an example,
are you aware that records are kept of attendance at rallies? Are you aware
that Dogwood's Treasurer is required to file an annual certification of revenues
with the Internal Revenue Service? These
are just a couple of the reasons that expense reports are required for all
rallies, even if no monies are collected and no expenses are incurred. Why? They enable the officers of the chapter
to do their jobs and make the work of the Audit Committee easier and more
accurate.
I’d like to encourage each member to read the
Standing Rules. If you feel that there
is something that is conspicuously absent or if you wish to suggest changes for
any other reason including things like clarity or spelling errors, I encourage
you to do so. Make your thoughts
known. You’ll have the ideal opportunity
at our December business meeting when we consider changes documented elsewhere
in eNews.
In the mean time, I
promise that I will follow the rules to the best of my ability and my hope is
that all of our membership will do the same.
Best wishes and safe travels,
Mann Duff
