Bylaw Amendments Review

One of the most important reasons to attend the Civitan International Convention is to exercise your right to vote. Attending in-person is the most impactful and fun way to participate, but delegates also have the right to join the convention virtually and have the opportunity to vote.

There are two bylaw amendments that will be considered during our Civitan International Convention in Louisville, August 19th to 22nd. Here is a preview of those two amendments:

• Executive Vice President is the title of our senior staff member who oversees the day-to-day operations, manages staff, finances and answers to the Board of Directors. This term is rarely used for this position in non-profit organizations and is sometimes confusing to members and non-members. A survey of Service Club Organizations identified two titles that are prevalent. Almost half of the organizations surveyed use title “Executive Director” and the other half use “Chief Executive Officer”. Only Civitan uses the title of Executive Vice President.

In November, the Civitan International Board of Directors unanimously approved a bylaw amendment to replace the Executive Vice President title with Executive Director. There are 18 references to this title in the bylaws that will change.

This bylaw amendment is required to be ratified by the delegates during the Civitan International Convention in Louisville.

• In addition to the Executive Vice President’s duties, the EVP also acts “as the Secretary and Treasurer of the corporation.” (Section 6.02 in the Bylaws.) Although these titles are more related to the corporation of the organization and State of Alabama regulations, separation of duties is a valuable opportunity for a non-profit organization. Many non-profits have a volunteer to be the Treasurer of the organization, rather than a staff member. This helps the organization with a non-staff third party set of eyes and oversees the finances and audit of the organization.

In November, the Civitan International Board of Directors unanimously approved a bylaw amendment to remove the title of Treasurer from the Executive Vice President’s duties and add “a.) iii The Treasurer of the corporation shall be appointed by the international board upon recommendation of the president-elect at the summer meeting of the board.”

This bylaw amendment is required to be ratified by the delegates during the Civitan International Convention in Louisville.

Per policy, the official notification of these bylaws and exact language/changes will be communicated in our May Civitan international Magazine.