TIPs By Laws

“Dedicated to providing a forum for individual business and professional leaders to connect with each other.”

PURPOSE

The purpose of our Tallahassee TIPS organization is to: Attract members of high integrity, quality and ethical standards; provide networking opportunities; share resources of information; help each other grow and provide personal and professional support.

The rules for administration and conduct of the Tips club shall be published under the authority of the Board of Directors.

RULES

Allowable Membership Business Categories:

The list of allowable membership business categories will be maintained and published by authority of the Board of Directors.

MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION PROCESS
1. Candidates must complete and return a Membership Application form by their 3rd meeting of Tallahassee TIPS. The Application Form must be complete, true and include the name of the candidate’s sponsor along with a non-refundable application fee.

2. The Board will then evaluate the candidate and confirm eligibility or ineligibility for membership or present reasons for denial.

3. The Board will then notify the candidate’s sponsor with the confirmation of eligibility for membership and their induction date or present reasons for denial.

4. The Board gives final approval.

5. The candidate must pay the annual dues starting with first week of the next month. Dues will be pro rated to reflect January 1st billing date.

6. Newly inducted member will then be eligible to select a date for the Weekly Program.

MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION APPEALS
1. The Sponsor of the candidate may appeal the denial of the candidate’s
membership.

2. The Sponsor may then present their argument for candidate membership to the Board at the monthly Board Meeting.

3. The Board will then evaluate the sponsor’s plea and make a final decision.

REMOVAL OF A MEMBER
A member may be removed by a majority vote of the Board of Directors for the following reasons:

1. Downgrades or undermines the reputation of another member.

2. Does not follow the spirit or the intent of the purpose of the group.

3. Falsifies or misrepresents him/herself on the Membership Application Form in any way.

4. Becomes delinquent in membership dues.

5. Fails to comply with the attendance as outlined in the Tallahassee TIPS Rules. The member being removed must be contacted by a Board member during the week after the Board has voted.

MEMBERS OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
President – Presides over meeting and enforces membership rules

Vice President – Presides over meeting in the President’ s absence, coordinate and facilitates the weekly program. Vice President is responsible for lining up speakers for weekly programs for each TIPS Meeting.

Membership Chair – Notifies new member of their first three meetings, maintains the weekly sign-in sheet. Tracks, approves and reports absences and other duties as prescribed by the President. Maintains the membership directory.

Secretary – Records and distributes the minutes of the monthly Board
Meetings.

Treasurer – Handles financial affairs of the club, including issuing membership statements, collection of dues, paying the bills, and any other financial aspects of the club.

Newsletter Chair – Responsible for the weekly newsletter given to TIPS
members at the beginning of each TIPS meeting.

Hospitality Chair – Responsible for welcoming Guests and new members at each meeting. Responsible for birthday cards, anniversaries and gifts or cards for any occasion regarding TIPS Members. Responsible for updating the personal information of each member.

Board members are elected for a period of 1 year starting on July 1. A member can only be on the ballot for one office. There must be a two week period for nominations. The election for the upcoming term must be prior to the June board meeting. The June board meeting is for the current and incoming board members.

Any member whose business receives payment from the TIPS Club treasurer in excess of  5% of the TIPS Club total revenue, is NOT eligible to serve on the Board of Directors.

MEETING PROCEDURE
Meeting will be held each week on Thursday mornings in the Tallahassee area. Meetings are composed of networking, member introductions, and a special presentation. The President will preside over the meeting.

MEETING ATTENDANCE
1. To maintain membership in the Tallahassee TIPS group, each member must attend the weekly meetings.

2. Each member may have 3 unexcused absences during each calendar quarter in addition to excused absences.

3. An excused absence is defined to be an absence because of ill health or extreme personal situations, out of town on business or a business appointment that could not be schedule at another time.

4. All excused absences must be approved prior to the meeting by the Membership Chair or any Board Member.

5. The Membership Chair will record the absences for each meeting.

6. Excessive excused absences as well as all unexcused absences may prompt the Board to request resignation of the member if it is felt these absences are counter-productive to the benefit of the membership.

AMENDMENTS
Changes to these Bylaws may be made by a simple majority vote of the Board.