I am looking for some info from existing clubs on what kind of documentation they are using. There is a new club starting up in SE Minnesota. They really are in need of some organization. I have been a member of several clubs(an an officer of two of them) when I lived in the Mpls/St Paul area, but have really not been involved in 'clubs'(at least with layouts) for over 19 years now that I live in a smaller town. I have no plans of joining this new club(45 mile drive), but I would like to see them get started on the right foot. Nothing with heavy duty rules, but some good general info that any club can use. If you could email any attachments to me, please use the following email(1 MB limit):
Well, I have our constitution, by-laws, and rolling stock standards if they are interested. The rolling stock attachments are huge since they include color paint schemes.
But what I'll say is we tried the "no heavy duty rules" thing and ran into all sorts of problems, up to basically splitting the club a couple times. One was over a scenery issue, where had we been strictly following our scenery standards it would not have happened. The other was a track work issue. Someone spent all summer putting in a new industrial area, at the end of the summer someone who had been absent came back, didn't like it, and ripped it all out. Once again had we been strictly following our by-laws it would not have happened. It almost became extinct. A new president took over and by strictly enforcing all rules it was barley saved, and is now thriving. A club has to have enforced hard and fast rules if it is going to survive.
Having a good set of bylaws is extremely important once you incorporate the club as an entity. It's even more so if you apply for any of the various non-profit designations.
When the attorney we consulted to review our incorporation filing looked at the bylaws we had, he suggested a couple of minor changes to the bylaws which would allow us to qualify for a better class of non-profit status than we'd been seeking, and helped give us some educational goals to shoot for. This has made the club more interesting and gotten us to think about more things we can do to use our layout to educate people about what a railroad is, what it does, and how it does it.
I'll see whether I can get a machine-readable copy of ours from our secretary.
-fm Webmaster, Rails on Wheels, Washtenaw County, Michigan's HO Modular Club, at
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I will second this. I've seen only two types of clubs survive and thrive.
1) TOTALLY informal. No Dues, no officers, no rules. Just a group, usually 'round robin' that meets wherever they find space. Often at member's homes. Whoever hosts the session sets whatever rules there may be.
2) FORMAL, with a good set of carefully written rules that are followed.
"Simple" rules lead to ambiguity, disagreement on WHAT the rules say, fights, and big problems, sooner or later. I've watched MANY clubs descend into this hole, most never to return.
The problem with a comprehensive set of rules is that they CAN be cumbersome. Business meeting can become a big mess, with various cliques debating the relative merits of which brand of paper clips the club should buy. It can be a MIRE, and business meetings become dreadful exercises devoted to 'beating dead horses'.
Our local club seems to have found a good compromise. We are the MMRHS ... Mid-Michigan Railway Historical Society and Scale Replica Railroad Association, Inc., . We are now also the official "Friends of the Huckleberry Railroad". We are a combined Railfan, Railway preservation, and Model Railroad group. We have a 12' X
20' HO modular layout that we display several times each year. We also meet and operate at member's homes, and do all the usual model railroading activities. We've been more or less continually active and healthy for over 30 years.
We use a "Board of Director's" structure ... a form of "Republic". The members vote ONLY on the members of the Board (currently seven, always an odd number ). The members do NOT vote on business issues. The members elect the Directors and let THEM run the club within the established rules. A procedure exists for the membership to remove any or all Directors for just cause should that be necessary (in our cae it never has been). Any members who feel they WANT to be involved in club business can run for the Board. Thus each member can decide for themselves how involved THEY wish to be in club business.
ONCE a year we have a member's business meeting. At that meeting the new Directors are elected to three year terms. This causes a rotation of
2-2-3 in the number of directors elected at any given year's meeting. The Directors elect the four principal club officers (Pres. VP, Secret. Treas.) from their own body. Additional officers may be appointed by the Board to perform specific duties (Newsletter Editor, Program Chairman, etc.) ... these need not be Board members.
Also, at the ONE annual business meeting, ANY business matter can be brought to the floor and discussed or acted upon by the voting membership. This is the ONE time each year that the organization's operating documents can be revised.
We are a very formal organization (not technically a club at all) for legal and business reasons. We are incorporated as a not for profit corporation, are an IRS 501c3 public foundation, and a State charitable trust. We NEED formal rules, but the same basic idea will work well for a MUCH simpler organization.
we have three operating documents:
1) Our articles of Incorporation, filed with the State. Difficult to change (needs State and IRS approval). These state WHO we are, and WHY we exist.
2) Our By-Laws, filed with the State. Difficult to change, many properties being set by either the State or the IRS. These determine our operational structure. The Board, the Officers, their duties, how we can spend moneys, etc.
3) "Resolutions of the Board": Our day-to-day operating policies. Includes dues structure, Rules of member conduct ("House Rules"), Layout policies (we have a modular layout), etc. These are fairly detailed, and can be changed at any time by a vote of the Board.
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