“Multiple member organizations” large and small, whether for-profit or non-profit, Governments at all levels and in our instance the Government of Alberta via its Provincial Registry Office, and our own Club, have historically accepted the “Board of Directors” led business structure.
In this regard, it is the general responsibility of a Director to “help manage the affairs of, and provide direction to”, the organization. The role of Officers however, whether elected or appointed, is to “perform a specific function within the organization”.
In large organizations “The Board” may be comprised of respected members of the business or academic community plus the CEO of the organization, with the CEO being the only member of the board who also has a specific role to play as an Officer within the organization. Under this format two primary responsibilities of the board are to assure the organization is being operated consistent with the board’s directives, and to enhance value for its shareholders.
By contrast, in small organizations it is quite normal for “The Board” to be comprised of members of the organization itself with each of them also having a specific role to play as “Officers” within the organization.
In Alberta, the by-laws of “registered non-profit societies/corporations” such as ours are required to identify a minimum of five board members. Historically the SCMAFC by-laws required a minimum of seven board members, or eight whenever the positions of Secretary and Treasurer were separated.
With reference to the content of the preceding two paragraphs it was accepted that the interests of our club could best be served when re-registering by structuring itself in the manner depicted on the preceding page. Please note that although only the elected positions are reflected in the Club’s registered by-laws and hold prime responsibility for managing the organization, the success of the Club is to a large degree also dependent upon a significant number of tasks being completed by Club Members who have agreed to fulfill a variety of non-elected positions (its Officers), Members who have accepted responsibility for various short-term often repetitive assignments, and the effort contributed by Club Members-at-large who both contribute the time required to participate.
