Club Secretary Guide

District 3232 PAGE 1

CLUB SECRETARY GUIDE YOUR JOB AS CLUB SECRETARY As club secretary you help your club run well. • Take minutes at club and board meetings Watch its trends to identify what works well and club assemblies and what doesn’t, and share this information with club and district leaders. • Update club and officer information for the Official Directory and Rotary’s records RESPONSIBILITIES • Manage club correspondence, responding • Attend the district training assembly and to email and sending official notices and the district conference invitations • Meet with the outgoing secretary and • Keep promotional items, name badges, receive club records and other materials used at meetings and events • Meet with the incoming board of directors • Take attendance and submit monthly • Create a My Rotary account on Rotary. attendance reports to the district org if you don’t already have one governor • Update your club’s records and member • Preserve your club’s historical records list on My Rotary as changes occur Ÿ Give the club treasurer the club invoices, • Write an annual report at the end of the due in January and July Rotary year. • Serve on the club board and club • Assist the club president, treasurer, and administration committee committees as needed • Meet with your successor and hand over club records PAGE 2

District 3232 CHAPTER 1 MY ROTARY My Rotary at Rotary.org allows you to do edit your club’s goals and progress club business quickly and efficiently and toward them Build your online profile with ensures that Rotary has accurate records for pertinent information about your Rotary your club. experience. Find ideas for developing successful projects. When your term begins on 1 July, you’ll automatically gain access to the features and • Find reference manuals and Rotary links you’ll need in order to carry out your training materials. Find club tools, duties. To find them, sign in to My Rotary. reports, and forms. Find Rotary news and Then look under the Manage tab, on the Club announcements. Your personal inbox lets Administration page. other Rotarians communicate with you. As club secretary, you can use My Rotary to: • Generate club officer reports • Update personal information • View daily club balance report • Update club data (learn how) • View contribution and recognition reports • Update membership data (learn how to • View SHARE and polio reports add, edit, or remove member records) You and your club’s president can add club • Use Rotary Club Central to review and officers, which will grant them access to the resources they need for their roles. PAGE 3

CLUB SECRETARY GUIDE CHAPTER 2 CLUB ADMINISTRATION TYPICAL ACTIVITIES • Create a My Rotary account on Rotary. All club secretaries have similar org if you don’t already have one responsibilities. Here’s a quick look at the 18 .Become familiar with this manual,the months you’ll spend in the role. Standard Rotary Club Constitution, the Recommended Rotary Club Bylaws, and JANUARY-JUNE: PREPARE FOR YOUR OFFICE your club’s constitution and bylaws. • Participate in your district • Review the discussion questions in appendix 2 before the district training trainingassembly. assembly. • Attend meetings of your incoming board • Meet with the president-elect to: of directors and current board meetings, if invited. » Discuss club goals • Participate in the club assembly held » Schedule the club’s activities by the president-elect after the district training assembly to discuss club plans » Decide how you’ll divide administrative for the coming Rotary year. tasks • Prepare a schedule for sending statements • Meet with the outgoing secretary to: of club dues and fees to all members (monthly, quarterly, or semi-annually), » Review club procedures and plan how you will record the dues and fees you receive. will record the dues » Review the club invoice and fees you receive. » Get access to the club’s records, property, and archives and the current Manual of Procedure PAGE 4

District 3232 JULY: with the president and the board of TAKE OFFICE directors and prepare the midyear progress report. • Give your treasurer the club invoice so it can be paid on time. • Report incoming club officers by 1 February on My Rotary (learn how to • Begin updating your club information add an officer) or email their names and whenever it changes, maintaining contact information to [email protected]. membership records (learn how to add, edit, and remove a club member and • Coordinate with the club treasurer to update club data), and viewing reports ensure that the club invoice is paid. on My Rotary. APRIL • Make sure new officers are assigned in My Rotary. • Begin briefing next year’s secretary. DECEMBER • Prepare credentials for delegates to the Rotary convention. • Provide support for the annual meeting to elect officers. JUNE • Confirm that your club’s membership list • Confirm that your club’s membership list is up-to-date so that the club invoice you is up-to-date so that the club invoice you receive in January will be correct. receive in July will be correct. JANUARY • Prepare your annual report to the club. • Review the club’s schedule of activities • Give the club’s records, materials, and archive to the incoming secretary. PAGE 5

CLUB SECRETARY GUIDE WORKING WITH THE PRESIDENT WORKING WITH COMMITTEES You’ll work closely with your club president, You are automatically a member of your mostly on meetings. Before the start of club’s administration committee. the year, meet to discuss your roles and responsibilities and how you plan to work Its responsibilities include: together. For example, your president might lead the meetings, but you might plan them • Planning club meetings and special and make the logistical arrangements. Also programs discuss which duties should be delegated to other club leaders. • Organizing social activities for members Both of you should also meet with current • Producing the club newsletter and club leaders to learn the status of the club and updating the club website its ongoing projects and activities. Attend meetings of the current board, if necessary, You should also meet with your club’s to learn more about the club’s administrative membership committee early on to discuss procedures and ensure continuity in its its initiatives and how you can support them. operations. For your duties in the new member election process, see Article 10 of the Recommended Rotary Club Bylaws. PAGE 6

District 3232 MEETINGS CLUB MEETINGS BOARD MEETINGS Help the president and the club administration You’re a member of the club’s board of committee create an agenda for each directors, along with the president, president- meeting. Your meeting responsibilities elect (or president-nominee, if no successor might include: has been elected), treasurer, immediate past president, and the additional directors • Preparing announcements specified in your club’s bylaws. • Planning programs The vice president and sergeant-at-arms can also serve on the board. • Scheduling guest speakers The president leads club board meetings. Ask your club administration committee to Usually, the secretary has the following help with these meeting logistics: duties: • Distributing and collecting name badges • Work with the president to set the agenda • Taking attendance • Send meeting notices to board members and confirm that they will attend • Paying for meals • Take minutes and generate a report for • Making arrangements (travel, expenses, the club letters of appreciation) for outside speakers • Provide support materials as needed • Providing visiting Rotarians with • Invite your assistant governor if documentation of their attendance appropriate Consider varying the format of your regular Before your term, the president-elect may meetings, for example, by holding a hands- call meetings of the incoming board to on project or a cocktail hour each month. prepare for the year. PAGE 7

CLUB SECRETARY GUIDE CLUB ASSEMBLIES • Provide updates on committee activities and initiatives Most clubs have four to six assemblies each year, while some clubs hold them monthly. • Increase participation in Rotary and All members should attend. Your role is to Foundation programs schedule the club assemblies in consultation with the president, work with the president • Celebrate club and member achievements and club administration committee to organize them, record the minutes, and assist GOVERNOR’S VISIT the president during the meeting. The governor visits each club in the district. You might use the assemblies to: Before 1 July, the governor-elect or your assistant governor will tell you the date • Discuss project ideas or provide updates of the visit. To prepare, ask the president on current projects what is needed, for example, detailed reports on committee plans, activities, and • Hold an open forum about what members accomplishments. Be ready to discuss the like about the club and what they would progress your club has made toward its like to change goals. If you have questions about what the governor is expecting, ask your assistant • Get input and build consensus on goals governor. and action plans PAGE 8

District 3232 COMMUNICATIONS WEBSITE AND SOCIALMEDIA In most Rotary clubs, the secretary responds The club’s website and social media accounts to correspondence or redirects it as needed. are its online presence, providing information Work with your club president to establish a to current and prospective members, the process for responding to email and letters. community, and local news outlets. Help the club administration committee develop NEWSLETTER content for the website, and respond to prospective members and project partners The club newsletter keeps members informed who contact you online. about upcoming meeting programs, recognition of outstanding service by Visit Rotary’s Brand Centre for free members, and details of service projects and club newsletter templates, stationery, activities. presentations, and more featuring our updated logos. Simply download and adapt The club administration committee is primarily them to your club’s needs. Use Quick Start responsible for producing the newsletter. Guide for Club Websites to refresh your As a member of this committee, you online presence. should provide content, such as committee reports, board decisions, and items from the governor’s monthly communication, The Rotarian or your Rotary regional magazine, or the Rotary Leader newsletter. PAGE 9

CLUB SECRETARY GUIDE INFORMING THE DISTRICTGOVERNOR AND election of officers should be held no later ROTARYSTAFF than 31 December. Let the district governor and Rotary staff See your club bylaws and the Recommended know about special club activities. Share Rotary Club Bylaws for more information on successful projects and events on Rotary the process. Showcase. Tell Rotary staff about initiatives your club has found to be effective. ANNUALREPORT ELECTIONS As the Rotary year ends, prepare an annual report and present it at the final club meeting Each club officer manual has a one-page job of the year. The club president will also description that lists the responsibilities of prepare a report, so collaborate with him the office. Make copies and distribute them or her to avoid redundancies. Your report to potential club officers. Or publish the should review what has happened during the qualifications of candidates for president, year, including actions taken by the club’s treasurer, secretary, and any other club board, changes to bylaws, membership gain leadership roles on the club website or in or loss, and any continuing projects that are its newsletter. The annual meeting for the not covered in the president’s report. PAGE 10

District 3232 CHAPTER 3 MEMBERSHIP UPDATING MEMBER LISTS at an address, they all may subscribe jointly to the official magazine.) Your most important responsibility as secretary is keeping your club member lists There are three ways you can report your up-to-date. You should enter changes on My member data to Rotary: Rotary as soon as they occur. This ensures that your club invoice is accurate. Also, adding 1. Through your My Rotary account new members activates their subscriptions to The Rotarian or your Rotary regional 2. Through your local integrated database magazine. (If more than one Rotarian lives (see a list of database vendors) 3. Using the Member Data Form, also found in appendix 6 PAGE 11

CLUB SECRETARY GUIDE REPORTING MONTHLY ATTENDANCE club, transfers to your club, or relocates to a new community. Give visiting Rotarians Take attendance at each club meeting and documentation of their make-up at your report it monthly to the district governor. club meeting, or contact the secretary of the Your club administration committee can visitor’s club.When a member transfers to assist you by: your club, ask their previous club to confirm their membership and that the member • Reminding club members that they must doesn’t owe the club any money. If you don’t attend or make up at least 50 percent of receive a statement within 30 days, you can all club meetings assume that the member doesn’t owe any money. Transferring members and former • Instructing club members how to make members who rejoin a club need not pay a up a missed meeting, including by second admission fee. participating in a Rotary e-club meeting or a service project When someone in your club moves out of your area, you can propose him or her • Taking attendance for membership in another club. Use the Rotarian Relocation Form to notify the other The attendance policy — calculating club’s president or secretary about the attendance, recording make-ups, and prospective member. You may want to issue provisions for e-clubs — is explained in Article member ID cards, which your members can 9 of the Standard Rotary Club Constitution. show when making up a meeting. The card is intended for personal use only. Cards are COMMUNICATING WITH OTHER CLUBS available through licensed vendors listed at Rotary.org. You’ll need to communicate with other clubs when a member makes up a meeting at your PAGE 12

District 3232 CHAPTER 4 FINANCES You and your club’s treasurer share several the president can also pay it. Credit card responsibilities. Determine together how payments can be made directly through My you’ll approach them. Rotary. For details on paying the invoice, see Lead Your Club: Treasurer. INVOICE CLUB If you don’t receive your invoice by the end Rotary International bills clubs for dues and RI of July or January, you can print a copy from fees twice each year. You’ll receive an invoice Rotary.org or request it at [email protected] in early July and one in early January.Dues or from your international office. are calculated based on the membership numbers you report through My Rotary, an DUES AND FEES integrated database, email, fax, or mail by 1 January and 1 July of each year. The invoice is Rotarians are required to pay dues to their due in full and the amount can’t be adjusted, club, the district (if your district charges so keep your member lists current. dues), and Rotary International. Your treasurer tracks dues collected from and The treasurer is responsible for paying the owed by members. amount shown on the invoice, but you or PAGE 13

CLUB SECRETARY GUIDE CLUB DUES RI PER CAPITADUES Your club decides the amount members pay All members pay per capita dues to Rotary in club dues and when they’re collected. International. These dues pay for Rotary’s These dues pay for expenses associated general operating expenses, including with meetings, meals, speaker gifts, and producing publications in several languages; supplies.You’re responsible for sending the providing club, district, and project support; statements of club, district, and RI dues to offering training and resources for incoming all members regularly, as determined by the club leaders; and maintaining the Rotary club. The statement should include any other website. See the Rotary International Bylaws amounts owed, such as the cost of meals. If for details. you collect dues, work with the treasurer to transfer money and issue receipts. RI FEES The treasurer should inform you of members Rotary International also charges members who haven’t paid dues within 30 days. Send for required magazine subscriptions, Council a notice that includes the amount owed on Legislation fees, and other expenses. Fees and an absolute deadline. If the dues aren’t for some regional magazines are collected paid within 10 days of the notification date, directly by the editors. membership may be terminated, subject to the discretion of the club’s board. The board Clubs served by Rotary International in Great may reinstate membership upon a member’s Britain and Ireland have a different dues petition and payment of all debts to the club. structure. PAGE 14

District 3232 CLUB TERMINATION AND REINSTATEMENT Foundation that aren’t made through Rotary. org and has access to Rotary Foundation If your club doesn’t pay its invoice promptly, reports on all contributions made by the Rotary International will terminate its club’s members. Make sure you or your club membership, and the club will no longer president assigns the treasurer on Rotary.org receive services from Rotary or the district. A so he or she can view these reports. For more club can also be suspended or terminated if information on forwarding contributions, see any member misuses funds from The Rotary Lead Your Club: Treasurer. Foundation. According to termination and reinstatement policy: CLUB FINANCIAL REVIEW • 120 days after invoices are generated on You and other club officers can access 1 January and 1 July, clubs that owe $250 contribution and recognition reports on My or more will be terminated. Rotary. At the start of the year, give the previous year’s club financial report to the • To be reinstated, a club has 30 days treasurer to see if there are any outstanding to apply for reinstatement and pay all balances to be paid or fees to be collected. past-due balances, all dues that have Work with the treasurer to prepare a accrued since it was terminated, and a complete financial report to present at the reinstatement fee of $30 per member. first meeting of the incoming board. • Clubs that haven’t fulfilled their entire Make sure that the financial status of the club financial responsibility within 150 days of that’s documented in the minutes of board termination will lose their original charters of directors meetings accurately reflects and won’t be eligible for reinstatement. your club budget. ROTARY FOUNDATION CONTRIBUTIONS Your club’s treasurer processes and maintains records of contributions to The Rotary PAGE 15

CLUB SECRETARY GUIDE CLUB RECORDS AND ARCHIVES information about the club and Rotary, including: As club secretary, you manage all club records. At the beginning of the Rotary year, • Your club’s application for membership in take over all club files, office supplies, and Rotary and a list of charter members equipment from the outgoing secretary. • Documentation of any changes to the YOUR CLUB CONSTITUTION AND BYLAWS club’s name or meeting place Your club’s policies and procedures are • Club constitution and bylaws with documented in its constitution and bylaws. amendments Review your club constitution to make sure it’s consistent with the current Standard • Meeting notices and minutes Rotary Club Constitution, particularly after each Council on Legislation. Do the same for • Press clippings, photos, slides, and videos your club bylaws, using the Recommended relating to the club and its projects and Rotary Club Bylaws as a reference. activities CLUB ARCHIVE Document your club’s activities during your term. At the end of the year, work with Your club may have archives of historical the president or the club administration committee to update the club archives, including a summary of activities for the year, photographs of officers and events, names of new members, and outstanding accomplishments. PAGE 16

District 3232 ONLINE RESOURCES Exchange Ideas My Rotary account on Rotary.org • Club Secretaries Discussion Group - Join a discussionwith other club secretaries Learning & Reference around the world • Learn by Role: Secretary - Apage of club Manage secretary resources • Shop.rotary.org - Rotary’s online store for • Learning Centre - Take courses to develop ordering publications, DVDs, forms, and your skills and learn more about Rotary supplies • Official Directory - Contact information for • Club Administration - Pay your club invoice and view reports about your club RI and Foundation officers, committees, • Club Invoice - Learn how to add, edit, and resource groups, and Secretariat remove a member, add a club officer, pay your club invoice, and more staff; worldwide listing of districts and governors; alphabetical listing of clubs within districts, including contact information. Issued annually. PAGE 17

CLUB SECRETARY GUIDE MEDIA short videos to tell Rotary’s story to your community and provide inspiration • Brand Centre — Download Rotary during Rotary meetings and events logos, templates for your club brochure, stationery, and more • Rotary convention site — Promote the Rotary International Convention to • Rotary Images — Find the right picture to your club and appoint a convention help you tell Rotary’s story in this library delegate (see appendix 3). This site offers of thousands of images you can use to links for registering online, reserving enhance your club’s website, materials, accommodations, purchasing tickets to and public image campaigns host events, and downloading materials. • Rotary Videos — Use this collection of PAGE 18

Appendix 1 District 3232 HOW TO CREATE A MY ROTARY ACCOUNT PAGE 19

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CLUB SECRETARY GUIDE Appendix 2 DISCUSSION QUESTIONS FOR THE DISTRICT TRAINING ASSEMBLY After reviewing this manual to prepare for your role, answer these questions. Then discuss your ideas with other incoming club leaders at your district training assembly. • What are the main responsibilities of the secretary in your club? • How will you work with the club president? • How will you work with the treasurer? • How can you support your club’s committees? • Which administrative duties can you streamline? • What is one annual goal you will work toward next year? How does this support your club’s strategic plan? Appendix 3 CLUB: SECRETARY, LEAD YOUR CLUB ELECTORS AT THE DISTRICT CONFERENCE As club secretary, you are expected to attend the district conference, which updates club officers on Rotary and district programs and offers you an opportunity to meet other leaders in your district. The conference also functions as a district legislative session and as a chance to discuss special topics suggested by the RI Board of Directors. PAGE 22

District 3232 Appendix 4 PROPOSING AND ELECTING NEW MEMBERS Asclubsecretary,youareinvolvedinproposing to consider the proposal and file any and electing new members. Follow each step objections in writing. If the board receives carefully and promptly to maintain potential no objections, the prospective member members’interest in joining your club. Keep is considered elected to membership, membership proposals confidential except upon payment of the admission fee. If the as noted below. board receives an objection, the board votes on the proposed membership 1. An active member of the club or the at its next meeting. If the membership membership committee gives you the is approved, the proposed member is name of the prospective member to considered elected to membership, submit to the board. Alternatively, an upon payment of the admission fee. active member or membership committee of another club proposes a transferring The admission fee is waived for transferring or past member for active membership in or former members of another club your club. as long as they show a certificate that proves their membership and document 2. The board confirms that the proposed that they owe no money to the previous member meets all membership club. Honorary members and Rotaractors requirements. who ended their Rotaract membership within the preceding two years are also 3. The board approves or disapproves the exempt from paying an admission fee. proposal within 30 days of submission, Your club may consider lowering new and you notify the proposer of its members’fees for a year or two to prevent decision. cost from impeding membership. 4. If the proposal is approved, the 6. The club may elect honorary members proposed by the board. After a member proposer discusses Rotary’s purpose is elected, the president arranges for the member’s induction, membership and members’responsibilities with the card, and Rotary new-member literature; designates a current member to help the prospective member. The prospective newcomer become involved in the club; and assigns the new member to a club member signs the membership proposal project or function. As club secretary, you add the new member’s information form, giving the club permission to to your club’s own records and on My Rotary. publish his or her name and proposed classification (no classification is proposed for honorary membership). 5. The Recommended Rotary Club Bylaws allow seven days for club members PAGE 23

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