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EVENTS RESOURCES THE NFO |
The purpose of the National Folk Organization of the U.S.A. is to advance and preserve folk arts representing national, local and ethnic customs as they exist throughout the United States of America; to promote and encourage the exchange of folk dance and dance related folklore in the United States of America and abroad; and to effectively network those who support these objectives. ARTICLE I Membership Section 1. Membership in the National Folk organization (NFO) shall be open to all persons and groups, irrespective of their place of residence. Section 2. There shall be five categories of membership: (a) Individual, (b) Student, (c) Recreational and Performing Groups, (d) Festivals and Institutions, (e) Household. All categories shall be voting members. Section 3. Each voting member, individual or organization, shall be entitled to one vote, with the exception of Household membership, in which case each member of the Household shall have one vote. No person shall have more than one vote even if they qualify for more than one category of membership. Section 4. The Board of Trustees (Art. III) shall establish annual dues as may be found necessary for the provision of services and materials within the organization. Dues shall become payable upon the date of membership. ARTICLE II Meeting of Membership A national meeting shall be held annually. The Executive Committee (Art. V) shall be responsible for setting the time, date and place of the National Annual Meeting and shall cause to have mailed notice of the same to all members at least ninety (90) days prior to the meeting. An agenda with the proposed slate of Officers and Trustees shall be mailed to all members no later than twenty-one (21) days prior to the meeting. ARTICLE III Board of Trustees Section 1. The property, affairs and business of the Corporation shall be under the care and management of a Board of Trustees. Board membership shall automatically include the Founders, the four (4) Officers (President, Vice-president, Secretary and Treasurer), the Immediate Past President, the NFO Delegate to the Confederation of International Organizers of Folk Festivals and Traditional Arts - USA (CIOFF; Conseil International des Organisations de Festivals de Folklore et d’Arts Traditionnels), the USA Delegate to CI0FF, and the NFO Youth Delegate to CI0FF. Nine (9) Trustees shall be deemed "at-large" Trustees and shall be elected from the membership at the Annual Meeting. Section 2. At-large Trustees shall be elected to serve for a term of three (3) years and one-third (1/3) of the total number of such Trustees shall be elected each year. No person shall be eligible to serve as a Trustee for more than two (2) full consecutive three (3) year terms, but any such person may again be eligible for election as an At-large Trustee after he/she has ceased to serve on the Board in any capacity for one (1) year. Section 3. Vacancies in the trusteeship caused by death, resignation, removal or any other cause, may be filled until the next succeeding annual election by the affirmative vote of a majority of the Trustees then in office, though Trustees shall not be required to fill such vacancies so long as the membership of the Board does not fall below the stated minimum of ten (10) members. The vacancy in the Board position of Immediate Past President shall not be filled. Any Trustee may be removed from office by an affirmative vote of the majority of Trustees, if, in the opinion of such majority, there is not adequate participation in the affairs of the Corporation by the Trustee in question, or for non-payment of membership dues. Trustees shall be required to hold individual membership in NFO, regardless of whether they may also represent an organizational member. Section 4. Regular meetings of the Board of Trustees shall be held at least once (1) each year. Regular and special meetings shall be held at such times and in such place as the Board of Trustees may designate, and if the Board shall fail to make such designation, the President shall designate the time and place of the meeting. Meetings by telephone and/or voting by regular postal mail, electronic mail, or telefax shall be allowed, provided notice is given a minimum of seven (7) working days in advance and method of response is specified in such notice. Section 5. A simple majority of the number of Trustees shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of any business that may come before any Trustees' meeting, and the vote of the majority of the Trustees present at a Trustees' meeting at which a quorum is present shall be decisive of any action taken at such meeting. ARTICLE IV Duties of Officers Section 1. The Officers of the Corporation shall be a President, Vice-president, Secretary and Treasurer, who shall be elected from the membership by the members at the Annual Meeting. The Officers shall hold office for a two-year term and/or until their respective successors are elected. No officer shall be eligible to serve for more than two consecutive terms in the same office. If an officer’s term includes a partial term of service, this term will count as a full term for purposes of succession only if it exceeds 18 months in length. Section 2. The President shall perform all such duties as usually are the responsibility of such office and shall preside at all meetings of the Corporation, the Board of Trustees and the Executive Committee. He/she shall be an ex-officio member of all committees except the Nominating Committee (Art. VI). The President, with the approval of the Board of Trustees, shall appoint the chairperson for all committees (except the Nominating Committee). Upon completion of the term of office, all files and records related to the office or organization shall be transferred to the new President. Section 3. The Vice-president, in the absence or inability of the President to discharge the duties of the office, shall perform such duties. The Vice-president shall be responsible for the program and logistics of the Annual National Conference and Meeting. Upon completion of the term of office, all files and records related to the Annual Conference shall be transferred to the new Vice-president. Section 4. The Secretary shall keep a record of the meetings and membership of the Corporation; be the custodian of the Corporate Articles, Seal and documents, archival material, and keep a record of the meetings of the Board of Trustees. Such records shall be transmitted to the successor to the position of Secretary. A copy of all records shall be kept for the NFO Archives. Section 5. The Treasurer shall be responsible for the preparation and administration of the annual budget, for overseeing the receipt and expenditure of funds, for the maintenance of proper financial records, for financial statements and for the annual audit. The Treasurer shall provide a copy of the financial statements upon request to any member of NFO. Section 6. A vacancy in the office of President shall be filled by the Vice-president for the remainder of the unexpired term. A vacancy in any other office shall be filled for the unexpired term by the affirmative vote of a majority of the Trustees present at any meeting of the Board of Trustees called for such purpose, even if less than a quorum is present, subject to confirmation (or replacement) by the membership at the next Annual Meeting. Such meetings of the Trustees may be held in person, by phone or by high-tech electronic communication devices. ARTICLE V Executive Committee The Corporation shall have an Executive Committee composed of the Officers, the Immediate Past President and the Chairpersons of the Standing Committees. The term of office for members of the Executive Committee shall be concurrent with the designated terms of office. The Executive Committee shall have and may exercise all the powers of the Board of Trustees in the management of the affairs of the Corporation between meetings of the Board of Trustees. It shall review and have presented the annual budget to the Board of Trustees for approval and shall have submitted the approved budget to the general membership at the Annual Meeting. A majority of the members of the Executive Committee shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of all business. Meetings may be held in person, by phone, or by high-tech electronic communication devices. ARTICLE VI Nominating Committee Section 1. The Nominating Committee shall consist of three (3) members who shall serve a term of three (3) years each. Members of the Committee shall be elected by the membership from among At-large Members of the Board of Trustees in such fashion that one (1) member shall automatically have three (3) years remaining in his/her term as Trustee, one (1) member shall have two (2) years remaining in his/her term as Trustee, and one (1) member shall have one (1) year remaining in his/her term as Trustee. In the event of a vacancy on the Nominating Committee, a replacement shall be selected for the unexpired term from the At-large Trustees by affirmative vote of a majority of Trustees, subject to confirmation or replacement by the membership at the next Annual Meeting. The member with one (1) year remaining in his/her term shall serve automatically as chairperson of the Nominating Committee. Section 2. At least twenty-one (21) days prior to the Annual Meeting of the National Folk Organization, the Nominating Committee shall notify all voting members of its list of nominees for officers and for members of the Board of Trustees. Such notification can be by regular mail, e-mail, publication in the NFO News, or some combination of these media. Section 3. The Nominating Committee shall present its nominations at the Annual National Meeting. Additional nominations may be made from the membership at that time. Election shall be by majority vote of the members present. Section 4. Trustees, Officers and members of the Nominating Committee shall take office at the close of the Annual National Meeting of the membership at which they were elected. The Past President shall take office upon completion of his/her last term as President and shall serve as a Trustee so long as he/she is the Immediate Past President of the Corporation. ARTICLE VII Standing/Temporary Committees Section 1: Standing Committees: The Corporation shall have Standing Committees. The committees shall be comprised of voting members of the Corporation who shall be appointed by the President with the approval of the Executive Committee to hold office for one (1) year term (except for the Rules and Regulations Committee.) The Chairpersons shall be appointed by the President for a term of one (1) year. The chairpersons of the Finance Committee and Rules and Regulations Committee must be selected from among the Trustees.
Section 2: Temporary Committees. Other committees may be appointed by the President with Board approval as needed, to meet specific needs. ARTICLE VIII Area/State Delegates A network of Area/State representatives may be developed. ARTICLE IX Advisory Committee Members of the Advisory Committee shall be the Founders, Past Presidents, the USA Delegate to CIOFF, the NFO Youth Delegate to CIOFF and other individuals whose expertise the Advisory Committee feels would be helpful to the National Folk Organization. The chairperson shall be appointed by the NFO President. ARTICLE X The Fiscal Year The fiscal year of the Corporation shall be January 1 to December 31 of each year. ARTICLE XI Authority Roberts' Rules of Order Revised shall govern procedure in all cases to which they are applicable and in which they are not inconsistent with these Bylaws or law. ARTICLE XII Execution of Instruments Section 1. All checks, drafts and orders for payment of money shall be signed in the name of the Corporation by the Treasurer, or in his/her absence or inability to serve, by the President. Checks exceeding $500 each must be countersigned by such officer(s) as the Board of Trustees shall from time to time designate for that purpose. Either the President or Treasurer may sign checks in the amounts not to exceed $500 each without requiring countersignatures. The President and Treasurer and any other officer empowered to sign or countersign checks and other instruments shall be bonded to the extent required by the laws of the states in which they reside, or as required by the Board of Trustees. Section 2. When the execution of any contract or other instrument has been authorized without specification of the executing Officers, the President may execute the same, together with such signature or signatures of such Officer(s) as the Board of Trustees may designate on behalf of the Corporation. ARTICLE XIII Headquarters The headquarters of the National Folk Organization shall be located at the place where the President of the organization resides. ARTICLE XIV Compensation No Officer, Trustee, or other member of the Organization shall receive compensation without the authorization of the Board of Trustees. Expenses incurred in the operation of the organization shall be reimbursed upon approval of the Board of Trustees. ARTICLE XV Amendments to the Bylaws The Bylaws may be amended by the majority vote of the voting members present at the Annual Meeting. The Executive Committee shall cause to be mailed or e-mailed proposed amendments to the membership at least twenty-one (21) days prior to the Annual Meeting. Members may propose amendments in writing to the President and these must be reviewed by the Executive Committee at least sixty (60) days before the Annual Meeting. ARTICLE XVI Dissolution The National Folk Organization may be dissolved only in a meeting of the Board of Trustees called into session for this specific purpose by a two-thirds (2/3) majority vote. This special session shall also make a determination as to the liquidation of organization assets insofar as such may exist. In particular, the Board of Trustees shall appoint an administrator and shall further determine to whom the organizations assets that remain after all debts have been paid, shall belong.
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