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Author Topic: Club By Laws / Constitution Examples  (Read 23197 times)

Offline Bruce B

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Club By Laws / Constitution Examples
« on: June 20, 2011, 11:17:01 pm »
People were asking about examples of these at the discussion during the conference.  Here is the link to the Barons.  There is a PDF that can be downloaded at the bottom of the page.  When you incorporate don't forget the non-discrimination clause!

http://beerbarons.org/about/constitution.html
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Offline dbeechum

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Re: Club By Laws / Constitution Examples
« Reply #1 on: June 20, 2011, 11:57:39 pm »
And this is the one for the Falcons. (mentioned earlier, but keeping it together)

http://www.maltosefalcons.com/about/bylaws
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Offline MDixon

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Re: Club By Laws / Constitution Examples
« Reply #2 on: June 21, 2011, 06:33:39 am »
Here's the ones for CARBOY, but they are not quite up to date. We recently did a minor revision to the calendar year.
http://www.carboyclub.com/by-laws.htm
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Offline denny

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Re: Club By Laws / Constitution Examples
« Reply #3 on: June 21, 2011, 09:21:10 am »
Life begins at 60.....1.060, that is!

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Offline bobby_m

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Re: Club By Laws / Constitution Examples
« Reply #4 on: June 21, 2011, 01:01:18 pm »
Whales of Central NJ:

http://www.whalesbrewclub.com/bylaws

We went something like 11 years before we had official bylaws and wrote them out of necessity. Admittedly it contains far more detail than likely necessary.

Offline dbeechum

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Re: Club By Laws / Constitution Examples
« Reply #5 on: June 21, 2011, 01:52:29 pm »
Admittedly it contains far more detail than likely necessary.

There's something important here. The Falcons are one something like the 3rd rev of the by-laws. This was largely driven by the need to pull more and more things out of the by-laws, like how much the dues were. With them in the by-laws it takes an act of congress to raise them, etc.

So, be careful how much you put in the by laws.
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Offline MDixon

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Re: Club By Laws / Constitution Examples
« Reply #6 on: June 21, 2011, 02:01:37 pm »
We are the other way, we kept forgetting to set the dues so we put a clause in the bylaws they will be $15 unless set otherwise by the officers. This year we had a good treasury at year end and set the dues at $10 for 2011, so our strategy worked out well. If we have to change them for good, we can do it within a two month window...no problemo.
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Offline deepsouth

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Re: Club By Laws / Constitution Examples
« Reply #7 on: August 18, 2012, 08:01:10 pm »
our local homebrew club basically just broke up because we have by-laws and have set meeting times and follow robert's rules of order.

:(
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Offline dbeechum

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Re: Club By Laws / Constitution Examples
« Reply #8 on: August 20, 2012, 09:03:44 am »
If you don't mind me asking - how did that happen?

Was it a case of someone(s) acting like "Rule Cop" and making everything about sticking to the letter of what's written?
Drew Beechum - Maltosefalcons.com
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Offline deepsouth

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Re: Club By Laws / Constitution Examples
« Reply #9 on: August 20, 2012, 09:25:29 am »
If you don't mind me asking - how did that happen?

Was it a case of someone(s) acting like "Rule Cop" and making everything about sticking to the letter of what's written?


we had a private thread on our forum for the by-law committee and the board to discuss by-law changes and the board members couldn't agree on a couple of the changes, so we decided to present them all to the general memebrship for a vote and let things fall where they may.  a couple of the board members thought that didn't go far enough, so at the meeting, three of them resigned and they started a facebook group, "non-club" club and registered with the AHA.

in their new "by-laws" on the face book group, they decided.....

1.  we have no by-laws.
2.  we have no scheduled monthly meetings.
3.  we do not collect dues.
4.  all decisions will be made by all memebers.
5.  we are here to have fun, and spread the enjoyment of the hobby!

we will or will not add to this list as we feel necessary.


being such a small club, we can't really "compete" with a non-club....

to be fair, we did stick to robert's rules of order regarding club matters, but only because we thought that was best for the well-being of the club.

we are going to have our regularly scheduled monthly meeting to see what members we have left, but expectations are not high. 
Hoppy Homebrewers of South Mississippi (est. 2009)

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bottled:     white house honey ale

Offline deepsouth

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Re: Club By Laws / Constitution Examples
« Reply #10 on: August 20, 2012, 09:26:39 am »
i wish them luck, but then again, how can you really fail when all you have to do is click "like" on facebook to join.
Hoppy Homebrewers of South Mississippi (est. 2009)

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bottled:     white house honey ale

Offline dbeechum

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Re: Club By Laws / Constitution Examples
« Reply #11 on: August 20, 2012, 02:23:56 pm »
It takes more than a virtual like to make a club actually function. They need to actually make things happen for real!
Drew Beechum - Maltosefalcons.com
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Offline nateo

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Re: Club By Laws / Constitution Examples
« Reply #12 on: August 22, 2012, 01:43:31 pm »
Our club is going through growing pains as well. It's been a bunch of dudes hanging out and drinking beer for a number of years. Now we've gotten a lot of new members (including myself) who want to organize and participate in comps, have booths at festivals and events, and so on.

A few of the original members aren't too keen on that, but I'm not really sure why they need a "homebrewing club" to sit around and drink beer. We just adopted a consitution and bylaws last night, and I anticipate a few people won't want to be a part of the meetings, even though in practical terms we have barely any more structure to the meetings than before.

The only real change is we now set an agenda each meeting to try the beers in a reasonable order (lightly flavored to heavily flavored).
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Offline bonjour

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Re: Club By Laws / Constitution Examples
« Reply #13 on: August 22, 2012, 02:02:16 pm »
If this is for the purpose of incorporation, which will limit liability to the club and its officers, laws vary in each state.  Consult someone who knows the laws for your state.

Otherwise any of the above is fine.
Fred Bonjour
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Offline a witty man

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Re: Club By Laws / Constitution Examples
« Reply #14 on: August 29, 2012, 09:19:34 am »
Here's a link to the Albany Brew Crafters Bylaws. We relied on looking at other clubs' bylaws, and putting our own spin on things. The Falcons' bylaws were especially helpful (I think we even have the same font)-- thanks for sharing guys!

We're a young club, and still figuring a lot out. We just incorporated this week, and have about 20 or so members, but most are very enthusiastic, and we're seeing new faces at each meeting. This club has a much different "flavor" than others that I have been a part of in the past, and its been fun hearing where members want it to go.

http://www.albanybrewcrafters.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/2012.08.16-Albany-Brew-Club-Charter-1.11.pdf
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