Sunday, July 20, 2014

Societies - are they changing?



Genealogical societies in Canada are going through a change of sorts, because a number of societies are asking their members to attend special meetings so that they can discuss and vote on new bylaws, and other pressing matter which affect their societies.

The Ontario Genealogical Society went through this last year, and I think we have a renewed vigor and a vision for the future. I think these new bylaws will see us through the coming years.

As reported on GenealogyCanada on July 10th, the Quebec Family History Society at www.qfhs.ca will hold a special meeting on September 13, 2014 for approval to obtain a Certificate of Continuance, a document that grants the organization continuance as a federally incorporated not-for-profit society. 

They have asked their members to be prepared to discuss possible changes to its constitution, and the members are asked to submit written recommendations for changes to the bylaws, which, by the way, were written in 1992! The deadline for these submissions is August 13th.

The link to the full story is http://genealogyensemble.wordpress.com 

And now, we hear that the Alberta Family History Society is going to have a special meeting on the 8th of September at 7 o’clock at the River Park Church, 3818 14 A Street SW, Calgary, Alberta to discuss bylaws. 

They has put the proposed changes on their website at http://www.afhs.ab.ca/docs/bylaw-changes-explanation.pdf, and the proposed new by-laws can be read at http://www.afhs.ab.ca/docs/proposed-bylaws-2014.pdf 

I know that bylaws can be a very boring subject to many, but it is a necessary part of doing business, and every so often, they have to be upgraded to meet with the changing times.

So read them over, and then be prepared to discuss the changes so that your society can meet the demands of the future.

2 comments:

Christine Woodcock said...

These special meetings are a legislative requirement set out by the Federal Government in order for them to retain their Not For Profit status.
And as an aside, QFHS has already been given their Certificate of Continuance. https://www.ic.gc.ca/app/scr/cc/CorporationsCanada/fdrlCrpDtls.html?corpId=2362252&V_TOKEN=1405560793699&crpNm=Quebec%20family%20history%20society&crpNmbr=&bsNmbr

However a review of bylaws is always a healthy thing for any organization to do.

Susan Gingras Calcagni said...

Another healthy measure within societies and organizations is transparency.