February 1999
EIN: 31-1628765
Article I: Name
Article II: Purpose
Article III: Membership
Article IV: Officiers
Article V: Area Directors
Article VI: Executive Board
Article VII: Meetings
Article VIII: Newsletter
Article IX: Amendments
Article X: Parliamentary Authority
Article XI: Dissolution
The name of the organization shall be the Florida Harpers & Friends (aka FHF), an International Society of Folk Harpers & Craftsmen (ISFHC) Chapter.
A. The purposes of FHF shall be:
Exclusively charitable and educational within the meaning of section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 or the corresponding provision of any future United States Internal Revenue law.
To be an organizing educational force for Florida Harpers and Friends in the traditional and evolving means of playing the lever harp and harp music. (Friends meaning interested parties, and fiddle, whistle, guitar, flute, pipes, and drum players.)
To encourage and facilitate music for harpers and friends through meetings, workshops, educational programs, newsletters, and other activities.
To sponsor one statewide music education workshop each year preferably in January.
To be open and responsive to membership needs.
To provide membership with a voice through newsletters, editorials, and democratic vote.
To organize and encourage satellite meetings (circles) where members can share their knowledge and educate others. The circle is to be coordinated by the membership area directors.
FHF is a non-stock, non-profit association, organized and operated exclusively for said purposes. No part of the net earnings of FHF shall inure to the benefit of any individual. No officer, member, or delegate of a member shall, as such, receive compensation except as reimbursement for expenses incurred in the pursuit of the said purposes.
Not withstanding any other provision of these articles, this organization shall not carry on any activities not permitted to be carried on by an organization exempt from Federal income tax under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 or the corresponding provision of any future United States Internal Revenue law.
ARTICLE III: MEMBERSHIP
Eligibility. Membership in FHF shall be open to all persons and institutions interested in the purposes of FHF.
B. Membership categories
Regular: Any harper, friend or interested individual joining at the minimum required dues.
Cherub: Any harper, friend or interested individual joining at a specified amount, above the minimum required dues for Regular membership.
Angel: Any harper, friend or interested individual joining at a specified amount, above the minimum required dues for Regular and Cherub memberships.
Archangel: Any harper, friend or interested individual joining at a specified amount, above the minimum required dues for Regular, Cherub, and Angel memberships.
Sponsorship/Institutional: Available to businesses, associations, or institutions who have a serious interest in the stated purposes of FHF. Sponsorship levels will be dues amounts not less than $100 and not more than $499.
Sponsorship/Foreign: Available to persons or businesses outside of the Florida region that have a serious interest in the stated purposes of FHF. Sponsorship levels will be dues amounts not less than $100 and not more than $499.
Benefactor/Institutional: Available to businesses, associations, or institutions who have a serious interest in the stated purposes of FHF. Benefactor levels will be dues amounts not less than $500 and not more than $999.
Benefactor/Foreign: Available to persons/businesses outside of the Florida region who have a serious interest in the stated purposes of FHF. Benefactor levels will be dues amounts not less than $500 and not more than $999.
Benefactor/Institutional: Available to businesses, associations, or institutions who have a serious interest in the stated purposes of FHF. Benefactor levels will be dues amounts not less than $1000 and not more than $1499.
Benefactor/Foreign: Available to persons/businesses outside of the Florida region who have a serious interest in the stated purposes of FHF. Benefactor levels will be dues amounts not less than $1000 and not more than $1499.
C. Dues:
1. The amount of the annual dues for each of the Regular, Cherub, Angel and Archangel membership categories shall be recommended by the Executive Board and be presented for a vote at the annual meeting. The Executive Board reserves the right to change the dues amounts in times of hardship.
2. All membership dues shall be paid to the Treasurer. Receipts will be given upon request.
3. The membership year shall be from January 31 to January 30.
4. To secure membership privileges, members must have paid their dues for the current membership year.
5. If a member's dues remain unpaid for one year, the membership shall be considered terminated.
D. Privileges:
1. Voting: All members shall be entitled to vote.
2. Publications: Members in all categories shall be entitled to receive Chapter publications under conditions provided for their distribution.
3. Other: The Executive Board may designate other privileges.
ARTICLE IV: OFFICERS
The elected officers of FHF shall consist of a President, Vice-President, Secretary, Treasurer, Newsletter Editor, Historian, Workshop Coordinator, Web Site Manager, and Supervising Area Director. (A maximum of nine offices with a minimum of seven persons if posts must be shared.)
B. Nominating procedures:
1. Nominating Committee: FHF President shall appoint a Nominating Committee comprising no fewer than three members and designate one member to serve as Chair of the Committee. The Committee shall submit a slate of qualified candidates for office to the Executive Board by November 1 of an election year. Members of this committee may not serve for consecutive terms.
2. Eligibility for office: Candidates for office must be members of FHF.
C. Election procedures:
1. Officers shall be elected by a plurality of the ballots cast prior to the beginning of the annual business meeting by members eligible to vote.
2. Ballots shall be distributed no less than one month before the annual meeting and shall be returned by the voting members no later than the date specified on the ballot. Ballots shall be distributed to the membership by a mailing, which may be part of the newsletter or may be separate.
3. A majority vote of the Executive Board shall break a tie.
D. Terms of Office:
1. President, Vice-President, Supervising Area Director:
Term of office for the above shall be TWO years. The incumbents may not serve THREE successive terms. The Vice-President may succeed to President.
2. Secretary, Treasurer, Newsletter, Historian, Workshop Coordinator, Web Site Manager
Term of office for the above shall be TWO years. Incumbents may succeed themselves.
3. No elected officer shall serve on the Executive Board for more than six consecutive years.
4. The elected officers shall serve from January 1 to December 31.
5. The Board shall informally meet (by phone or chat room) during this time to prepare for the January Annual Meeting.
E. Duties of the Officers:
1. The President shall act as chief executive officer of FHF, shall preside at all meetings, appoint committees, call meetings of FHF or the Executive Board as required, and perform the duties customary to this office. The President shall file a report annually with appropriate officer of the ISFHC outlining FHF activities and listing the officers of FHF. The President may serve as an ex officio member of all committees except the Nominating Committee and generally oversee the well being of all FHF activities and goals.
2. The Vice-President shall act as chief executive officer in the event of the President's inability to serve and shall aid the President in overseeing that all offices and committees of FHF execute their prime directives.
3. The Secretary shall record the minutes of the business meetings and the Executive Board meetings preserve all official records and reports of FHF.
4. The Treasurer shall maintain accurate records of income and expenditures, conduct correspondence relating to finances and other correspondence as directed by the President, collect dues, write checks for authorized expenditures, and prepare financial reports for the annual business meetings.
5. The Newsletter Editor shall publish the newsletter to include:
Articles about instrument makers, music therapy, members and their accomplishments and other topics of interest to FHF.
Announcement of folk festivals, conferences, night watches, Scottish Games etc., calendar and location of meetings and jam sessions for FHF members.
Highlight repertoire old and new
Provide a classified section for membership needs
.Provide a membership directory including important information to related societies and musical instrument insurance.
The Newsletter Editor will also provide the Web Site Manager with each quarterly newsletter for posting. Material should be presented either by disc, by attachment or by e-mail.
The Workshop Coordinator shall execute the annual workshop by contacting the approved artist(s), contracting the artist(s), securing the location and including plans for the annual meeting, banquet and jam session. The Workshop Coordinator is to notify members all details and send details to post on the Web Site and in the Newsletter.
6. The Historian shall endeavor to attend as many functions as possible with a camera, taking a photo record of the event. In the case of area circles, the historian shall contact the hosts of the circles and ensure that photos are taken to record the event. The historian should then obtain the best photo and allow the newsletter editor to review it for the newsletter.
7. The Web Site Manager shall record newsletter information on the FHF Web Page, which may be obtained from the Newsletter Editor either by disc, attachment, or e-mail. The Web Site Manager will also keep abreast of all late breaking news and make it available in the FHF Web Page.
8. Supervising Area Director will be in charge of all area directors and circles. The Supervising Area Director is to positively reinforce each area director and the planning of area circles to include
F. Vacancies: Vacancies shall be filled as follows:
1. In the event of a vacancy in the office of President, the Vice-President shall serve as President.
2. In the event of other office vacancies the President shall appoint a temporary officer.
3. In the event of vacancies in two or more of the offices, the Executive Board shall call a special election to fill the vacancies no later than one month from the date of the vacancies unless they occur within sixty days prior to the next scheduled election.
Hardship:
1 All offices are important; FHF cannot function smoothly with vacancies. In the event any officer is unable to fulfill their duties, said officer should respectfully notify the Executive Board. The Board and said officer will then decide if aid should be given to that post for a period of time or if a replacement officer should be appointed. This procedure will be considered responsible and the officer involved will be honorably helped or released and able to run for office at a later date.
2 Officers, who do not respectfully notify the Executive Board of hardship and/or whose conduct has caused an organizational problem within FHF, will be removed from office and replaced by the Executive Board. An officer replaced in this manner will not be allowed to run for any office for a four year period; however, they may help with committees if involvement is desired.
ARTICLE V: AREA DIRECTORS
The state of Florida shall be divided into no less than 6 and no more than 12 areas in which Area Directors will act as a contact between membership and the Executive Board via the Supervising Area Director. They facilitate in the organization of local area circles, festival, concert and other opportunities that might interest FHF members in said area. Area Directors are not officers.
Area Directors will assign the local Host (See VII.A.3.). to facilitate each circle and help said Chair and committee to bring plans to pass. They assist Area Director and host in holding a circle meeting harpers as well as friends.
ARTICLE VI: EXECUTIVE BOARD
A. The President, Vice-President, Secretary, Treasurer, Historian, Workshop Coordinator, and Supervising Area Director constitute the Executive Board.
Duties: The Executive Board shall act in the name of FHF between the regular business meetings of FHF, authorize necessary disbursements by the Treasurer or by the Chair, represent FHF at meetings of the national ISFHC and other organizations or societies, perform other duties specified in this Constitution and by-laws.
Meetings: The Executive Board shall meet at least twice annually, which can be held electronically via email, chat room, or conference phone calls. A majority of the Executive Board members shall constitute a quorum. The Chair may call special meetings of the Executive Board with at least two weeks notification.
Decisions: Decisions shall be made by a majority of the membership when a membership vote is required by a majority of the Executive Board.
ARTICLE VII: COMMITTEES
A. The standing committees shall be the Membership, Publications, Nominating, and Program Committees. FHF Chair shall appoint all committee members and shall designate one member to serve as Chair. Committee chairs shall be prepared to submit reports at Executive Board and Chapter meetings.
The Membership Committee shall consist of all Area Directors who should work to attract new members to FHF, to retain current members, and to encourage local membership activities for harpers and friends.
The Publications Committee shall recommend publication projects to the Executive Board, shall edit and publish publications, and shall be responsible for FHF's newsletter.
The Area Director shall assign the Host in LOCAL areas. The Host is to facilitate circles within the said area. The term of office for the Host expires at the close of the next circle, at which time another area Host shall be assigned to facilitate the next area circle and so on.
The Nominating Committee
See Article IV-B.
Committee membership shall be open to all members of FHF. The term of office of all committee members except the Executive Board shall expire at the end of each fiscal year or at the completion of the committee’s project. Members and chairs may be re-appointed except when otherwise specified. The terms of all committee members shall expire at the end of each fiscal year. Committee members and chairs may be re-appointed except when otherwise specified.
The President as deemed necessary to carry on the work of FHF may appoint additional committees.
ARTICLE VIII: MEETINGS
There shall be a business meeting in January of each year. The Executive Board in consultation with the Workshop Coordinator will determine the meeting time and place. Notice of meeting shall be mailed to all members in the workshop packet. Newly elected officers shall be announced and installed at this meeting. The new officers shall preside over the said meeting.
Regional meetings are encouraged. See definition of Supervising Area Director (Article IV-E-9), Area Directors (Article V) and Host (Article VII-A-3).
ARTICLE IX: CHAPTER NEWSLETTER
FHF will issue a newsletter to notify members of news and business relating to the activities and interests, forthcoming meetings, and to expedite elections. The newsletter will be issued at least four times annually.
ARTICLE X: AMENDMENTS
Amendments to the By-Laws may be proposed by the Executive Board or by any five members of FHF. Proposals originating with groups of members shall be presented in writing to the Executive Board.
Amendments to this document of By-Laws set forth in this writing may be made by a two-thirds vote of the total FHF membership provided the proposed amendment(s) meets a minimum requirement of two weeks written notice for all membership to review the proposal(s) prior to the vote.
ARTICLE XI: PARLIAMENTARY AUTHORITY
The rules contained in the current edition of Robert's Rules of Order shall govern FHF in all cases to which they are applicable and in which they are not inconsistent with this Constitution and By-Laws and any special rules of order FHF may adopt.
ARTICLE XI: DISSOLUTION
Upon dissolution of the organization, assets shall be distributed for one or more exempt purposes within the meaning of section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, or corresponding section of any future Federal tax code, or shall be distributed to the Federal, state or local government for a public purpose. Any such assets not so disposed of shall be disposed of by a court of competent jurisdiction, in the county in which the principal office of the organization is then located, exclusively for such purposes.
Should FHF be dissolved the preferred recipients of the properties are listed below assuming the organizations meet the current tax laws.
ISFHC, International Society of Folk Harpers and Craftsmen.
FOFF, Friends of Florida Folk
Bambi Fischer, Vice President , acting President
Caren Traynor, Secretary
Marg Chauvin, Treasurer
Penny Huster, Historian
Melody Anglin, Workshop Coordinator
Vickie Mansur, Supervising Area Director
