Non-profit organzation officers exceeding their term limits & playing by their own rules

[militarytex70]

I am a member of a non-profit organization that has been around for almost 4 decades now. Currently, I am the chair of the committee for amending bylaws that have never been amended since 1972. Also, the current officers have exceeded their 3 year term limit as stated in the current bylaw. The board of officers over the years, have never taken the initiative to recruit members thus affording them the opportunity to make their own rules as they go. As of recent, I along with some dedicated newer members have recruited about 20 new members to join. We want to follow the bylaws as they stand, however, there is nothing set in place for our unique situation. The general membership decided to do something unconventional in order to get back on track by holding a special meeting to nominate and vote for new leadership (officers & board members) since the current officers failed to do their job(s). We also need to ratify some decisions that were recently made to lease a new office building & pay for a new position in our non-profit organization that both should have been voted on by the general membership and the position was not amended in the bylaws. Is there any advice that anyone can provide on how to make this transition smooth until we can vote next month on the amended bylaws that I am currently working on?

[George Mervosh]

I'd respectfully suggest you get some on-site help from a professional:

Contact either (or both) the ...

National Association of Parliamentarians

213 South Main St.

Independence, MO 64050-3850

Phone: 888-627-2929

Fax: 816-833-3893;

e-mail: hq@NAP2.org

www.parliamentarians.org

or

American Institute of Parliamentarians

550M Ritchie Highway #271

Severna Park, MD 21146

Phone: 888-664-0428

Fax: 410-544-4640

www.aipparl.org

for a reference or information.

There are also individuals out there that are truly expert parliamentarians, but not members of either group. I don't know of a list or ranking of them.