Receiving information between meetings

[jkshapiro]

Hi,

The constitution of my non-profit organization requires that any (main) motions to be made at a general meeting of the society be "received in writing by the Board at least four weeks prior to the general meeting". We have a general meeting coming up, and the last scheduled Board meeting beforehand is six weeks prior. Is the Board able to receive information between meetings? or does this mean the deadline in this case is actually six weeks in advance of the general meeting?

[Chris Harrison]

It is up to you all to interpret the bylaws. See RONR pp. 588-591 for some principles to help with that.

[Guest Edgar]

Is the Board able to receive information between meetings?

I'm afraid the interpretation of your constitution is beyond the scope of this humble forum.

But, for what it's worth, I might point out that a board can only act as a board at a proper meeting of the board. So while the USPS letter-carrier can certainly deliver mail to a member of the board (e.g the secretary or chairman), or to the board's post office box, or to the organization's clubhouse, one could argue that the board hasn't received the letter (or e-mail) until the board, as a board, has met.

[jkshapiro]

Thank you for the help. What we ended up doing, in an effort to square the circle at least for this year, was to pass a motion at the Board meeting that any motions received by the President during the questionable period would be retroactively considered to have been received by the Board as a whole, and would also be forwarded to every member of the Board.