is it proper for president of 501c3 nonprofit to nominate officers for election

[Guest gene]

The president of a local non profit group recently, without advance notice, nominated his picks for two executive board positions.  The board, of which I am a member, says they adhere generally to RRO.  After being in business for 35 years I am surprized the president would feel it proper to fill one officers position and two executive board positions with no discussion or even asking for other nominations.  Am I the only one that feels this is not proper?

[George Mervosh]

The president of a local non profit group recently, without advance notice, nominated his picks for two executive board positions.  The board, of which I am a member, says they adhere generally to RRO.  After being in business for 35 years I am surprized the president would feel it proper to fill one officers position and two executive board positions with no discussion or even asking for other nominations.  Am I the only one that feels this is not proper?

 

For boards where there are not more than about a dozen members present and which follows the more relaxed procedures spelled out in RONR (pp. 487-488), it's perfectly proper for him to do so without leaving the chair.  In larger boards or ones who follow the regular rules he should not do so while presiding, but there's nothing improper about him exercising his membership rights.  Also, See FAQ#1

[Kim Goldsworthy]

The president of a local non profit group recently, without advance notice, nominated his picks for two executive board positions.  The board, of which I am a member, says they adhere generally to RRO.  After being in business for 35 years I am surprized the president would feel it proper to fill one officers position and two executive board positions with no discussion or even asking for other nominations.  Am I the only one that feels this is not proper?

Ponder the possibilities:

 

1.) Perhaps no one had any other "better" nominations. Perhaps the P nominated the best man/woman for the job.

 

2.) Perhaps the members of the board are strategically biding their time, and do not wish to nominate their preferred candidate that  moment, but will wait for a tactical opportunity to do the nomination.

 

There could be any number of reasons for your scenario to unfold as it did.

Q. Did your chair violate your customized nominations procedure?

If not, then, well, there you go!

[Edgar Guest]

 . . . I am surprised the president would feel it proper to fill one officers position and two executive board positions with no discussion or even asking for other nominations.

Just what did the president do?

 

If he merely made a couple of nominations, it's not the end of the world.

 

But are you saying he also prohibited debate and additional nominations? That's a bit more serious.

 

A nomination doesn't "fill" the office. That's what elections are for.

[Richard Brown]

The president of a local non profit group recently, without advance notice, nominated his picks for two executive board positions. 

 

Without disagreeing with the prior responses, I'm wondering what the bylaws say about how these two nominations are supposed to be made and who actually makes the final decisions/selections.    I think we are all assuming that this is something within the board's jurisdiction and that the president has the power to make the nominations, but I would prefer to know for a fact what the procedure is supposed to be per the bylaws.

[Rev Ed]

Just because someone is nominated for an office does not mean the person will be elected.

 

As others have stated, if the meeting was held under the relaxed rules of RONR there is nothing wrong at all.  Otherwise, the President should not make a habit of not remaining impartial, if a member the President has the rights of membership and could - if he truly feels that these nominated people are beneficial for the Board - could make a couple nominations.  However, that does not mean that the general membership (or the Board, or whoever is electing the positions) can always elect other people.