working without treasurer

[Guest Carol]

Is a non-profit organization allowed to operate without a treasurer if the treasurer resigned before their term was finished and a replacement cannot be found?

[Kim Goldsworthy]

Is a non-profit organization allowed to operate without a treasurer if the treasurer resigned before their term was finished and a replacement cannot be found?

Yes.

In what way would the organization NOT operate?

Were you implying:

(a.) the organization loses the ability to pay its bills?

(b.) the organization dissolves?

(c,) the organization cannot meet?

What bad thing did you have in mind?

And why?

[Guest carol]

No bad thing in mind. Couldn;t find the answer in the by-laws or Robert's Rules and was looking for clarification as to 1) whether the organization needs to name someone as an acting treasurer and 2)could the remaining board members take on the responsibilities of the treasurer until a replacement is found.

[Rev Ed]

At the very least, according to RONR, the only people required (in order to hold meetings, which allows an organization to operate) are a Chairman and a Secretary. As for the vacant position, your organization's By-laws or Constitution should state how an Officer's position is to be filled if a vacancy arises.

[Matt Schafer]

RONR doesn't allow for "acting" officers. Either a person is the officer, or he or she isn't. Your organization will need to fill the vacancy for the office of treasurer. The method of filling the vacancy, as well as which group of people has the power to do so, will be in your organization's rules, probably the bylaws. If the bylaws are silent on the issue, then it is the members of the organization who have an election at a meeting to fill the office for the rest of the term. And note that you'll need to give the members notice of the election.

For practical matters regarding who may be authorized to perform tasks such as depositing money, writing checks, and so on, those rules should also be in your bylaws. RONR doesn't have much to say about officers' duties outside of meetings.

[hmtcastle]

Is a non-profit organization allowed to operate without a treasurer if the treasurer resigned before their term was finished and a replacement cannot be found?

It's not so much a case of being "allowed" to operate without a treasurer (though there might be some legal implications which lie beyond the scope of this forum), it's that the membership has an obligation to obey its bylaws and, if the bylaws call for a treasurer, then the membership must make a good-faith effort to see that the position is filled.

Note that nothing in RONR prohibits a person from holding more than one office so, depending on the nature of the organization, it might be practical for, say, the secretary to also be the treasurer.

[Guest carol]

We know that the by-laws indicate the president has the power to appoint any position if someone should resign. Other than that information our by-laws are pretty vague. While we are trying (very hard) to fill the spot, the rest of us know the work has to get done and we are willing to do so, we just weren't sure if we were "allowed". But since our by-laws don't indicate otherwise and we know we aren't violating Robert's Rules - than we should be ok for the time being. Our trouble is finding a person willing to take the job since the treasurer position is a little harder to fill than, say a secretary position. Thanks for the information.