we have bylaws that at this point works for us, we are a pretty laid back group but when needed and we get a complaint it has been nice to say"it's in our bylaws". To incorporate and get 501 you need them, that was our main reason to have them. Right now we are in the middle of getting a new principal and we are doing a written agreement with our district on what our "demands " our for our group. It allows us one year to build trust with a new principal.
It takes an entire board to be in agreement to do whatever the heck they want without any regards to the bylaws. Can that happen? Sure it can. But without bylaws no one can ever stop them or rein them in.
Apparently your group has been lucky thus far that nothing major has happened where you needed to point to the bylaws to stop someone or control someone. Will it always be that way...who knows.
I think creating bylaws and incorporating your group is good for your group as a whole. Maybe someday there will be a problem and the bylaws you created can solve it.
Think of the by-laws as your friends. Believe me, they are. You need to have a set of rules that you can point to and say "these are the rules - this is what we must do" no matter what crazy scheme someone might come up with.
Our bylaws were written almost 20 years ago. They are short, to the point, and someone did a fantastic job giving us enough rules but not too many.
Over the years our group had kind of degenerated into just doing "fun" things for the school. This group that promoted "fun" also decided that filing taxes and keeping records wasn't a "fun" thing to do. Then our school district had a budget crisis and really needed us to step up and provide more than just "fun" for our students. We realized that in order to do that, we needed to clean up our act so that we could open our books to anyone and show them what a by-the-book, up-front organization we were and that the parents could trust us with their money.
We got those by-laws out and now we follow them to the letter. We are able to say that our by-laws say we have to hold our meetings like this. Only board members can vote. Budget has to be approved like this. We can only spend money on this.
Those by-laws protect us and give us guidance and thank goodness for whoever did them all those years ago.
So my long answer is this - you may have years where people disregard them, but there will also be years where there are people who really want guidance and rules and that's when they will be important.
There is not an easy answer to this. What happens if you speed? You either get caught and possibly given a ticket or you don't. It's the same with bylaws. We have them but for a few years no one really cared and they did whatever. Some people got upset and eventually worked to getting back to following them but even some of those people don't follow them if it suits their needs. Who knows what the future holds, that's why bylaws can be changed. So write laws that work for your group right now and see what happens. Good luck.
The irony of commitment is that it’s deeply liberating-in work, in play, in love. The act frees you from the tyranny of your internal critic, from the fear that likes to dress itself up and parade around as rational hesitation. To commit is to remove your head as the barrier to your life. --Anne Morris
I had an officers' meeting Friday (I am VP, expected to become President next year)in which we decided to create a set of bylaws (we have none) and explore the possibility of incorprating and separating from the school (the group is part of the school now).
The other officers are supportive of all this, provided I do all the work. The principal is, too, but she is skeptical that it will make any real difference in the way our group gets things done. (I believe we will be able to accomplish more, at least in the long run.)
This made me think of something -- what if there is a group in the future who disregards the bylaws?
What happens if they do things that are technically OK but contrary to the bylaws, like helping the needy or being lenient with the amount of $$ a president can spend without approval when it is going to legit business?
I guess my question is: What are the consequences of not adhering to the bylaws?
I can see the bylaws gradually fading away and a group that is much like we have now except that they file tax returns.
Can someone help sell me on the work I am about to do?
