Membership Bootcamp: Tips for Chapter Vice Presidents/ Membership Chairs Tamara Young Lee, Southern Area Vice Director ENTER Date

Membership Manual http://linksinc.org/ http://linksinc.org/

MEMBERS ONLY LOG IN

Membership Classifications Active Members Leave of Absence Members Alumna Membership Affiliate Membership Provisory Membership Honorary Membership Platinum Membership

Active Membership An active member is a member in good standing who has met all the obligations of her Chapter, Area and the National Assembly. The responsibilities for maintaining active membership include: Payment of dues, Chapter and National Payment of assessments Participation in Chapter activities and programs Attendance requirements met as determined by the Chapter Minimum service requirements met (i.e. 48 hours per year) Attendance requirements met for National and Area meetings (one-in-five years) Other requirements levied by the Chapter, Area and National Assembly Not under disciplinary action

48 Hour Service Requirement All active members are required to serve a minimum of 48 hours per year (May 1 thru April 30) through service sanctioned by and part of her respective chapter’s programmatic thrust. Examples of ways to accumulate hours: Chapter meetings Chapter activities Area meetings (as designated by the Area Director National Meetings (as designated by National

48 Hour Cont. Service hours can be recorded on the Service Hours Record Keeping chart located in the 2012 Membership Manual. The chart can be altered to your needs. Membership chair and committee will be in charge of: Maintaining a monthly log for each member Contacting members not in compliance with chapter attendance requirements Completing in the annual record for each member Failure to meet the 48 hour requirement will result in membership forfeiture

National and Area 1-5 Participation Requirement With the exception of Provisory, Alumna, and Platinum members, active members are required to attend and participate in a minimum of one National Assembly or one Area Conference in her area once in every five year period (1 and 5). Current five year period is 2013-2017

Chapter Meeting Requirements Members must participate in their chapter’s meetings based upon the requirements of the Chapter as per their respective bylaws Members who fail to meet the requirements of her chapter will be notified by letter (Letter example in the Membership Manual) Failure to meet meeting requirements will result in membership forfeiture.

MEMBER SHIP TRAINSITIONS

Introduction to Membership Transitions The Membership Transitions section has Transfer Conditions and Process which includes “Transfer Eligibility” and “Transfer Process” and the Reinstatement Policy which details the “Reinstatement Process” and includes a “Reinstatement Checklist”.

Transfer Conditions and Process An active Link who is financially current and in good standing and moves her home address outside of the boundaries of her current Chapter to within the boundaries of another Chapter and/or at least 50 miles from her current Chapter; may request a transfer to another Chapter between May 1st and December 1st. To initiate the process she must complete the transfer within six (6) months of her last attended meeting of her current Chapter. For the sake of clarity her current Chapter, which she transfers from, will be referred to as the “Sending Chapter”. The Chapter to which she is transferring will be referred to as the “Receiving Chapter”.

Reinstatement The Manual of Procedures for The Links, Incorporated, specifically provides that “A former member shall at no time become a member of The Links, Incorporated except through the [reinstatement] process . . .”, Manual of Procedures, Article I, Membership Reinstatement Process.

Reinstatement Process A former Links member who resigns in good standing or who forfeited membership (for non-payment of dues, assessments or failure to fulfill the attendance, service hour, or One (1)-in-Five (5) requirement) may apply for reinstatement based on her status at resignation and whether less than or greater than two years as follows:

Reinstatement Process, cont. A former member who resigned in good standing and applies for reinstatement within two (2) years of her resignation shall be reinstated upon application and majority ballot vote of the Chapter members present and voting. She shall pay current National and Chapter dues and assessments and reinstatement fee in an amount determined by the National Finance Committee and approved by the National Assembly. A former member who forfeited her membership for non-payment of dues and applies for reinstatement within two (2) years of her forfeiture, shall be reinstated upon application, payment of all current Chapter and National dues and assessments, payment of all current Chapter and National dues and assessments, payment of all National and Chapter dues and assessments owed at the time of her forfeiture, and majority ballot vote of the Chapter members present and voting. She shall pay a reinstatement fee in an amount determined by the National Finance Committee and approved by the National Assembly.

Reinstatement Process, cont. A former member who resigned in good standing and applies for reinstatement more than two (2) years after her resignation shall be reinstated upon application, a two-thirds (2/3) affirmative ballot vote of the Chapter members present and voting, and payment of current National and Chapter dues and assessments. She shall be inducted as in the process for a new member. She shall pay a reinstatement fee in an amount determined by the National Finance Committee and approved by the National Assembly. A former member who forfeited her membership for non-payment of dues and applies for reinstatement more than two ye(2) years after her forfeiture, shall be reinstated upon application, payment of all current Chapter and National dues and assessments, payments of all National and Chapter dues and assessments owed at the time of her forfeiture, and a two-thirds (2/3) affirmative ballot vote of the Chapter members present and voting. She shall be inducted a in the process for a new member. She shall pay a reinstatement fee in an amount determined by the National Finance Committee and approved by the National Assembly.

Building Assessment

Building Assessment All current and new members must pay a $600 Building Assessment contribution to The Links, Foundation, Inc. Members have three years to pay the assessment from the applicable date Failure to pay the fee will result in membership forfeiture

Newly Inducted Member Requirements

Newly Inducted Member Requirements Responsibilities following induction into the Links, Inc. include: Knowledge about documentation including the Constitution & Bylaws, Membership Manual, Manual of Procedures, Protocol Manual, etc. and where to locate them (linksinc.org) Work with a mentor to become acclimated with responsibilities/requirements for membership

Membership Acknowledgement Form The Membership Acknowledgement Form must be completed by every newly inducted member. Submission/Completion Instructions Acknowledgement of: Primary Address 48 hour Service Requirement Chapter Meeting Attendance Requirement Code of Ethics 1-5 Requirement (during current 2013-2017 period) Building Assessment Fee

Membership Acknowledgement Form

Boundary issues

Boundary ISSUES

Online membership inductors process

Questions about installation schedule Is there a new installation schedule and will there be information in the schedule about the online process? Answer The National Membership committee did provide a new installation schedule. The new schedule is in the membership manual recently put online. The installation schedule has been modified to make appropriate references to using the Online process for member intake. A high-level description of the new process is also documented in the revised memberships manual.

Question about new Candidate Status Once a candidate has been submitted how does the approval process work? Answer The online process membership intake does not approve or deny membership. Membership in the Links is approved or denied by chapter vote. Once a chapter approves or denies membership for a candidate, the vice president enters the status in the new candidate status member induction status field. If the status is marked as “deny” then the candidate’s information and status are no longer displayed. The President will no linger see a candidate in the New Candidate List if membership status is “deny”. If the president finds the status of either “approve” or Deny” to be an error, the President can override the status and change it. In the case of an erroneous status of “deny”, the President has a way to allow the new member’s information to be put back into the system.

Webinars on the new online process The National Technology Committee conducted one hour webinars to review the forms step-by-Step. The webinars also outline the members’ submittal process and the Chapter President and Vice-president/Membership Chair approval process. The New Members Induction Process Webinar is available in the Members Only section of the National Website.

New Amendments

Question and Answers?