In 2023, we celebrated our 50th reunion in Suffolk, VA. Few would have thought that the backyard gathering all those years ago would have continued and grown as it has. To ensure our continued success, The Porter-Sanford-Reid Family Reunion Committee is working to develop a constitution and bylaws (hereinafter called “bylaws”). The goal of creating these documents is to better ensure future reunions. While simple intuition and verbal conversations worked fine with a small group of family members who lived in close proximity, our family now stretches across the country (and beyond) and encompasses multiple generations. Writing these documents will serve to clarify our purpose, delineate basic structure, and provide the cornerstone for hosting future family reunions.
The reunion committee has worked over the past year to create an initial draft of the bylaws. Nothing in this document is final, and everything is up for discussion—this document is a starting point for the discussion of developing our bylaws. A complete copy of the document can be found here:
We hope to get suggestions and comments from everyone in the family in the coming year and present a draft to be voted on at the 2025 family reunion (July 18-20, 2025). If the bylaws are accepted by a majority vote of those in attendance, the bylaws will become our governing document.
During the next few months, sections of the bylaws will be posted, and you are encouraged to provide feedback, thoughts, suggestions, and comments.
This initial post will help clarify what the constitution and bylaws are. Why we need them. And what happens after the bylaws are accepted.
What is a constitution and bylaws?
According to Roberts Rules of Order Newly Revised 11th Edition, “In general, the constitution or the bylaws—or both—of a society are the documents that contain its own basic rules relating principally to itself as an organization, rather than to the parliamentary procedure that it follows. In the ordinary case, it is now the recommended practice that all of a society’s rules of this kind be combined into a single instrument, usually called the “bylaws,” although in some societies called the “constitution”—or the “constitution and bylaws,” even when it is only one document.”
The bylaws contain an organization's fundamental principles that determine its officers' and members' responsibilities and rights. It is the essence of the overall purpose of the organization and is not changed unless the purpose changes. Bylaws detail the procedures a group must follow to conduct business in an orderly manner. Once bylaws are adopted, they remain in force until they are amended.
Why have a constitution and bylaws?
The process of writing the bylaws should serve to clarify the organization’s purpose, delineate basic structure and provide the cornerstone for building an effective organization. It will also allow members and potential members to have a better understanding of what the organization is all about and how it functions.
What happens after the bylaws are accepted?
The document should be referred to when questions arise, reviewed annually (or a specified interval), and utilized in the training of new officers. The needs of a group will change over time and it is important that the bylaws are kept up to date to reflect the current state of affairs. Every new member of the organization should have access to a copy—this will help to unify members by informing them about the opportunities that exist for participation and the procedures they should follow to be an active, contributing member.
Do you have any feedback, suggestions, or questions?
Leave a comment and let us know what you think.
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