Contents

  1. Name
  2. Purpose
  3. Membership
  4. Board of Directors
  5. Officers
  6. Meetings
  7. Finances
  8. Sundry Bylaws

  1. NAME: The name of this organization shall be the State of Wisconsin Chess Association, commonly called the Wisconsin Chess Association, WCA.
  2. PURPOSE: The purpose of the WCA is to promote chess in Wisconsin, through tournaments and strengthening local clubs.
  3. MEMBERSHIP:
    1. Membership shall be open to any person who pays the prescribed dues.
    2. Dues: The Board of directors shall establish the annual dues to cover the period between the openings of two successive annual meetings. Effective 1998 membership meeting, the annual dues shall be set at $5 per annum. Players participating in any WCA sponsored event shall receive free membership to the WCA for that year.
    3. Honorary Life Membership: Honorary Life membership may be conferred by a three-fourths vote of the members present at an annual meeting upon a person who has rendered notable service to the Association.
    4. All members shall have all rights and privileges, except that only Wisconsin residents may vote or hold office. Students attending Wisconsin schools, military personnel stationed in Wisconsin, and members living in out-of-state areas which are suburban to Wisconsin cities are considered to be Wisconsin residents.
  4. BOARD OF DIRECTORS:
    1. The Board of Directors shall consist of nine members of the Association, three to be selected to three year terms at each annual meeting from those nominated at that meeting, to hold office until their successors are elected and qualified.
    2. The newly elected Board of Directors shall elect the Officers for the Association within one week after the Annual Meeting via a meeting or through email.  The new Officers will be announced to the WCA members via email.
    3. The Board of Directors is the governing body of the Association. The Board shall transact the Association business between annual meetings, provided no act conflicts with actions taken by the membership meetings. The Board shall arrange such tournaments, activities, and affiliations as promote the purpose of the Association.
    4. The President shall appoint a replacement for the unexpired term of any member of the Board who resigns or dies or becomes a non-resident under Bylaw 3.4 .
    5. The Board has the right to remove members that miss four consecutive meeting with a three-fourths vote.
  5. OFFICERS:
    1. The officers of the Association are a President, a Vice-President, a Secretary, and a Treasurer, who are elected by the Board, and such committee chairmen as the president may appoint. The Board, at its option, may elect one person to serve two officer positions, with the exception of holding both President and Vice President positions. The officers shall perform the duties described by the parliamentary authority in Bylaw 8.2 and the specific duties delineated herein, including formulation of general policy, management of the Association, and holding elections.
    2. The President shall call and preside at all meetings of the Association and of the Board. He shall appoint chairmen and members for the committees approved by the membership or by the Board, and exercise active and general supervision over the conduct of Association affairs.
    3. The Vice-President shall assist the President in the discharge of his duties and perform those duties in the absence of the President.
    4. The Secretary shall keep minutes of the proceedings of the Association and the Board, send notices of all board meetings, and keep such records and make such reports as are required.
    5. The Treasurer shall receive all Association revenues, keep accounts of all receipts and disbursements and such other accounts as the Board may require, make a financial report at each Board meeting, and provide an annual statement to the membership at the annual meeting.
    6. The Board of Directors will appoint an individual to serve as the Data Base Coordinator who will maintain the Member Data Base as defined in section 6.1.
  6. MEETINGS:
    1. Definitions:
      1. Annual Meeting:  The three month process described in this section.  Any reference to the Annual Meeting in other sections of the Bylaws represents the process in this section.
      2. Audit Team:  Two individuals that will be appointed by the Wisconsin Chess Association (WCA) Board of Directors (BOD) on an annual basis to review the results of the voting members as accumulated by the Main Contact.
      3. Main Contact:  The individual appointed by the WCA BOD to send out and receive emails from the voting members.  The Main Contact will also tabulate the results of all votes and report all information to the Audit Team.
      4. Member Data Base:  The data base with the Voting Members' email addresses will be maintained by the Data Base Coordinator.  The data base will be used by the Main Contact on the initial email sent out to the Voting Members.  All registration forms for the WCA tournaments will have a line for the player's email so the Member Data Base can be updated on an ongoing basis.
      5. Voting Member:  A WCA member in the previous calendar year and over the age of sixteen.  An individual is a member by playing in a WCA tournament or paying the membership fee.
    2. During the first week of January the Main Contact using the Member Data base will send to the Voting Members the initial email.  The deadline for a response from the Voting Members will be the end of January.  The initial email will include:
      1. The announcement of Board of Directors members whose terms will expire
      2. Request for nominations to serve on the WCA Board of Directors
      3. Request for any bylaw changes
      4. Request for any suggestions or comments
      5. The announcement of changes in the membership fees to be effective April 1
      6. Nominees for Honorary Life Membership
      7. If a survey is ready it would be sent at this time
    3. From February 1 to February 15 the following will occur:
      1. The Main Contact will review all responses
      2. All BOD nominees will be contacted to see if they want to serve
      3. The ballot will be prepared for the vote on Board of Directors
      4. The current BOD will review and vote on any Bylaw changes
      5. The Bylaw changes will be prepared for a vote by the Voting Members
      6. The current BOD will review and vote on any Honorary Life Memberships
      7. Honorary Life Memberships will be prepared for a vote by the Voting Members
    4. As close to February 16 as possible using the Member Data Base the Main Contact will send email to the Voting Members the ballot for the WCA Board of Directors, the Bylaws changes referendum, and Honorary Life Memberships ballot. The Voting Members have until March 15 to send their vote to the Main Contact using the email address that the original message was sent to.  If there is more than one voting member at an email address, the voters will have to indicate their name with their vote.  The reply is to be sent to the Main Contact.  If the Board nominees who accepted their nomination equals the open positions and no other votes are needed, no email will take place.
    5. March 15 to March 31 the Main Contact will accumulate the votes and review the results with the Audit Team.  The final results will be reported to the WCA BOD.
    6. April 1 the annual report to the Voting Members will be sent via email by the Main Contact and will include:
      1. The results of the Board of Directors vote
      2. The results of the Bylaws changes vote
      3. The results of the Honorary Life Memberships vote
      4. The President's report
      5. The Treasurer's report
    7. The newly elected Board of Directors term starts April 1.  The BOD will have three regular meetings.  Between regular meetings the BOD may conduct business by mail, telephone or email.  A special meeting of the BOD may be called by the President or upon written request of three Board Members.  Five Board Members must be present for a quorum for any meeting.
    8. A special meeting of the membership, following thirty day notice, shall be called upon a majority vote of the Board or upon written request by ten members.
    9. To promote discussion among members concerning any issues for the Association, WCA will establish a blog on the Web Site.
  7. FINANCES:
    1. No obligation shall bind the Association unless; (a) authorized by the membership or the Board and (b) authenticated in writing by the President or the Treasurer.
    2. The Treasurer shall deposit all receipts in a bank approved by the Board and disburse them only by check bearing his signature, provided that each disbursement be supported by a voucher authorized by the President or, in his absence, by the Vice-President.
    3. The fiscal year for the Wisconsin Chess Association will be the calendar year.
    4. The Wisconsin Chess Association will use accrual based accounting.
  8. SUNDRY BYLAWS:
    1. Amendments: These Bylaws may be amended by a two-thirds vote of the members present (quorum of twenty people) at a meeting called for that purpose and so announced in the meeting notice or through the Annual Meeting process.  The final wording of the proposed changes should be drafted by the WCA Board of Directors and voted on by the BOD with a majority vote needed to proceed.
    2. Parliamentary Authority: Robert's Rules of Order shall govern all Association business conduct, when not specifically provided for in these Bylaws.
    3. Office: The principal office of the Association shall be the President's address.
    4. IRS Limitations: No part of the income of the Association shall inure to the benefit of, or be distributable to, its members, officers, or other private persons, excepting reasonable compensation for services and payments in furtherance of the purposes in Bylaw 2.
    5. The Association shall carry on no propaganda activity or otherwise attempt to influence legislation. The Association shall not participate in any way in any political campaign on behalf of any candidate for public office.
    6. Notwithstanding any other provision of these Bylaws, the Association shall carry on no activity not permitted (a) by an association exempt from Federal income tax under 501 ( c ) (3) of the Internal Revenue code of 1954 (or the corresponding provisions of any future law) or (b) by a corporation, contributions to which are deductible under 170 ( c ) (2) of the cited code and future law.
    7. Upon dissolution of the Association, the Board shall pay all liabilities and dispose of all remaining assets exclusively for the purposes in Bylaw 2 or to such organizations as then qualify as exempt under 501( c )(3) of the cited code and future law.
    8. Participation fee: For participation in events requiring Association membership, a fee equal to the annual dues may be paid on behalf of a computer or device not eligible for the usual membership. Acceptance of the fee and the participant shall be at the discretion of the director of the event.

LAST UPDATED:  9/6/2015