Exact Requirements of the Club Constitution

Purpose

• The club must exist to help individual members improve their communication and leadership skills in a supportive environment (Art. I).

Membership

• Members must be at least 18 years old.
• Membership is by invitation only and requires a vote of the club (Art. II §2).
• There are three membership types:
  • Active (full rights)
  • Inactive (limited rights; must pay dues to TI)
  • Honorary (no rights; no dues)
• Club may discipline, suspend, expel, or refuse to renew members for just cause, including nonpayment of dues or misconduct (Art. II §6).

Dues & Fees

• Club must:
  • Collect and remit TI membership dues from all active/inactive members (Art. III §1).
  • Charge and remit new member fees to TI (Art. III §2).
• Club may set optional:
  • Club dues,
  • Reinstatement fees, and
  • Transfer fees …via the Addendum (Art. III).

Meetings

• Club must:
  • Hold regular meetings (Art. IV §1).
  • Allow special meetings to be called by the exec committee or vote of the membership (Art. IV §2).
  • Give at least 4 days' notice for special meetings or changes to regular ones (Art. IV §4).
  • Club Secretary must notify World Headquarters of permanent meeting time/place changes (Art. IV §5).

Quorum and Voting

• Quorum:
  • A majority of active members is required to conduct business (Art. V §1).
• Voting:
  • Only active members may vote (Art. V §2).
  • No proxy or absentee voting allowed (Art. V §3).
  • Most decisions require simple majority of present, voting active members (Art. V §4).

Officers

• Club must have:
  • At least three officers: President, a VP (any of the three), and a Secretary or Secretary-Treasurer (Art. VI §1).
  • These must be different individuals, and President and Treasurer must be different people.
  • Officers serve 1-year terms, unless club meets weekly, in which case it may adopt 6-month terms (Art. VI §3).
  • Elections must be held at specific times (Art. VI §6).
  • Vacant officer positions must be filled by special election (Art. VI §8).
  • Club President may not be re-elected to consecutive full-year terms (Art. VI §9).
  • Officers may be removed by majority vote of active members at a meeting with quorum (Art. VI §7).

Officer Duties

Each required officer has defined constitutional responsibilities (Art. VII):

• President: Executive duties, committee oversight, meeting chair, liaison to Area and District.
• VP Education: Program planning, educational progress.
• Secretary: Records, member roster, official notifications.
• Treasurer: Finance and dues remittance.
• Others (optional roles) have defined duties too.

Committees

• Club must have 5 standing committees:
  • Executive
  • Education
  • Membership
  • Public Relations
  • Social & Reception (Art. VIII §1)
• Committees may be inactive unless needed, but must exist in theory.

Parliamentary Procedure

• Club must follow Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised, unless local law dictates otherwise (Art. IX).

Affiliation and Legal Status

• Club is:
  • A member of Toastmasters International (TI) and bound by its Bylaws, Policies, and Protocols (Art. X).
  • An independent legal entity, responsible for its own debts (Art. X §4).
• Upon dissolution, remaining funds must go to TI or another TI entity (Art. XI §2).
• Constitution is governed by California law (Art. XI §3).

Amendments

• Clubs cannot amend the constitution locally, except for the Addendum of Standard Club Options (Art. XII).
• Changes to the constitution can only be made by a vote of TI's voting membership (Art. XII §1–5).

Summary: What's Absolutely Required

You must:

• Invite-only active membership (18+)
• Vote in new members
• Elect and install at least 3 different officers (with defined roles)
• Collect and remit TI dues
• Hold regular meetings with quorum and minutes
• Follow Robert's Rules
• Maintain affiliation with TI and obey its Bylaws/Policies