CHARLOTTE BLACK TENNIS CLUB
CONSTITUTION & BYLAWS
ARTICLE I - NAME
Section 1
This organization shall be known as the CHARLOTTE BLACK TENNIS CLUB (“CBTC”).
ARTICLE II - PURPOSE
Section 1
The goal of this organization is to promote tennis and related activities in the city of Charlotte and adjacent communities through the organization, offering and promotion of competitive and social tennis play and related events for players of African American decent.
The purposes for which it is formed are:
• To promote diversity within the sport of tennis by increasing engagement within the black community;
• To establish tennis as sport of choice for inner city school districts impacted by poverty;
• To build a social network of black tennis players that extends outside of the Charlotte Metro area;
• To foster and support tennis tournaments and competitions for people of color;
• To promote development of tennis as a means of healthful recreation and physical fitness for people of color;
• To establish and maintain rules of play and high standards of amateurism and good sportsmanship;
• To generally encourage through tennis the development of health, character and responsible citizenship; and to carry on other similar activities permitted to be carried on by such a not-for-profit corporation.
ARTICLE III - MEMBERSHIP
Section 1
Membership in the CBTC is generally open to all persons of color and others who are in support of the organizations mission, known as CBTC allies. A member is a person who has filled out and signed a Membership form, and paid membership fees for the current year. The Board may, however, restrict membership from time to time as follows:
a) A maximum number of members may be specified, if necessary, due to court availability.
b) Residency requirements may be specified, if necessary, to comply with guidelines of any city, school or other owners/administrators of facilities used by the Club.
Section 2
Membership fee shall consist of INITIATION fees and DUES as follows:
INITIATION FEES: All new members shall pay an initiation fee. The fee is paid one time only unless membership lapses. The Board of Directors will set the initiation fee at its September meeting.
MEMBERSHIP DUES: Dues for the following calendar year are set by the Board of Directors annually.
Section 3
Membership Promotions: The Board of Directors may approve promotional rates for initiation fees and membership dues. Approval for such Promotions may occur at any monthly Board of Directors meeting. A simple majority vote is required.
Section 4
Membership dues are due and payable on January 1 of each year. The renewal period may begin as early as October 1 of the preceding year.
Section 5
Upon payment of dues, adult members (at least 21 years of age) shall be entitled to participate in all of the CBTC's activities and to vote in all CBTC elections. Non-adult members shall be entitled to participate in CBTC activities designated as open to Juniors, but shall not be entitled to vote in CBTC elections.
All members in good standing will have a first priority opportunity to participate in CBTC activities. If there are slots available in planned activities, following a reasonable period of time to allow for member signups, non-members will be welcome to participate. All non-members will be expected to pay the applicable non-member fees at the time of registration for such activity.
Section 6
Dues paid from January 1 through September 30 will apply only to that calendar year in which they are paid. Membership privileges will begin immediately and remain current until the end of the following membership year for those who join between October 1 and December 31.
Section 8
Calendar year for Club membership shall be January 1 through December 31.
Section 9
Club members must abide by all applicable USTA, municipal and school rules and regulations
Section 10
Membership is continuous until such time as the member fails to renew membership.
Section 11
Members may be suspended from all Club activities for a period of one to six months for actions prejudicial or injurious to the Club, only upon a majority vote of the Board of Directors.
Section 12
In the event of severe financial need, a Board member may submit a request for waiver of membership fees by the first Board meeting in the new year, with justification of financial need acceptable to a majority of the Board for approval of such waiver.
Board members who have not paid their membership fees or received a waiver of such fees from the Board by the first Board meeting will not be recognized as a Board member and will not have a vote at the meetings until their membership fees have been paid.
ARTICLE IV - MEETINGS
Section 1
A General Membership meeting shall take place annually at a location designated by the Board of Directors.
Section 2
Board of Directors meetings will be held at least bi-monthly at the discretion of the President or by request of 25% of the Board, and are open to the General Membership.
The General Membership may raise new issues during the “new business” segment of the monthly Board of Directors meeting. CBTC members are encouraged to contact the Secretary to have new items, which they wish to have discussed or intend to raise in person, added to the meeting agenda.
Section 3
Members shall be notified of the date and place of meetings via the Club website. The dates of the Board of Director meetings will be posted in the website Calendar section and on the Home page of the website, at least two weeks prior to the date of the meeting.
Section 4
Special meetings may be called by approval of the Board of Directors or by petition of 25% of the Club Membership.
ARTICLE V - ELECTIONS TO BOARD
Section 1
Solicitation for volunteers to serve on the Board will be published on the CBTC website, at least one month in advance of the General Membership meeting. Volunteers for the Board should notify the Chair of the Nomination Committee (the Vice President, unless otherwise designated) in writing of the position for which they are volunteering.
Section 2
At the November Board meeting, the Chair of the Nomination Committee will present the nomination slate for the following year’s Board of Directors. It is recommended that the President serve two previous years on the CBTC Board prior to serving as president.
Approval of the nomination slate requires a majority vote of the Board present. The approved nomination slate will be presented to the general membership at the annual General Membership Meeting.
Section 3
Signatures from a minimum of 5% of the adult General Membership are sufficient to place an additional write-in nomination into candidacy for a competitive election for a position on the Board, up until 48 hours before the date of the annual General Membership meeting. All such write-in nominations, with all qualifying signatures and legibly printed adult member names, are to be presented in person to the Chair of the Nomination Committee or otherwise acknowledged in writing by the Chair of the Nomination Committee as having been received and accepted as a qualifying nomination, by the specified deadline for write-in nominations.
Section 4
Members shall not be elected to office without their consent.
Section 5
The election of the Board of Directors for the following year shall take place at the annual General Membership Meeting (normally held in December). Voting shall be by majority vote of those present.
Section 8
Members of the Board may be removed by a 2/3-majority vote of the full Board.
Section 9
If any Board position has not been filled at the annual election, and a volunteer comes forward at a later date, an election may be held at a regular Board meeting voted on by the Board of Directors and any CBTC members in attendance: majority vote rules.
ARTICLE VI - BOARD
Section 1
The following positions shall comprise the Board of Directors:
President, officer
Vice President, officer
Secretary, officer
Treasurer, officer
Marketing Director
Social Engagement Director
USTA Partner
When determined to be needed during the course of the year, to better serve the interests of the CBTC, the President with the approval of the Board, may designate and fill additional Board of Director positions.
Board members may be elected to fill more than one position. Multiple individuals may share one Board position. Officers are authorized to sign any legal, tax, banking or other official documents as required.
Section 2
All Board members shall be members of CBTC in good standing and serve a term commencing upon election and terminating with the installation of new Board members the following year.
Note: Board members may be reelected under the normal election process.
Section 3
If a vacancy should occur in an office it shall be filled by appointment of the President (or by the Board, if the vacancy is the position of the President) with the approval of the Board and shall be effective until that term expires.
Section 4
A simple majority of individual Board positions currently filled is required to be present at a properly convened Board meeting, in order to constitute a quorum for the transaction of business at a Board of Directors meeting. Present Board members will be counted once for EACH position they are filling on the Board for purposes of establishing quorum. The Chair of the meeting is responsible for determining and recognizing a quorum before convening a Board meeting for official business or voting.
In the event that a normal quorum cannot be established, but more than 25% of individual Board positions currently filled are present, the Chair may recognize a Provisional Quorum and convene the Board meeting (see special requirements concerning voting in Section 5).
Section 5
Each filled Board position is entitled to one vote. The Chair may only cast a vote to break a tie vote. At all Board meetings, properly convened and recognized as having achieved quorum by the Chair a simple majority vote of the Board positions present will be required to pass any motions coming before the Board.
Note that multiple individuals filling a single Board position do not receive multiple votes, whereas a single individual filling multiple Board positions does receive multiple votes. In the event that multiple individuals share one Board position, the Chair shall announce, at the time of acknowledging quorum, which individual shall be recognized as casting the vote for such shared Board position.
In the event that the Chair has recognized a Provisional Quorum in convening the meeting (and has not later improved that recognition to a normal Quorum during the meeting), then the passage of any votes shall require BOTH a majority of the Board positions present AND more than 25% of individual Board positions currently filled.
Section 6
To facilitate the expedient Board consideration, discussion and approval of matters, in the absence of a physical meeting of the Board, a protocol for the electronic submission, consideration and approval of matters by the Board is provided:
A proposal for a motion to the Board may be offered by any Board member, to the President or Vice President for discussion and revision. Only with the prior electronic or other written consent of the President or Vice President, the Board member may then electronically present the final motion, as revised, simultaneously to the entire Board.
If a proposed motion is presented electronically to the Board by an individual, without the prior written consent of the President or Vice President, such proposed motion and any vote on such proposed motion shall have no standing as a decision of the Board.
Upon electronic presentation of a properly-consented motion to the Board, the motion must be seconded by another Board member, by electronic written communication to the Secretary. The Secretary shall then simultaneously notify the entire Board by electronic written communication who has seconded the motion and that it is open for electronic discussion. If no second is received by the Secretary within 48 hours, the motion dies.
Upon electronic communication from the Secretary that a motion has been seconded, the Board will have a minimum of a 48-hour period for written electronic discussion of the motion. Revisions to an electronically submitted motion shall be allowed during the electronic discussion process, with the approval of the original presenter and seconder of the motion, as in a physical meeting of the Board. In the event that a revision to the motion is approved by the original presenter and seconder, the 48-hour minimum period for electronic discussion shall restart.
Following the conclusion of any minimum required electronic discussion period and upon the direction from the President or Vice President to call for the vote, the Secretary shall electronically distribute a consolidated copy of all electronic discussion received by the Secretary on the motion, as properly revised (if applicable), and shall call for an electronic vote on the motion.
Board members are required to submit their electronic vote on the motion, to the Secretary, within 48 hours of the time at which the Secretary has electronically called for the vote.
Upon receipt of electronic votes demonstrating a majority of the full Board either in favor or opposing the motion, the Secretary shall promptly and simultaneously electronically notify the full Board of the approval or denial outcome achieved on the motion. At the end of the 48-hour voting period, the Secretary shall promptly and simultaneously electronically notify the full Board of the voting results by Board member.
The Secretary shall document the final language, presenter, seconder, date and voting results on the motion, as Minutes of an Electronic Meeting of the Board, for review and approval at the next meeting of the Board.
ARTICLE VII - DUTIES OF BOARD MEMBERS
Section 1
All Board members are expected to attend physical meetings of the Board, and are expected to participate and respond to electronic voting called by the Secretary.
Section 2
President: Shall preside at all meetings of the Club and Board of Directors, and shall be the Chief Executive Officer of the Club.
Section 3
Vice President: Shall act in the absence of the President, and assist the President as required. The Vice President will serve as our United States Tennis Association (USTA), and is responsible for maintaining the club's USTA memberships. In the absence of a Public Relations Director, the Vice President will attend and report on relevant city and community meetings. The Vice President will serve as the Nomination Committee Chairperson for the nomination of the following year's Board of Directors. The Vice-President will work to assure that all Board members have paid their membership fees or have completed the fee waiver application process, prior to the first meeting of the Board in the new year.
Section 4
Secretary: Shall keep all records of Club meetings and meetings of the Board of Directors.
Section 5
Treasurer: Shall receive all money due to the Club and shall pay out money documented as properly due to other parties. All checks issued by the Club shall be signed or electronically authorized by the Treasurer or the President. All funds collected for the Club by the Board of Directors shall be received by the Treasurer and deposited in the Club's checking account. The Treasurer shall also be responsible for the preparation of quarterly financial statements, which shall be presented to the Board for review and approval. The most recent Board-approved financial statement shall be published by the Treasurer in the Members-Only section on the CBTC website.
Section 6
Marketing Director: Shall be responsible for the design, maintenance and timely posting of all submitted materials onto the CBTC's web site. Marketing Director shall be responsible for assisting the President and other Board members in the assembly, editing, publication and distribution of the Club's electronic communication updates through the CBTC website, and social media accounts including email notifications and announcement distributions to members.
Section 7
Membership Director: Shall be responsible for the procurement of membership dues and the maintenance of the Membership Directory, which shall be available in the Members-Only section on the Club website. The Membership Director shall also be responsible for developing and executing recruiting plans for new members and for retaining current members.
Section 8
Social Engagement Director: Shall be responsible for the organization and conduct of all of the Club's Social activities. The Social Engagement Director will be responsible for quoting all activities and reviewing cost with board.
Section 9
USTA Partner: Shall be responsible for making all arrangements for the Club's USTA League (USTA-sponsored) activities. The USTA partner will enforce the requirement that CBTC USTA team members are paid-up current year members in good standing of the Club.
Section 10
The foregoing shall constitute the Club's Board of Directors and shall control all affairs of the Club and carry out its objectives. The Board shall meet no less than quarterly at a place and time mutually agreed to by its members.
Section 11
It is the policy of the Club that the financial goal of all events and/or the annual programming of each committee or event series is to break even at a minimum and preferably to generate a revenue surplus (after subtraction of all direct event costs) to achieve specific financial performance goals set by the Board, in order to diligently meet the Club’s annual operational financial requirements, including the building and maintenance of Board-authorized capital accumulation goals in financial reserve accounts for designated purposes. With the advance approval of the Board, certain Club events may receive a designated amount of subsidization to operate below the goal of breakeven at a minimum.
ARTICLE VIII - AMENDMENTS
Section 1
The Club's Constitution and By-laws may be amended at any business meeting of the Club upon a 2/3 vote of the membership present, providing that a written notice of the proposed Amendment has been presented to the Board and has been published to members through the CBTC website at least 3 weeks before the vote.
Section 2
The Constitution and By-laws shall be posted on the Club’s website.
ARTICLE IX - RULES & GUIDELINES
Section 1
The Board of Directors can establish Rules and Guidelines for activities pertaining to the club. Rules and Guidelines shall be updated annually and posted on the Club’s website.
Section 2
Rules can be established or modified by a 2/3-majority vote of the Board.
Section 3
Guidelines can be established or modified by a simple majority vote of the Board of Directors.
© CHARLOTTE BLACK TENNIS CLUB