Article I: Name
Section 1.01 Name
The organization will be known as “Charlotte Atheists and Agnostics” or abbreviated as “CAA”.
Article II: Purpose
Section 2.01: Purpose
Charlotte Atheists and Agnostics is organized as a nonprofit exclusively for educational, charitable, and social purposes.
Section 2.02: Mission Statement
To create and foster a close-knit community of non-believers and to put a positive face on atheism through education, public outreach, and community service.
Article III: Offices
Section 3.01: Offices
The principal office of CAA shall be located within 50 miles of the city of Charlotte, NC at such place as the officers shall from time to time designate. CAA may maintain other places as the officers designate.
Article IV: Meetings
Section 4.01: Meetings
CAA shall strive to hold at least one social meeting and one planning meeting every month. The social meeting and the planning meeting shall be open to all members. Voting members who show up to the planning meeting make up the voting committee. A quorum of at least five members where the number of regular voting members comprise more than 50% of the voting members is required for any vote to take place. They may vote on any initiative brought up by any voting member.
The person presiding over the planning meeting shall not be permitted a vote on any item except when his or her vote is necessary to make quorum or in the event of an otherwise tie vote.
Article V: Executive Board
Section 5.01: Executive Board
The management structure of CAA shall consist of an executive board of elected officers as defined in section 5.02 of this article. Officers shall be elected for one-year terms and shall serve from February 1st following their election through January 31st of the following year. Elections shall be held in the first month of every year. If after an election, resignation, or removal, a position is vacated or the officer is unable to perform their duties, the responsibilities of the vacant office shall be distributed to the remaining members of the executive board pending appointment in section 5.05.
The Chair of the Board or Next Designated Chair of the Board shall be responsible for distributing the responsibilities of any vacant office.
Section 5.02: Duties of the Officers
Officers are empowered to carry out their responsibilities as defined in this section.
Section 5.02.01: Event Officer
The Event Officer shall be responsible for event hosting, event planning and event venue management, and ensuring the code of conduct is complied with during events.
Section 5.02.02: Development Officer
The Development Officer shall be responsible for charity outreach and coordinating, general and targeted fundraising, grant writing, and managing inventory of sellable goods.
They shall also be responsible for engaging new members.
Section 5.02.03: Technology Officer
The Technology Officer shall be responsible for maintaining the website, and maintaining technology security for all members.
The Technology Officer shall be required to maintain a security plan of the groups systems. However no plan managed by them can result in them having sole authority over any technology.
Section 5.02.04: Communications Officer
The Communications Officer shall be responsible for creating promotional materials and artwork, organizing issue based advocacy and outreach, posting updates and communications to social media, managing moderation of social media, and managing the newsletter.
Section 5.02.05: Parliamentary Officer
The Parliamentary Officer shall be responsible for maintaining a list of decisions, policies, and statutes that have been created, recording & maintaining meeting records, and upholding parliamentary procedure during meetings.
The Parliamentary Officer can neither chair nor call a meeting.
Section 5.02.06: Finance Officer
The Finance Officer shall be responsible for filing tax returns, keeping track of expenditures and income, maintaining financial records and history, maintaining our Tax/Legal Organization and 501(c)3 Non Profit Status, maintaining the organization’s mailing and tax address, enforcing the annual budget, and maintaining a record of voting members.
The Finance Officer shall be required to maintain a security plan of the group’s financial accounts. However no plan managed by them can result in them having sole authority over any financial account.
Section 5.02.07: Chair of the Board
The Chair of the Board shall rotate based on a predefined schedule. The chair is responsible for scheduling meetings, creating the agenda, communicating the agenda, and chairing the meeting.
The months an officer is designated to be chair will be set by the Parliamentary Officer of the previous board with advice from the new board. No Officer may be designated to chair the meeting for more than 3 months in a term. The Parliamentary Officer is ineligible to chair the board.
If the designated chair is unavailable for a scheduled meeting or the office is vacant the next future designated chair shall be the chair of the board until the previous chair becomes available. Months where an officer is a contingent chair do not count toward their time as chair.
The schedule shall be completed prior to the convening of the first meeting of the new board.
Section 5.03: Annual Budget
Each office shall be permitted to spend an amount over the course of a year and an amount per event as defined by an annual budget approved by the voting members.
Funds beyond the statutory budget amount may be approved by the voting committee.
Section 5.04: Officer Removal
Any voting member in good standing may call for the removal of an officer. If the motion passes by a simple majority then a vote shall be held at a meeting in the following month for the officer’s removal. In the interim the officer in question shall only be suspended, with their relevant admin rights also suspended, at the discretion of the remaining board members.
The officer shall be removed from the office in question if and only if at least two thirds of the voting committee votes in favor of the motion to remove the officer.
Section 5.05: Officer Replacement
Any voting member in good standing may call for a vacant office to be filled by nominating another voting member in good standing or themselves.
If only one person is nominated then the person nominated will fill the vacant office if and only if a majority of the voting committee vote to confirm.
If more than one person is nominated for the vacant office then a special election will be held during the following meeting.
Article VI: Membership
Section 6.01.01: Associate Membership
Benefits of associate membership include access to the website www.charlotteatheists.org, access to official social media and access to all official CAA events. Some CAA media platforms may be limited to certain membership roles as defined by statute. Some CAA Events may be ticketed and have costs for admission.
Requirements of an associate membership include agreement with the purpose and mission statement of the organization as described in Article II: Purpose, creation and maintenance of a user account on www.charlotteatheists.org or provision of up-to-date contact information to CAA, and adherence to the Code of Conduct
Associate membership persists until a member violates one of the requirements or informs CAA that they no longer wish to be a member.
Section 6.01.02: Full Membership
Benefits of full membership include the benefits of an associate membership, voting privileges, eligibility to run for elected office, and discounts to paid official events as defined by statute.
Requirements of a full membership include the requirements of an associate membership, a minimum annual membership fee as set by the voting committee, and a good faith effort to attend voting meetings.
Full membership is on an annual calendar basis, based on payment date of first month’s dues.
Section 6.01.03: Sustaining Membership
The Development Officer will designate additional stratified membership levels to increase engagement and member value among members who wish to donate amounts greater than full membership levels.
Benefits of Sustaining Membership include benefits of full membership, additional discounts to paid official events, additional events and benefits as designated by the Executive Board.
Section 6.02: Membership Initiation
General public who would like to become associate, full, or sustaining members can notify the Board via electronic or in-person methods. The Board will screen members when possible and hold applicants to the Code of Conduct and the Mission of CAA during the screening process. If previous records exist indicating a violation of either document, membership may be denied.
Section 6.02.01: Indication of Desire to Join
Applicants may seek membership via email, website, social media, or at in-person events. All responsibilities must be accepted by applicants prior to acceptance.
Section 6.02.02: Review by Development and Communication Officers
Development Officer is responsible for new member acceptance, although the Communication Officer, as the lead on social media platforms, and others, may be deputized to accept members on the Development Officer’s behalf. These board members will follow the threshold set out in section 6.01.03 for acceptance (current adherence to the Code of Conduct and the Mission Statement, as well as lack of previous recorded violations).
Section 6.02.03: Criteria for Acceptance
The Code of Conduct, as set out in statute, is the minimum basic behavioral standard for members of CAA. If an applicant violates the code of conduct at an official event, on official social media, or documented either by members or 3rd party or legally recognized authorities, membership will not be granted. The Mission Statement, as set out in Section 2.02, is the minimum philosophical standard for members of CAA. If an applicant declines to endorse the Mission Statement, membership will not be granted. If the applicant has a previous history as a CAA member, they must not have documented violations of the Code of Conduct or Mission Statement prior to re-acceptance.
Section 6.02: Membership Revocation
In the eventuality that a member, including board officer, violates the Code of Conduct or Mission Statement, board officers will review that persons membership status, vote on the membership status, notify both the complainant and the accused, and document the change in membership status that results.
Section 6.02.01: Initiation of Revocation
Initiation of membership revocation can result from membership reports to the board officers, either 1st or 3rd party. The criteria for initiating a revocation process include, eyewitness accounts of a violation of the Code of Conduct at an official event, member documentation including but not limited to screenshots, email, handwritten letters of a Code of Conduct violation between members, provision of legally recognized 3rd party documentation of a Code of Conduct violation, including but not limited to police reports, court judgments, and civil complaints.
Section 6.02.02: Notification of Relevant Parties
Both the complainant and the accused will be notified of the status of the complaint, with the complainant remaining anonymous throughout the process.The accused will be given the opportunity, if reachable by a reasonable method, to respond to the complaint within a timely manner as defined by statute, at the discretion of the board.
Section 6.02.03: Board Vote
The board must vote on the status of the accused, based on the evidence outlined in Section 6.02.01. A two thirds majority vote will be required to ban an individual. An involved board member is ineligible to vote on an issue concerning them either as the accused or complainant.
Section 6.02.04: Conclusion of Permanent Membership Withdrawal
Once the board, minus the involved (if applicable) has reached a conclusion, both the complainant and the accused will be notified of the outcome of the complaint in writing or electronically. The revocation letter will be maintained in the archive. If the violator is not reachable, the revocation letter will be retained in the eventuality the violator requests re-admittance.
Article VII: Amendments
Section 7.01: Amendments
These bylaws may be amended by a 2/3 majority vote at a regular planning meeting or emergency meeting.