HS Rules

HEATHER SOCIETY

A not-for-profit Unincorporated Association funded by donations.

RULES – Proposed

1. Name of the Society

  1. The name of the Society shall be “Heather Society”, hereafter referred to as the “Society”.

2. Objects of the Society

  1. The Society is instituted to foster interest in, and disseminate information on the cultivation of Heaths and Heathers and allied plants (Ericaceae).

3. Society Management

  1. The management of the Society shall be the responsibility of a Committee of no less than five persons and no more than ten persons.
  2. Committee Members will be drawn from donors.
  3. The Committee will be ratified annually at a general meeting of donors (see 6).
  4. In the event of the number of Committee Members falling below the minimum required, then failing a request for new Committee Members within 30 days from among the donors, the Society will be wound up.
  5. Officers of the Society will form a subset of a Committee and shall be the Chairman, Treasurer, Secretary and Webmaster. The officer posts may be combined.
  6. Officers will be elected from within the Committee, by ballot, by Committee Members.
  7. The duty of the Chairman shall be to oversee the functions of the Committee and hence the operation of the Society.
  8. The Secretary will be responsible for the day to day administrative duties.
  9. The Treasurer shall be responsible for all matters relating to the financial affairs of the Society.
  10. The Webmaster will be responsible for the day to day administration of the website content.
  11. If the Chairman, Secretary or Treasurer resigns, or otherwise is unable to perform his/her duties, the Committee may fill the vacancy from within the Committee. If the Webmaster resigns, or otherwise is unable to perform his/her duties, then ownership of the website would need to be negotiated within the Committee and the vacancy filled from within the Committee.
  12. A majority agreement from within the total number of members of the Committee is required to pass any motion. In the case of an equal number being for and against, the Chairman will have a (second) casting vote.
  13. The Committee Members may meet face to face on occasions but otherwise will communicate by telephone and/or electronically. Voting and ballots may be actioned by electronic means.

4. Funding

  1. The Society will be funded by donations on a world-wide basis made using credit/debit cards via a PayPal function from within the website. Other methods of donations will be acceptable e.g. standing orders, cheques and cash.
  2. Address information for Donors will be held, with their permission, within a database, the content and operation being compliant with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). No bank account details of any Donor will be held by the Society.

5. The Society’s Accounts

  1. The Treasurer shall be responsible for all the Society’s funds and for keeping the accounts thereof.
  2. All funds received on the Society’s behalf shall be paid into the Society’s banking account(s).
  3. Access to the Society’s banking account(s) shall be by two or more members of the Committee, one of whom shall be an Officer. As such each Committee Member shall agree to provide such personal details to the Society’s bank(s) as required for authorisation purposes.
  4. The Committee may authorise the Treasurer to sign cheques or transfer funds for day-to-day expenses up to such a limit as it may decide.
  5. In no circumstances shall any of the Society’s funds at any time be given, loaned or paid to any Committee Member except:
    • by way of reimbursement of expenses,
    • as proper remuneration for services rendered to the Society and properly invoiced.
  6. Funds deemed in excess of those required to meet reasonable expenses will be used to promote projects considered by the Committee as being within the Objects of the Society. The use of any excess funds will be published on the website.

6. Annual general meeting

  1. The Committee shall arrange a general meeting at least once within each calendar year, either electronically or in person.
  2. All donors shall be entitled to participate.
  3. The quorum for a general meeting will be 12 donors.
  4. At the general meeting, the appointment of the Committee to serve for the following calendar year will be ratified by a vote, either by hand or electronically.

7. Prohibition on the use of the Society’s name

  1. The name and/or logo of the Society shall not be used by any donor for any purpose of individual trade or profit.

8. Rules

  1. These Rules may be amended at any time only with the agreement of a majority of the Committee Members, followed by ratification at the next general meeting.
  2. A copy of the Rules shall be published on the website.

9. Dissolution

  1. In the event of the Society being wound up then, after payment of all debts and liabilities, the remaining assets of the Society shall fund project(s) considered as being within the Objects of the Society.

The rules were adopted:  TBD