The governing body of your organization is empowered and responsible for setting direction, corporate decision-making, compliance, operating-policy setting, and overall accountability for the organization in fulfilling its vision. Choosing the best governing structure is vital to ensuring the success and the growth and development of your nonprofit organization. It’s critical to understand the difference between a governing structure that is board of directors-only, or also includes a governing membership.
Board of Directors Only
Board members are typically nominated and elected by the existing directors. The board members accept responsibility for setting direction, making decisions, and managing the activities of the organization, whether they hire others (staff or independent contractors) to carry it out or use volunteers. In this governing framework, the board is not accountable to another body.
Membership Governance
This typically involves individuals (the members) who are allowed to vote on some or all of the following: matters of governance, direction, approval of budgets, activities, staffing, and/or substantial financial obligations that the organization might undertake, such as purchase of buildings or equipment, or the approval of long term contracts. This structure may include members voting to appoint a board of directors or executive committee to manage the day to day operations of the organization and then the membership only votes on specific actions as necessary for the success of the organization. The Board may bring those types of issues before the members as necessary. Membership may require membership dues in order to be a voting member of the organization, or not. Membership may also include benefits, such as discounts to participate in activities of the organization where participants are required to pay fees, or perhaps have access to special activities for members only. Membership must be defined as to criteria for membership, fees required if any, how fees are set, what are member benefits and responsibilities.
Membership by Affiliation Vs. Governing Membership
There is often a misunderstanding with use of the term membership. It’s common for many nonprofits to have “members” who are bought into the ideals of the organization and are considered insiders, but they don’t have governance rights. That is perfectly OK, but there is a legal distinction between such affiliate “membership” and members having governing authority. Many states require nonprofits to declare whether they have a governing membership when the organization first incorporates. If membership is affiliate-only, the nonprofit is NOT a member organization by legal definition.
I am Board President of a non-profit registered in Illinois. The Board of Directors, including the Officers, are elected by the membership through an election. Last year, we updated our Bylaws to make the term for President 2 years instead of 1 year and also split the Secretary/Treasurer position into two separate positions. The Bylaws were voted on by the Board via email and were approved by two-thirds majority. Per the Bylaws at the time, those were also put through the process of membership comment and then shared with the membership as the adopted Bylaws. Based on that, the 2023 election was held and the new President-Elect was elected for a 2-year term and a Secretary was elected for a 3-year term by the membership. We found out recently that the email vote the Board conducted to approve the Bylaws last year was not valid as per Illinois law, as email vote needs a unanimous consent (per our Bylaws, an email vote is similar to a vote at a duly constituted Board meeting and needs two-thirds majority to pass). Based on that procedural mistake that was unknowingly committed, we have switched back to the old Bylaws for now and may or may not be able to get the new ones approved for a while. However, we are in a dilemma about what to do with the two Officer positions (President-Elect and Secretary) that were elected by membership for the 2- and 3-year terms. Can the Board just reverse/override a membership vote? I feel that the membership vote cannot be reversed/overridden by the Board and we should let those two individuals complete their terms even if we have switched back to the old Bylaws. Despite the fact that the election was held based on the Bylaws that were technically not the correct ones (due to the procedural mistake mentioned above), the Membership did consider those Bylaws as the adopted ones, and did vote for those two individuals to hold certain positions for specific terms. As I understand it, unless a Board has been given the specific authority in the Bylaws to override a membership vote/decision, a Board does not have the power to do that as by default, a Board is powerless aside from the authorities given to the Board in the Bylaws. What do you feel is the correct path forward in this situation that legally protects the Board?
Hello Rabia,
I’m sorry to hear of the situation you have found yourselves in, and sadly, its not an unfamiliar scenario. The long and short of it is, the Board needs to make a compliant decision based on the Bylaws and the State non-profit corporate law. Because that did not take previously, the “amended Bylaws” were not actually legally amended. As such, the vote by the Membership was not compliant either. You should have in the previously existing Bylaws methods of calling special meetings so that these decisions can be made again. You’ll want to explain to the Membership why this has occurred, so they understand the necessity of having another vote.
We wish you luck as you move forward!
We are a just starting out 501c3 in Texas. We have no offices or employees. We have been operating (with a VERy SLOW START) since 2020. Covid limited our meetings and all participation. We really have only been “operational” in 2022 and 2023. Our bylaws were originally written so that our Board of directors(3) make the decisions. Our group is about 6 people, we meet monthly, and our activities right now are limited to participating in the community actities and raising money for improving the city. We want to operate so that the BOARD is directing us, but so that the Exec committee of President, VP, Treasurer, and Secretary run the month to month meetings and are able to ask regular attendees input on both day to day issues and voting for the Pres, VP, Treas, and Secretary. Is that possible in Texas, if we can re-write the bylaws? Or could the “membership” at least nominate these officers who run the meetings? I am so confused.
Hello Debbie,
You can certainly revise your Bylaws so that your congregational members have the right to vote for the executive committee.
If my brother is one of the three board members of a public charity organization (501c3), can I become a staff member?
Should be fine, but he should really recuse himself from discussions involving your compensation.
We’ve been a cooperative (co-op) organization structured as an LLC. We are looking into switching to a 501c3 structure. Can we use our current operating agreement that structures our co-op for the 501c3?
Hi, Scott. Without knowing what your operating agreement says, I cannot really say. I’d have to know more.
Our board approved our 501(c)3 to become an affiliate member organization with no voting rights regarding the nomination of board members. The affiliate members may become board chairs on various committees and make recommendations to the Board of Directors who will then vote on the committee recommendations. Affiliate members pay a modest annual membership fee and become the beginning of our donor base for the non-profit. Is this a good plan of action to help grow the non-profit?
Hi, Michelle. Sounds like a well thought out plan. I can’t really say if it’s a “good” plan for you without being a lot more familiar with your organization and its needs. However, nothing stands out to me as being a problem. Good luck with it! BTW, I love Crossville…great town. My wife and I were just in that crazy Buc-ee’s a few days ago 🙂 .
Our non-profit, organization holds a yearly membership meeting.
Are the general membership, allowed to attend monthly Board of Director Meetings ?
Thank You
There are no rules about this except what you decide to do. Make sure your bylaws don’t already address this matter one way or another.
Can a nonprofit require the members to participate in fundraising or gathering of sponsorships as part of the membership requirements?
Yes, but be careful here. You may have that as a requirement of membership, but you cannot require that in order to participate in organizational programs. The IRS is very specific that people cannot be conscripted into servitude as a condition of participation in a charity’s programs.
At our Annual Meeting we held an election for new Board officers. An error was made in the count at that meeting. A ballot was lost but then found. However, the votes on that ballot were NOT counted. After the meeting, they found the error and that created 4way tie. Our bylaws say in case of a tie a vote must take place. Since the Annual meeting was over, would anything that happened after the Annual meeting be moot and a tie vote required since the error was made at the Annual meeting by the committee there?
Late response…sorry. Interesting question, however. I’ve seen court cases turn on specifics like this, so err on the side of caution. If the vote was legally cast, it must be counted. The results of that count must be walked through according to the bylaws without the arbitrary issue of whether or not the meeting was adjourned.
We are in the process of developing our bylaws. Previously we were part of another 501c3 and now are being incorporated on our own. We do a “membership” drive annually to support the theater (as does the 501c3.) The 501c3 has an annual meeting that elects people to fill board vacancies. We are unclear if the theater should be a member or non-member organization. We want to continue the membership drive and are agreeable to having an annual meeting. Are there other things that the theater would have to do if they were a member organization vs a non-member organization?
There’s not a good blanket answer to this. In a membership organization, usually the membership elects a board to govern by proxy…but not always. Some member-run nonprofits govern by member vote. This usually doesn’t work very well, but it happens. The key is clarity. Make sure your bylaws spell out exactly what the membership rights entail. I usually recommend member orgs limit membership to electing board members, and let the board members do the heavy lifting of governance. But one size doesn’t fit all.
Suppose that a majority of members can not only remove directors at will (not for cause), but as well, can veto any board action at the members’ annual meeting. In a single member organization, where the founder is the only member, this, in effect, makes the founder the Godfather. Is that okay with the IRS, so long as the majority of directors are unrelated?
Yes, actually it is. NY doesn’t allow this structure, but the other states do. As long as the board is truly independent, a sole member nonprofit can work.
Our Florida community 501c3 theater has been a member driven company and our bylaws state that changes to the bylaws must be presented and approved by member vote at a general meeting once per year. I would like to know if our current board which is also elected yearly by the members can change the company bylaws and abolish its members without current member approval thus created a self substaining board over our company?
If the current bylaws require members to approve changes, then the board can’t unilaterally make changes to remove that right from members.
If a Board of Directors of a Nonprofit sets the pay of a full-time employee, can the delegates change the pay of the full-time employee (not a board member)? We had a Board of Directors set the pay for a full-time employee 8 months ago. At a National Conference we just had the delegates reduce the pay for this full-time employee. Do you know if there is a legal standing?
By delegates, I assume you mean members. Legal standing for an issue like this depends on what policies and authorizations you have in place. Whether it’s in your bylaws or another policy document your organization has adopted, it should be clear who has jurisdiction to set salaries. Yours could be a situation where your delegates have the authority via the member rules to bring up a motion like this and vote to override the board, but that’s both unusual and not very constructive. In practice, pure democracy doesn’t work very well. It’s the reason the US is a constitutional republic and not a democracy, but that’s another subject. Decisions like hiring and compensation is usually delegated to the board or executive management. Membership exercises oversight and influence by selecting the board members that represent them. Allowing the members the authority to change a single employee’s pay rate is, in my opinion, over the top. However, you really have to look at your standing rules, as this isn’t a matter of state or federal law. It’s purely internal to your organization.
I am serving on a Governing Documents Committee for a South Carolina Homeowners’ Association. Each Owner is a member explicitly tasked with electing Directors and approving/disapproving our annual budget. Most other matters are neither reserved explicitly to the Board nor to the Owners in our existing governing documents.
Thus my question: If there is a duly voted act of the Owners which is contrary to the will of the Board regarding a matter which the governing documents do not explicitly reserve to either party, can the Board legitimately ignore the duly voted act of the Owners, or must the Board generally comply?
Thanks!
Tough question, Alma. It’s really a legal matter, not one of nonprofit compliance. If the matter us unclear, I would get a qualified attorney to look at the situation.
We in the process of starting up a church, The board of directors are made of Pastor and Wife, Co-Pastor and wife. Daughter and son-in-law. Is that ok in the state of Texas. Pastor and Co-Pastor and Co-pastor’s wife are not blood related nor is the son in law.
Texas shouldn’t have a problem with that board makeup, but the IRS probably will. The IRS expects a majority of your governing body to be independent. The Pastor and his wife are related to each other, as is the co-Pastor and his wife. From a standpoint of independence, that’s two votes so far. The daughter and son-in-law are related to each other, AND is related by both blood and marriage (which counts just as much) to the Pastor’s family (or co-Pastor – I wasn’t clear on whose daughter it is). So, you have 4 people related to each other, and 2 other people related to each other. That makes a 2/3 majority of non-independent board members.
Colorado here, does membership board of a non profit have to abide by the open meeting law?
Most states that have open meeting laws restrict that requirement to government agencies and related organizations. A non-governmental nonprofit is not typically subject to this. A quick glance at Colorado’s statute seems to confirm this in your situation.
If there is a board of directors in a nonprofit organization, does that mean the board of directors votes for a new president, etc., not members of the nonprofit organization?
Not necessarily. Either could be the case, depending upon the stipulations in your bylaws. It is common to have situations where members elect the directors, then the directors appoint from within who will occupy various officer positions, such as President, Secretary, etc. But members could have authority for both, if that’s what your bylaws say. There’s no rule on how it has to be done.
I am a shareholder of a Non-profit organization. Our Bi-laws state that the board cannot change bi-laws without a vote of the members. Bi-laws also require an annual meeting to re-elect or elect Board members.
Our board stated they have found out in our Certificate Formation that the management of the affairs of the corporation was vested in the board of directors. They said because of this that they could change our Bi-laws and elect new board members without the members votes and that’s exactly what they did. We have been a non- profit since 2019 and have always gone by our bi-laws. Can they legally do this?
Hi Teri,
No, they cannot simply do that. The Bylaws are the governing document which describes how the entity is governed by Directors and Members when applicable. As such, the provisions in the Bylaws for any action must be followed, including how they can be amended. If the Bylaws were not followed, the decisions made we not accomplished in a compliant manner, and can be considered as void. Each Director has an obligation to follow the approved Bylaws.
Hi just wanted to ask if for nonprofit companies, can someone be on the board of directors and also work for the nonprofit full-time? Thank you in advance.
Usually, yes. It creates an automatic conflict-of-interest, so you need to make sure any decisions regarding that person’s employment is made by the other independent board members. Read this: https://www.501c3.org/avoiding-conflicts-of-interest/ .
May a membership nonprofit be dissolved by the board without consulting the dues-paying membership? In this case the dissolution clause in the constitution and bylaws only says that assets must be distributed to another 501c3 (that is obviously required by law). There is no other mention in the documents about who can call for dissolution or decide whether or not to dissolve so the board is just deciding this without consulting membership.
I cannot give you definitive counsel on your specific situation since I haven’t seen your corporate charter nor bylaws. However, if the organization is truly a membership nonprofit, it is usually the membership who elects and oversees the board. The board is delegated its authority to govern by the members. If that describes your setup, then no, the board cannot unilaterally dissolve the nonprofit without taking it to the members for approval. Make sure this is done right. Members can sue board members if board members conduct themselves outside their authority under the charter and bylaws.
Should the Board of Directors of a “membership organization “ be dues paying members as well?
I doubt there’s any requirement for that, but it is usually the case that such directors would also be members.
Hello, I’m trying to determine if there is a membership requirement for Louisiana nonprofit organizations. The law sets forth information about both members and directors but I can’t find any section that states whether members are required. Any guidance you can provide would be so appreciated! Thank you.
Members should not be required. The regs may be talking about members of your nonprofit’s board of directors, leading to confusion.
I am currently on a volunteer elected Board of a non-profit association. We are discussing the terms in our Bylaws. The original Bylaws said we would be ruled by a Board of Directors. However, through the years and changes in our association, someone changed Board of Directors to Governance Board. The change came at a time of much stress and a much smaller Board. We are incorporated in New York. Do we need to change the term back to Board of Directors? Since I’m not a lawyer; I’m asking since I don’t see much difference in the terms nor the time it will take to make the changes AND explain why we are changing to the membership. I feel our time could be spent on more timely items of business.
This sounds mostly like semantics to me. But, it is clearly better if you use consistent terminology. You know that both mean the same thing, but others may not. Whether you choose to amend your bylaws terminology or start referring to your board as the bylaws already does, that’s up to you.
Thank you so much! Your response came just in time to be presented at our board meeting tonight.
Hello–
Is it a legal requirement that Board of Directors members must pay regular membership annual dues (the ones asked of the public/our patrons)? This seems to be an ongoing issue at my community theatre (of which I am a Board member)!
Thanks…
I’m not aware of any state that codifies regulations regarding dues. Maybe there is, but we haven’t ever run into that issue. Whether or not an organization has a dues structure, and to whom dues are charged, is most always an issue for the nonprofit to decide for itself. That said, I’ve personally never been part of a membership where board members weren’t charged the same dues as regular members. That seems like a setup that is bound to cause ill-will.
I am registering my non profit and the question is “will it have members” for some reason I am thinking this is different from a board of directors, am I correct? I feel members are something different. I am setting up a recovery resource center so I do not think it would have members, just a board of directors who are elected, but I could be wrong. Please clarify..Thank you
Yes, there is (usually) a difference between “members” and members of the board. All nonprofits should have a board of directors. Some will also have a membership, the members of which nominate and elect the governing board. Many churches operate this way, as well as private schools, PTOs, etc.
Is it legal for paid staff members to sit on the board of directors? Is it advisable?
In most cases, yes. In a charity, compensation has to be set at arms-length, meaning the person with the conflict-of-interest cannot vote on their own pay. Also, a majority of the remaining board taking the vote must be independent (not related by blood, marriage, or outside business co-ownership). In the case of a private foundation, the rules are even tighter, but it is still possible.
As to advisable, it really depends on the situation. It’s probably safe to say that it isn’t a good long term practice, though it is often practical in early years.
Is it OK for a nonprofit executive director to be paid for their work through their for-profit personal consultancy who the nonprofit outsources its management to? Or would it be a conflict of interest? Thank you!
Sounds like a lot of conflict of interest. At a minimum, if the ED’s company has an outsourcing deal with the nonprofit, the ED should have recused themselves from the board decision to hire his or her company.
Does the board of directors of a nonprofit organization have to be changed in new York?
You shouldn’t encounter any maximum board service limitations. You would just need to inform New York via your corporate annual report and state fundraising registration renewal of any changes to your list of directors or officers, should there by any changes.