CLUB HANDBOOK
Download the latest full version from our club Dropbox account.
Note: Below is a text-only version of the above Handbook from January 2017.
American Club of Sweden Board Handbook 2017
By-Laws
The Club By-Laws should be reviewed regularly by the Board to ensure that they accurately reflect the Club’s governance. Changes to the By-Laws must be made as stipulated in Article XI. See http://www.americanclub.se/about-mainmenu-34/bylaws-mainmenu-46 for a full version of the Club’s current By-Laws.
Club Values
As stated in the By-Laws of the Club, the purpose of the Club is to facilitate the strengthening of bonds between the United States of America and Sweden, through the exchange of knowledge, customs and ideals in social gatherings of its Members and guests.
The possibility of strengthening the bonds between our two nations, and continuing to do so, rests on the foundation of shared values, which are also reflected in the Club’s historical record. These include: Friendship Hospitality and civility in all interactions.
Inclusion & Diversity
Welcoming and creating an accessible environment for the active participation of all, irrespective of age, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, means, beliefs or other natural or chosen characteristics. Intercultural Awareness Respecting, exploring and celebrating cultural differences and similarities.
The Club encourages all to embrace these values and to observe them in Club interactions. Club History A brief account of the Club’s history can be found at http://www.americanclub.se/about-mainmenu-34/history-mainmenu-45.
Further historical materials can be found in the Club archives held at Sverige-Amerika Stiftelsen and in a PowerPoint presentation held in the Club’s Dropbox account.
Relationships with other Organizations and Clubs
The American Club of Sweden actively pursues collaborations around events and other initiatives with the following strategic partners: Embassy of the United States in Stockholm American Chamber of Commerce in Sweden American Women’s Club of Stockholm International Women’s Club English Speaking Club ESBRI Nordstjernan Raoul Wallenberg Foundation Swedish Women’s Educational Association Svenskar i Världen/Swedes Worldwide Swedish Fulbright Alumni Association Swedish Fulbright Commission
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Officer Functions & Procedures President LEADERSHIP
* Set, in conjunction with the Board, the Club strategy for fulfilling the Club objective
* Initiate information-gathering and problem-solving activities to meet Board and/or membership needs
* Act as the spokesperson for the Club.
* Keep abreast of the requirements and activities of the Club so that information can be accurately given to members and prospective members.
* Take responsibility for outreach to the U.S. Embassy and other strategic partner organizations (see Relationships, above).
* Offer greetings and invitations to special guests and visitors to Sweden.
* Attend as many ACS events as possible.
ADMINISTRATION
* Review proposed budget annually with the Treasurer and other Club Officers. Anticipate the need for additional funds to meet projected club expenses.
* Ensure that job descriptions/roles remain updated/accurate so that they can easily be passed onto your successor.
* Provide timely information to Nominating Committee, as appropriate, including a list of members who might serve as Board replacements in case of resignations.
* Compose and send a monthly President’s Letter and other e-mail communications to Club members, bearing in mind the need for regular, not excessive, communication.
* Maintain signing authority over accounts and access to physical and digital resources, granting access to others as appropriate
* Manage and respond to inquiries sent to assigned e-mail accounts.
BOARD
* Prepare and distribute the agenda to board members seven days prior to an upcoming board meeting. Ensure that the agenda follows up on actions that were to be taken as per the minutes of the previous board meeting.
* Adjust the Board Minutes in a timely fashion as per the Secretary’s schedule for Minutes preparation and distribution (see below, under Secretary).
* Ensure the timely distribution of Minutes of the last board meeting, Financial Reports and the Membership Application Report in advance of each board meeting.
* Chair monthly Board meetings and Annual Board Retreat.
* Enlist First or Second Vice Presidents to chair meetings if absence is expected.
* Know the Club Bylaws and Board Regulations, and Swedish best practice for the governance of non-profit organizations.
* Follow up/coordinate between other board members on agenda items which require further action.
ANNUAL MEETING
* Prepare the Annual Report in collaboration with the Secretary, Treasurer and other officers.
* Prepare Annual Meeting program for publication in the preceding member-wide communication. First Vice President SUPPORT PRESIDENT’S ROLE
* Support President in his/her duties
* Substitute for President, and all requisite functions, whenever necessary.
BOARD
* Participate in monthly Board meetings.
* Remain updated about the requirements and activities of the Club so that information can be given to members and prospective members.
* Be familiar with the ACS Constitution and Bylaws, and Board Regulations.
* Manage and respond to inquiries sent to assigned e-mail accounts.
FISCAL MONITORING
* Monitor, in conjunction with the President and the Treasurer, the fiscal needs of the Club.
OTHER RESPONSIBILITIES
* Be available to attend as many ACS functions as possible.
* Be prepared to communicate with Club members and others, about the Club’s history, role, functioning and opportunities for participation.
* Facilitate the formation and management of special Club committees deemed necessary by the board.
* Fulfil any special responsibilities assigned to you by the President and the Board. e.g. communication, cultural events, etc. _______________
1. Second Vice President
SUPPORT PRESIDENT’S ROLE
* Support President in his/her duties.
* Substitute for President and/or First Vice President, and all requisite functions, whenever necessary.
BOARD
* Participate in monthly Board meetings.
* Remain updated about the requirements and activities of the Club so that information can be given to members and prospective members.
* Be familiar with the ACS Constitution and Bylaws, and Board Regulations.
* Manage and respond to inquiries sent to assigned e-mail accounts.
* Be available to attend as many ACS functions as possible.
FISCAL MONITORING
* Monitor, in conjunction with the President and the Treasurer, the fiscal needs of the Club.
OTHER RESPONSIBILITIES
* Be available to attend as many ACS functions as possible.
* Be prepared to communicate with Club members and others, about the Club’s history, role, functioning and opportunities for participation.
* Facilitate the formation and management of special Club committees deemed necessary by the board.
* Fulfill any special responsibilities mutually agreed between you by the President and the Board. e.g. communication, cultural events, etc.
Secretary
BOARD
* Support the President in the management of board meetings and the preparation of board meeting documents.
* Ensure that board meetings are conducted in compliance with Swedish law and best practices.
* Prepare Board Meeting Minutes and submit to the Chair of the meeting no later than eight days prior to the board meeting. Minutes should be brief and focus on decisions taken (what, by whom and by when).
* Draft Minutes should be sent to the Chair, Secretary and Adjuster and finalized prior to submission to the board no later than two weeks after the board meeting. * Manage and respond to inquiries sent to assigned e-mail accounts.
FISCAL MONITORING
* Monitor, in conjunction with the President, Vice Presidents and the Treasurer, the fiscal needs of the Club.
ANNUAL MEETING
* Project manage the Annual Report preparation. The schedule and individuals responsible for the development of parts of the report should be decided upon at the January board meeting.
Treasurer
BOARD
* Participate in monthly Board meetings.
* Be familiar with the ACS Constitution and Bylaws, and Board Regulations.
* Manage and respond to inquiries sent to assigned e-mail accounts.
MEMBERSHIP
* Work closely with the Membership Chair (see below) to manage memberships, including welcoming and invoicing new members, ensuring payment of dues and following up with and/or removing non-paying members from the Club database.
FISCAL MONITORING
* Monitor the fiscal needs of the Club with other officers.
* Identify sponsorship needs.
* Following the Treasury Processes Guide (See Annexes)
ANNUAL REPORT
* Co-ordinate the timely preparation of fiscal reports for the Annual Report with the Secretary, Club Accountant and Club Auditors. Board Member
BOARD
* Participate in monthly Board meetings.
* Take responsibility for reviewing all documents including agenda, minutes, membership and financial reports prior to each board meeting.
* Send comments concerning Minutes of a board meeting to the Secretary, Chair and Adjuster.
* Be familiar with the ACS Constitution and Bylaws, Board Regulations and Club History.
* Manage and respond to inquiries sent to assigned e-mail accounts.
OTHER RESPONSIBILITIES
* Be available to attend and support as many ACS events as possible.
* Be prepared to communicate with Club members and others, about the Club’s history, role, functioning and opportunities for participation.
* Participate in special Club committees deemed necessary by the board.
* Fulfill any special responsibilities mutually agreed between you, the President and the Board.
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Other Critical Club Functions & Procedures Membership
* A Membership Chair is appointed to work with the Board. His/her responsibilities include:
* Pursuing a proactive approach to increasing our membership (outreach, welcome & liaison).
* Improving and maintaining the membership application and approval process including confirming/assisting there are two member sponsors, that new members are entered in the Club database, and that new members are welcomed.
* Collaborate closely with the Treasurer on membership management to ensure that members are administered, i.e. systems on & off boarding & maintenance.
* Follow Club By-Laws concerning member management.
* Current (from 2016) systems to be managed include Facebook, LinkedIn, Visma, CiViCRM.
* Liaise with Club Volunteer Co-ordinator. Volunteer Programs
* The Volunteer Coordinator is appointed to work closely with the Membership Chair and events organizers to:
* maintain and develop a relationship with Club volunteers.
* Support Club events.
* Form special Club volunteer groups, e.g. family events, Club Ambassadors Communications
* A Communications Chair is appointed to work closely with the President and the board to:
* Create a Club Communications strategy shared at the Board’s Annual Retreat.
* Prepare and distribute the Monthly President’s Letter to Members.
* Prepare and distribute other communications to Members.
* Co-ordinate with board members managing the Club’s social media and maintain/develop the Club’s Social Media Policy (See Annexes).
* Manage the dissemination of the Club’s activities to media and manage media relationships.
* Manage and respond to inquiries sent to assigned e-mail accounts including communications@americanclub.se.
Webmaster
* A Club Webmaster with the following tools and skills is appointed by the Board:
* Required Skills: WordPress, CSS, Linux, PHP, MySQL, REST, git, html5, Joomla, CiviCRM
* Helpful Skills: graphic design and layout for Web
* The Webmaster’s main responsibilities working close co-ordination with the President and Communications Chair are:
* Ensure the Club’s web server is running and that the server has all security recent patches.
* Ensure Joomla and CiviCRM have good uptime (99.5%) and versions are recent with security patches.
* Ensure database server backups and offsite backups are working.
* Ensure any live changes to site (updates and images mostly) are committed to the git repository.
* Ensure web links are working throughout the website.
* Ensure email aliases are updated (Board, committees, and any RSVP e-mails).
* Update the Event Calendar monthly.
* Enter and update official Club Event pages as needed.
* Update EventSweden events as they come in.
* Maintain all Ads and Sponsor pages, designing the layout if needed
* Provide “new member” reports for Board meetings.
* Continue the process of improving and automating an increasing proportion of the above tasks.
* Help implement technology in other areas of the Club (for example Treasury) as needed.
* Liaise with the Communications Chair and Board members managing the Club’s social media on:
* ACS Facebook group
* ACS LinkedIn group
* ACS YouTube channel
* Manage and respond to inquiries sent to assigned e-mail accounts including abuse@americanclub.se, postmaster@americanclub.se and webmaster@americanclub.se
See the Annexes for instructions on using CiviCRM.
Sponsorship
A Club Sponsorship Committee is tasked with selling the value of the Club networks to support mission and brand. These responsibilities include:
* Identify needs
* Events
* Operations (Communications, Administration, Etc.)
* Create sponsor packages/offering
* General – as posted on website
* Specific – to event or Club need
* Sales
* Develop value proposition and align Club activities with sponsors.
* Seek and maintain/follow-up relationships.
* Conclude and document agreements, liaise with administration.
Coordination of these functions will be maintained through a sponsorship@americanclub.se group. See Annexes for current recommended Club sponsorship levels.
Event Management
The President is tasked with overseeing the management of events with various board members appointed to manage specific events. In general, event management should take into account the events checklist:
* Ownership
* Registration
* Budget
* Sponsors
* Venue/Suppliers
* Volunteers (setup, event management, cleanup)
* Communications
* Introductions/Thank you’s
* Follow-up/evaluation
U.S. Embassy Liaison
The board welcomes and appoints an Embassy Liaison to:
* Co-ordinate and plan joint events.
* Increase Embassy staff awareness of the possibility of free membership in the Club.