1. MISSION STATEMENT:  

Our goal is the exchange of business referrals as a method of support and growth of individual members. Members are expected to maintain high professional standards. Each profession is represented by one member only.  We aim to support the general community through service projects and volunteer efforts. Our combined professional and community efforts will serve to develop and grow our business family and our bottom line.

2. DUES:

• $100.00 initiation fee to join;

• $25.00 refund if member brings in 1 new member in his/her first six months of membership. (One award per member.)

• $120.00 per year annual fee to renew membership, payable on the 1st of March each year.  New members’ first year will be prorated based on when they join.  

• $25.00 fine will be assessed if renewal dues are not paid by the third meeting of March.

• $10.00 per month for dues

• For all members, there will be a 10% discount if annual dues and monthly dues for the year are paid in full by February 15th.

• Members who have not paid their dues by the 3rd meeting in March will not be allowed to attend meetings until their dues have been paid in full.

• All dues are subject to change based on a vote by the Board of Directors.

3. LEAVE OF ABSENCE: Leaves will be granted for medical reasons only or other extraordinary personal reasons, based on an approval vote of the Board of Directors.

4.  ATTENDANCE: If a member misses 3 consecutive unexcused meetings or 4 total (excused or not) in one quarter, the member’s status in the group will be reviewed by the board of directors. The member is subject to termination via a majority vote by the Board of Directors if it is deemed to be the appropriate action. New members will pledge to meet the attendance requirements.  Excused absences are only for vacation or personal emergencies. Work related absences are not considered excused. A substitute is allowed to attend in place of the member. The substitute will promote the member during the 30 second commercials.

5. BUSINESS LEADS/REFERRALS: A member must pass a minimum of 2 qualified leads per month. If not, the Board of Directors will review the member’s status. The member could be subject to termination via a majority vote by the Board of Directors if it is deemed the appropriate action. If a profession prohibits mandatory referrals, then referrals are optional for that profession.

6. MEMBERSHIP: Each member is expected to bring at least 2 guests to attend a meeting or mixer, per year.  A guest is someone who would fill an open category. Guest requirements for attendance prior to applying to join and other applicant requirements are in accordance with Section 19, “Voting of New Members”. 

7. OTHER LEADS GROUPS: A member is not allowed to be a member in any other lead/networking organization, defined as a group of people whose sole purpose is to generate leads for the other members and have only one representative of each business category, (such as LeTip or BNI). It is acceptable to participate in a city’s Chamber of Commerce or service organizations like Rotary International or Kiwanis.

8. BOARD OF DIRECTORS: The board will be comprised of the President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, Membership Coordinator and Referral Master.

9. OFFICERS: The group will have the following officers: President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, Membership Coordinator, Lead/ Referral Master, Program Director, Social Coordinator/Mixer Chair, Past President, Ethics Committee (three members), Sergeant-at -Arms, Public Relations, Social Media Coordinator, Webmaster, Community Relations Rep, Inspector, CNRG Central Liaison and Visitation Coordinator.

10. All Board Members and Officers have voting rights.  A quorum of at least 5 members with one of them being either the President or Vice President is required for valid votes.

11. ELECTIONS: Elections for new officers will be held once each year in March. In so far as practical, these positions will rotate each year. Consent of the elected official is required for re-election. The process will be written or verbal nominations for any position during the SECOND meeting of the month. The Secretary will have written ballots to pass out during the next (3rd) meeting where each office will be voted on using the ballots. Individual voting will be kept confidential. Members, who know in advance that they will not be able to attend the third meeting of the month to vote, may use a proxy form by contacting the Secretary prior to the third (voting) meeting. A member of the ethics committee will be appointed by the president to count the ballots at the meeting and announce the new officers. In the event of a tie vote, a second vote will be taken after the two tied candidates have each spoken to the group. The new board will assume control of the group on the FIRST MEETING IN April. Should a vacant position arise during the year, the President will appoint another member to fill the position; if the vacancy is one of the Board members, then the entire group will nominate and vote on a new member to fill the position, using the procedure described above.

12. MEETING TIMES: Lunch meetings will start promptly at 11:30 a.m. and end at 1:00 p.m. Meetings will be held weekly on a designated day. The timing of socials will vary and be at the discretion of the Board to determine upon recommendations of the Social Coordinator. 

13. LEAD/REFERRAL REPORTING: The lead/referral master will submit a written report following the master outline, during the first meeting of the month with regard to the prior month. 

14. BUSINESS MIXERS: The group will have at least 2 mixers/year. The format and location of the mixer is at the discretion of the board (member’s place of business vs. restaurant, business vs. casual, etc.) upon recommendations of the Mixer Coordinator. The socials budgets will be set in consideration of the Network’s fiscal health.  Attendance at Mixers is mandatory.

15. EXCLUSIVITY OF EACH POSITION: Each position/business category in the group is to be represented by a single member. Members are to immediately express a potential conflict to a Board member if they feel that a guest/potential new member would represent a threat/conflict to them in regard to their business interests in the group. Should there be a "gray" area of possible overlap between a current member and a guest/potential new member, then, at the existing member’s request, preference would be given to the existing member and the guest would be informed that they cannot join the group due to the conflict of interest. 

16. ETHICS COMMITTEE: An ethics committee is to be comprised of 3 members who are not members of the current board of directors. Their purpose is to hear potential grievances between members; to discuss the alleged charge/charges in private with the parties involved; to report all grievances to the Board of Directors and to come up with and vote on a recommended course of action to rectify the situation. Should the Committee’s recommendation be to terminate the member, then it would take a majority vote by a combination of the Board of Directors and members of the Ethics Committee.

17. DESCRIPTION OF OFFICERS/POSITIONS:

President:

•To start (after the timekeeper does the pledge), preside over and adjourn the meetings;

•To run/organize the Board of Directors meetings (Date, time and frequency to be determined by board;

•To oversee any business, make announcements at the business mixers. 

Vice President:

•To run the meeting if the President is absent;

•To order any printing and supplies that the group needs;

•To oversee all the committees and do committee reports at the meetings.

Secretary:

•To take weekly attendance and report any variance from requirements at 

each board meeting;

•To take minutes at the Board of Director’s meeting;

•To send out warning or termination letters that the board determines need to be sent;

•To take attendance at the business mixers. 

Treasurer:

•To collect and deposit annual & monthly dues;

•To maintain and balance the group’s checkbook;

•To work with the social chairperson and pay for nightly mixers (food, etc.);

•To report financial status weekly during committee reports;

•To provide a written report of the Network’s financial status at each monthly board meeting.

Membership Chairperson:

•To make recommendations to the B.O.D. on ideas for growth;

•To call all guests within 2 business days of them attending a meeting;

•To head the New Membership Orientation Committee. 

New Membership Orientation Committee:

•Made up of Membership Chairperson and one other member of the group;

•Meets with all new members to review the Orientation checklist which includes but is not limited to ways on giving and receiving good leads and bringing guests to meetings; member responsibility for understanding and adhering to the by-laws, and referral form logistics.

Lead/ Referral Master:

•To collect all written and electronic leads at each meeting and compile a written monthly 

report that is passed out to the Board of Directors at the first meeting of each month.

Sergeant-At-Arms:

•To make sure that the facility is set up properly for the meeting;

•To monitor and inform the speakers of their time allotments. 

Mixer/ Social Coordinator:

•To plan, coordinate and implement ideas on locations, menus, etc. for the mixers and social events and recommend to the board these plans at least 6 weeks in advance of any event;

•To coordinate the planning and execution of the mixer/social event. 

Program Director:

•To keep a written log of the speakers for the weekly meetings at least 2 months in advance. Speaker list is to be handed out to all members and new members are put into the rotation at the next available opening;

•To email both speakers & presenter prior to the weekly meeting. 

Webmaster:

•To maintain the Chapter’s website and keep membership information and other pertinent Chapter information on the web current. 

New Member Inspection:

•This will be a member other than the new member's sponsor who 

volunteers or is selected by the president for each potential new member; 

•To visit potential new members at their place of business to confirm credentials and legitimacy of business.

Social Media Coordinator:

•To keep the group up to date on social media happenings and the best way for the group

to utilize social media.

Public Relations Chair:

•To inform the group of upcoming networking opportunities and publicize the Chapter;                                                 

•Publish press releases for new members and Chapter activities; 

•Work with Social Media Coordinator to publicize Chapter activities.

CNRG Central Liaison (rep)

•To attend CNRG Central meetings and report back to Chapter.

Community Relations Rep

•To coordinate quarterly speakers;

•To arrange Chapter volunteers at community events or charitable organizations.

Visitation Coordinator

•To coordinate quarterly or bi-annual member visitations; to facilitate member discussions.

18. DISAGREEMENTS WITH THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS: Any member who has a complaint or grievance against any member, individual board member or with the Board collectively shall put the complaint in writing to the President. The President shall forward the complaint to the Ethics Committee. The Ethics Committee shall review the complaint and provide a written response to the member and the President within 2 weeks of the date of the written complaint. If the written response is not satisfactory to the member, he or she and the ethics committee will be invited to the next board meeting to discuss a solution. In the event the above process does not resolve the dispute, the aggrieved member and the President shall mutually agree upon a neutral third party (not a member of the group) to hear the dispute and render a final and binding decision. The aggrieved member shall pay any costs related thereto in full. The parties agree that the foregoing shall be the sole means of resolving disputes and hereby waive their right to sue or litigate such matters. 

19.  VOTING OF NEW MEMBERS: Proposed members will be voted on by the membership at large.  If there is more than one applicant for an open position, then there will be a speak-off of the applicants.  For any candidate if there are more than 2 no votes, the President will review the objections with those voting no and relay that information to the general membership and a second vote will be taken.  No candidate is eligible for membership if there are more than 3 no votes. Potential new members must attend 2 meetings (or 1 mixer and 1 meeting) within 30 days; not to exceed 3 meetings per year without approval of the Board of Directors.  Upon receipt of the application and dues, the Inspector will conduct research to confirm eligibility of potential member. Inspector will report to Board. A general vote can take place at the first meeting following completion of process.

20. SPEAKERS AND GREETERS: All members are expected to greet, promote their business and speak during their scheduled time. Greeters should arrive early and be prepared to welcome all members and guests.  Speakers are expected to bring a marketing display during their presentation. The Program Director will prepare the schedule and email to Chapter. New members are added into the rotation as soon as possible.  Warnings may be issued by Board of Directors for failure to adhere to member responsibilities.

21. CHANGING/ADDING TO THE BYLAWS: The Board of Directors shall recommend and approve by law changes prior to presenting to the full Chapter. It shall take a 75% majority vote by the entire group to amend the bylaws. The vote shall be by written ballot during a regular meeting with any absent members to vote by proxy and reported to the secretary; electronic voting is acceptable.

22. INCLEMENT WEATHER: If bad weather causes the cancellation of school in the town of Chelmsford, then the Chapter meeting will be cancelled. If there is an early dismissal of school in the town of Chelmsford; there will be no meeting.  Other meeting cancellations may be voted on by the Board of Directors and announced to the Chapter in advance.