Officer's Duties And Responsibilities

The following describes the basic duties of the various Club Officers

• President
• Vice President (President Elect)
• Treasurer
• Membership Director
• Secretary
• Program Director
• Sergeant At Arms

President

The office of President is the most important position in your Club. You are the Club's leader and have the main responsibility for insuring that your Club meets its goals and operates according to the My Referral Club Bylaws.

As you familiarize yourself with the job of leading your Club, this guideline will help you stay focused on the important concepts that we have found keeps a My Referral Club successful.

Always keep in mind that the Club's single most important purpose is to help its members make more money. This is accomplished by adding new members and through the exchange of business referrals. When you are faced with any decision about the Club, always look to see if what you are doing, or being asked to do, is forwarding the Club's purpose. If not, don't allow it to be discussed, presented or used in the Club.

Always be business like! This is a business Club that attracts people who want to increase their profits.

The President runs the business meetings. During the meeting it is your job to insure that the meeting runs smoothly and follows the meeting outline. If a comment is made or someone in the chapter tries to introduce a subject that does not "forward the action" it is your job to take charge of the meeting and let the member or guest know that you would be happy to discuss it after the meeting. Do your best to keep the meeting on track conducting the Club's business. Follow the Meeting Outline. And always be on the lookout for side talk during a meeting. A gentle reminder to those talking is greatly appreciated by everyone else.

It is also your job to preside over the Board Of Directors Meetings which are held once a quarter immediately following the second meeting of the month. New Clubs may require more frequent meetings. If an issue about the Club is raised either during a meeting or at some other time, invite the member with the issue to bring it to the next Board Meeting.

As President, it is your job to run the Club, not do all of the work necessary to keep the Club running. You have a team with defined responsibilities. Your job is to delegate tasks to your fellow board members. This allows everyone on the board to be part of your team, and lets them participate in a successful organization as your Club grows.

The Board of Directors leads the Club. You are the one responsible for the Board Meetings, and it's at these meetings that the work of the Club takes place. To achieve smooth Board Meetings follow an agenda and have all board members who hold leadership positions prepare written reports prior to the meeting. Appoint the VP to run the board meetings (prepares him/her for running the Club meeting). The Secretary is responsible for taking minutes of the Board Meetings. The other Officers of the Club present their written reports and the reports are discussed, sometimes amended, and then voted on.

Try not to let your Board meetings get bogged down with long discussions about a particular subject. Turn the problem or opportunity over to the appropriate board member and have him/her prepare a report for the next meeting. By the way, when presenting a board decision to the membership, always indicate that the Board (not you) has made the decision.

As President of your Club, you are responsible for the Club's success, its growth in number of members and number of referrals. Probably the toughest decisions you will be faced with will be the removal of un-productive members. All members agree to provide at least two qualified referrals per month to members of the Club. Because our database system allows viewing the Club's referral history, it will be very evident which members are not pulling their weight. They need to be given a "written" warning that they are close to being dropped from the Club. And, then dropped if their qualified referrals don't increase.

This also applies to members who keep missing the evening meeting. We expect the members to attend at least 80% of the meetings. Those who don't attend are noticed by their absence. If a Club steps over a referral or attendance problem of a member, the Club is in trouble. History shows that your good members will become discouraged. The unproductive member also takes up a business category that could be filled with someone who is willing to participate. If you and the board set high standards, the Club will prosper and grow.

The subject of money is always up for discussion in any organization and My Referral Club is no different. It is necessary for the Club to have a checking account and to have money in it for the Club to operate. Most items that a Club needs will be provided by My Referral Club, LLC. However, there will always be expenses, and depending on your meeting location and selection of refreshments, the Club will need money to pay its bills. We suggest that your Club collect meeting expense money a quarter (3 months) in advance. It keeps that chore down to four times a year and doesn't allow a member who misses a meeting to also miss paying their share of the Club expenses.

Know the bylaws.

During the business meeting enjoy yourself. Have fun. Give lots of recognition, someone is always deserving of something. Don't allow any sexist, off color or ethnic remarks. Close each meeting reminding the members to send referrals to the Speaker and Exhibitor. Always mention the business category that the Club is hoping to add to its membership. Remind everyone to send at least two people to the My Referral Club web site that week and to refer business to Club members. And finally remind everyone to drive carefully.

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Vice President (President Elect)

The Vice President works closely with the President regarding all aspects of managing the Club. The VP needs to be ready to step in and assume the responsibilities of the President whenever the President is absent from a Club function.

Further, the VP is the future Club President in training. It is the one position that obligates a member for two years of service to the Club as one of its officers. He/She needs to understand all of the responsibilities of the President and must be in partnership to provide the Club with informed and consistent leadership.

The VP is the officer responsible for coordinating the Club's business meetings, insures that reservations for the meeting space are secured at least two months in advance, and works with the other officers to insure that they are prepared for the next meeting.

Another of the VP's jobs is to act as the Chairman of the Ethics Committee. The VP is responsible to appoint three other members-at-large to be on the committee. Should any situation arise in the Club regarding the ethics of a member, it is the Ethics Committee's job to review the matter and make recommendations to the Board.

It is also a good idea for the VP to be the designated officer who is authorized to order supplies from My Referral Club, LLC.

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Treasurer

The Club's Treasurer is responsible for managing the Club's checkbook. If it is a new Club the Treasurer will need to open a bank account. Every state has different requirements. Be sure to mention that the Club is a Not-For-Profit organization.

The Treasurer will collect the quarterly meeting and refreshment assessment from the membership, and make sure the restaurant or hotel is paid after each meeting. If a member is late in their payment by two weeks, the Treasurer will then discuss the matter with the delinquent member. Also, if the Club collects fines, the Treasurer & the Vice President will count the money in the referral basket and deposit it in the Club's checking account.

Because the membership dues of $12 per month are collected automatically by the My Referral Club, LLC., the Treasurer is not involved in that activity.

A quarterly financial report is to be prepared and given to the Board of Directors at their quarterly meeting.

When opening the Club's checking account, set up the account so that two officers must sign each check over a certain dollar amount to be determined by the Board. It is a good idea to have four signers on the signature card. All signers must be active members of the Club.

A new Club will need to start the checkbook with an initial deposit. Until the Club has stabilized at around 15 to 20 members, each new member should also be required to contribute an extra one time assessment to help the new Club cover its start up expenses.

The Treasurer should take the lead in determining the amount of the member's quarterly meeting expense. It should be an amount that more than covers the cost of renting a room, the refreshments plus an extra amount to pay for guests. There should also be enough in the checkbook to cover the cost of supplies when needed.

A Treasurer's Report to the Membership should be made at each meeting. Introduce yourself as the Club's Treasurer and always indicate your business category. Let the Club know that the treasury is in great shape and remind the members when their quarterly meeting expense is due (usually the start of the quarter; January 1st, April 1st, etc). Remind them that an extra charge of $10 is due if they are two weeks late with their payment. Also, this should be the time to announce if extra money is required for special events, etc.

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Membership Director

As the Membership Director, you are responsible to help your Club sign up more members. As you know, there are two key things that make a Club successful. The first is to add new members. The second is that the members give numerous referrals. Adding new members is THE MOST IMPORTANT function of a Club if it is to be successful, and your job is to help your Club get more members.

Here's How!

1. Keep the task of recruiting new members constantly in front of the membership.

2. At every meeting mention a specific task that each member can do to attract new members.

3. Always have a specific business category designated as the Clubs #1 target to add to the membership.

4. Keep reminding the Club that getting new members is job #1. More members equates to having more referral categories, which makes it easier to give referrals, and the Club members make more money.

5. Send a Press Release to your local newspaper when you start the Club and update them at different membership intervals.

6. Make sure each new member contacts at least 10 friends/business contacts about the Club and guides them to the My Referral Club web site.

7. Always have a supply of My Referral Club business cards at the Club's meeting.

8. Remind the members that there is a terrific e-mail letter they can send from the Club's home page to a prospective member introducing them to My Referral Club.

My Referral Club is not like other tip or referral Clubs. Our Club was designed knowing that referrals are important but that they don't exist without members. My Referral Club was designed specifically to make it easy to attract new members. If you can get business people to look through the web site, they will see this is a Club that can deliver on its promise, that we can increase business income by 20% or more.

There are other membership items you are responsible for. You will need to send ballots to the members when a prospective member wishes to join the Club and count them when they are returned. You are also the person who should call the member with the results of the vote, and hopefully welcome them to the Club.

Some member categories have the potential to overlap services. Some examples are; 1). investment advisor and life insurance categories, 2) different attorney categories; PI, Business, Estate Planning. When this occurs, it will be your job to get agreements from the members that they will honor the other member's specialty. An example would be in the case of the investment advisor and life insurance representative. The life insurance representative must agree to only represent him/her self in the insurance field even though he/she is probably qualified to sell mutual funds.

Finally, when a new member is accepted by the Club, they should be assigned an existing member as their Club Mentor. This is an informal relationship that should continue for between 4 to 6 months. Usually the mentor would be the person who previously had a relationship with the new member. If the new member doesn't have an existing relationship in the Club or if the sponsoring member is a mentor to other new members, the Membership Director should choose another member in the same Affinity Group as the new member.

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Secretary

The Club's Secretary is the official recorder and communicator of the Club and attends all Club meetings and the Board Of Director Meetings. He/She is required to take detailed notes of the Board Meetings and organize them. The minutes must be typed and placed in a notebook and posted on the Club's home page. The Minutes of the Club are to be maintained by the Secretary. The Club's minutes provide a history of the Club and the decisions made by the Board and should be completed within a week of the Board's meeting. As a guideline, please use (who, what, when, where and why) as you describe the Board's actions and decisions. All Club records should be maintained in a professional and organized manner.

The Secretary is also responsible for maintaining and updating the Club's newsletter on the web site.

All of the Club's correspondence is the responsibility of the Secretary.

The Secretary is responsible for taking meeting attendance and recording it in the Club Administration section.

It is recommended that the Secretary send a welcome letter to any new member. Something a little more formal than the initial email. Also, should the Club vote to remove a member, the Secretary will need to send a letter of termination and officially notify the member by certified mail with copies maintained in the Club's records.

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Program Director

The Program Director is responsible for coordinating the schedule of the Speaker, Exhibitor and Greeter for the Club's meetings. The members are scheduled so that each member has an equal chance throughout the year to be presenting in front of the Club. The schedule for these positions should be posted at least three months in advance of the scheduled date.

The assignment of the three participants should be set up so that the person assigned as the Greeter the first week will become the Speaker the next week. The Exhibitor's schedule should be such that a member's opportunity to be the Exhibitor falls roughly between his/her scheduled speaking dates. These scheduled opportunities will be very important to the members assigned as this will give them an opportunity to make a great impression on the other members. When scheduling and assigning the member, the Program Director must also schedule an alternate who must be prepared to step in at the last minute should the scheduled member have a problem making it to the meeting.

When the Club is new and there are fewer than 15 members, only one Speaker, Exhibitor and Greeter should be scheduled for a meeting. At this time emphasis at the meeting needs to be on getting more members. Once there are more than 15 members, the Program Director should schedule two members for the three positions so that everyone in the Club can frequently have this opportunity. When the Club grows to 40 or more members, schedule three members for each position.

Two days before the meeting the Program Director should call the scheduled members and the alternates to remind them to get to the meeting early and be ready with their presentations.

The Program Director is responsible for posting the meeting dates and to also list the Speaker, Exhibitor and Greeter (and their alternatives) for each meeting on the Meeting Information Page of the Club's web site three months in advance.

At the meetings, the Program Director should acknowledge the Greeter(s), Exhibitor(s) and Speaker(s). Also, it is the Program Directors job to introduce the Speaker(s) at the meeting. Be sure to get some basic information from the Speaker(s) so that you can say a few words about them as you introduce them.

Let the Greeter know he/she is responsible for meeting guests and members at the door and to introduce themselves. They should have guests sign the guest book and make a nametag for them.

The Exhibitor is responsible for being set up at least twenty minutes before the meeting begins so they should get to the meeting thirty minutes ahead of time. Remind the Exhibitor to be creative and to have an interesting display with handouts. The Exhibitor is also allowed to place a brochure or two at each table setting at no cost. Placing brochures at the meeting is a benefit only afforded to the Exhibitor and Speaker unless the Club has established a procedure through its fines/incentives program to allow other members to pay for the privilege.

The Speaker will be given seven to eight minutes to present their business and then two or three minutes to answer questions. It is the Sergeant at Arms job to give the Speaker a two-minute warning.

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Sergeant At Arms

The Sergeant At Arms has several important jobs that insure the business meeting runs smoothly. He/she ensures that the meetings start and end on time. A reminder that the start of the meeting is two minuets away should be made and then the meeting called to order at exactly 6:00PM or the time designated by the Board of Directors. When the meeting is five minutes from the scheduled ending time, the Sergeant At Arms should notify the President as a reminder.

He/she is also responsible for the meeting room set up and must be at the meeting at least 30 minutes before it starts to make any last minute changes if they are necessary. The Sergeant At Arms is also responsible to see that the sign-in table outside the meeting room is properly set up and stocked with the necessary supplies. He/she should also make a list of all guests to give to the President before the meeting starts.

The Sergeant At Arms is responsible for timing the Speaker(s). Each speaker is given 7 to 8 minutes to speak and then 2 to 3 minutes to answer questions. Give the speaker a 2 minute warning at the 6 minute mark of the speech and 1 minute before the 10 minute mark.

It is the job of the Sergeant At Arms to monitor side talking at the meeting (its not allowed) and to welcome late guests to the meeting. If a guest is late, help him/her get seated and give the guest's business card to the President.

The Sergeant At Arms is responsible for having the following items present at the business meeting. (Guest Book, Ink Pens, Blank Name Tags, Marking Pens, Small Clock, Extra Business Cards, Customer Protection Brochures, Note Pad, and arrange the member's name tags in alphabetical order on the sign in table before the meeting starts). It would be a good idea to have a meeting box kept at the meeting site or in a car trunk.

Like all of the Officers, the Sergeant At Arms should be a member who is very reliable and unlikely to miss many of the meetings.

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