The Nonprofit FAQ

Help with Parliamentary Procedure
Jim Slaughter, Certified Professional Parliamentarian and Professional
Registered Parliamentarian, has a web site with a wide range of useful
articles. Each group will likely find an article that pertains to their
planned usage, e.g., associations, school boards, nonprofits (general), etc.
First find the article that pertains to your planned usage. Then see his
"Cheat Sheets." See http://www.jimslaughter.com/articles.htm .

And see also http://www.paulmcclintock.com/links.htm#Nonprofit (thanks to Paul McClintock for providing this link).




The associations of parliamentarians have websites at:

The dmoz "open directory" project offers a listing of web resources about
parliamentary procedure at
http://www.dmoz.org/Reference/Parliamentary_Procedure/

Don Griesmann offered this list of online resources on 9/24/02:






Marga asked in Charity Law in January 1999:

This said, can someone suggest a method other than Robert's Rules of
Order to conduct meetings?

And J. E. McNeil of McNeil & Ricks, PC
(
jmcnrick@erols.com) replied:

Well, yes, since you asked. Very few of my clients use Robert's
because they use consensus (or in the case of my Quaker clients:
will of the meeting which loosely translates into God's will) to
conduct the meeting. If you want further information I can
recommend the book: Beyond Majority Rule written by two
Jesuit
Priests. (My favorite chapter is where they explain why Papal
Infallibility is better than the Quaker notions). But personally, I
find my non-Quaker clients have trouble with the practice. :-) But
it is legit if the by-laws are properly written. Even the IRS finds
it unobjectionable.

Note: The only book on Amazon.Com's list that matches
that title seems to be slightly different. It is Beyond Majority
Rule: Voteless Decisions in the Religious Society of Friends

by Michael J. Sheeran (Order href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0941308049/internetnonprofi">
Beyond Majority Rule from Amazon.Com; your purchase will
generate a royalty which will be used to maintain this site.)




The Free Management Library provides information to ensure
effective board meetings. See the guidelines and samples included in the
"Sample Meeting Agenda" at http://www.mapnp.org/library/boards/agenda.htm
and

"Sample Meeting Minutes" at http://www.mapnp.org/library/boards/minutes.htm
and

"Board Attendance Policy" at
http://www.mapnp.org/library/boards/brdattnd.htm

Re-posted January 21, 1999 with additions and update from May 31,
1998 --PB; revised 8/11/99 -- CM; 9/9/00, 9/25/02, 9/26/03; 12/18/04