Terms of Reference

100+ WOMEN WHO CARE RED DEER Terms of Reference

Philosophy

Membership Criteria and Commitment

• Members complete and sign the registration/commitment form.
• Members agree to attend four meetings per year and write a $100 cheque to the charity selected at each meeting.
• If a member cannot attend, she agrees to send a cheque with a friend or submit a cheque to organizers promptly after the meeting.
• Members are encouraged to nominate deserving charitable organizations. If a member’s nomination is one of three selected for consideration, the member agrees to make a brief presentation on the charity’s behalf.

Eligible Charitable Organizations

• The organization must be based in Red Deer and area and it must be a registered not-for-profit or charitable organization eligible to provide tax receipts for donations.
• It must be previously established for at least one year (no start-ups).
• At this time, no national or international charities, programs or organizations will be considered as the current focus is on contributing to our local community.
• An organization that receives the group donation may not be nominated again for two years.
• Members are encouraged to nominate small to medium sized charitable organizations that may not have the fundraising resources of larger organizations.

Nomination and Selection Process

• Organizers will vet each nomination to ensure it meets the selection criteria. By vetting nominated charities and ensuring that we only accept organizations that fit our criteria, we are giving our membership the best organizations to choose from.
• At each meeting, three charities will be randomly drawn. Only three charities will be presented at each meeting.
• The nominating members will be asked to come up and give a short five-minute presentation as to why the organization they are nominating should receive the donation, and how the donation would be utilized, followed by five minutes for questions and answers. A member of 100+ Women Who Care, who may or may not be a member of the organization, must make this presentation. No audio- visual aids, such as Power Point presentations, will be allowed.
• Following the presentations, all members vote by secret ballot for one of the three charities. Votes are immediately tallied and the recipient charity announced.
• In the event of a tie vote, another vote will be held. If the tie persists, the membership will vote to either randomly select one of the tied organizations by draw; or divide the group donation equally between the tied organizations.
• Each member will write a cheque for $100 to the successful charity and hand them in at the registration desk. 100 Women Who Care Red Deer will forward the cheques to the charity.
• An organization not selected at one meeting may be submitted again at a subsequent meeting.
• At each meeting, a charity CAN be nominated by more than one member. This increases the chances of it being drawn for consideration. The member’s name on the ticket drawn is the person who must come up to speak for the charity.
• Successful charities can re-submit their names for consideration two years after being selected by the group.

Deadline for Nominations

• Any member wishing to submit a charitable organization for consideration must submit the nomination form at least one week prior to the scheduled meeting.

Fund Distribution

• Cheques are written directly to the charitable organization and NOT to 100+ Women Who Care Red Deer.
• Tax receipts will be issued directly by the charitable organization.
• Even if a member does not care for the charity selected, she agrees as part of the membership commitment to donate to that charity. All cheques go to one charity.
• If a member cannot attend a meeting she sends her regrets by email [email protected] and arranges to make her donation by sending a blank, signed cheque with a trusted friend to the meeting. The friend will write in the name of the charity that is chosen on the cheque and give it to the organizers on her behalf. If this method is not possible, the member can check Facebook, the website or contact one of the organizers to find out which charity was selected. The member can then send in a cheque to one of the organizers where we will send it to the charity on the member’s behalf.

Proxy Votes

•  If a member cannot attend a meeting, but would still like to participate in the voting process, a proxy can be assigned to another member if that member is in possession of the absent member’s cheque. The present member will be given the absent member’s ballot to vote for one of the three charities presented at that meeting.

Privacy

• The charitable organization must agree NOT to use the names for future solicitations, nor give the information out to the public.
• 100 Women Who Care Red Deer collects personal information (including name, address, email address, phone number) strictly for the purpose of maintaining our membership list. 100+ Women Who Care Red Deer will not sell, give or otherwise share our members’ personal information unless required by law.
• Photographs and video footage may be taken at our meetings for use on our future website, facebook page, twitter, etc. If you would prefer not to have pictures and/or video footage that include(s) you used in this manner, please let the organizers know when you register or by email. If we have not received a request for “no photos or video footage” from you, we will assume you have given your consent.

Meeting Format

• Four one-hour long meetings per year
• Registration: 6:15 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.

• Greet new members
• Socializing and bar opens
• Meeting: 7:00 – 8:00 p.m.

• Opening remarks, updates and housekeeping items
• Three charities randomly selected
• Member presentations and question and answer periods
• Voting and tabulation
• Selected Charity Announcement
• Meeting wrap up.
• Drop off cheques to registration desk
• Social Hour: 8:00 – 9:00 p.m. Cash Bar