CONSTITUTION OF THE BENGALI ASSOCIATION OF NORTH CAROLINA

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ARTICLE I – NAME

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The ORGANIZATION shall be known as the BENGALI ASSOCIATION OF NORTH CAROLINA, herein after referred to as BANC.

 

 

 

ARTICLE II – HEAD OFFICE

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BANC does not have a permanent physical facility as its office or for an official address. The address changes periodically with the change of its executive committee. The official address is declared by each new executive committee after it takes charge.

 

 

 

ARTICLE III – AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

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The primary purpose and objective is to promote Bengali culture, language, music, arts and social activities by offering varieties of programs for members of INDO-American community within the State of North Carolina and adjacent states. The association is organized exclusively for charitable, cultural, social and educational purposes, including, for such purposes, the making of distributions to organizations that qualify as exempt organizations under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (or the corresponding provision of any future United States Internal Revenue Law). No part of the net earnings of the association shall inure to the benefit of, or be distributable to its members or their kin, officers, or private persons. The association shall not participate in or intervene in (including the publishing or distribution of statements) any political campaign nor for the promotion of any profit motivated business interests of its members except that it would allow printing advertisements of any individual and/or business entities owned and operated by its members in its official publications when such is offered for a reasonable charge. Notwithstanding any other provision of these articles, the association shall not carry on any other activities not permitted to be carried on (a) by a corporation exempt from Federal income tax under section 501 (c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (or the corresponding provision of any future United States Internal Revenue Law or (b) by a corporation, contributions to which are deductible under section 170(c)(2) of the Internal Revenue code of 1986 (or the corresponding provision of any future United States Internal Revenue Law).

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ARTICLE IV – MEMBERSHIP

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Open to any person, 18 years or older, who is committed to BANC’s purpose and objectives, interested in it’s activities and is willing to abide by its constitution. Categories of membership have been described in BANC’s By-laws section of the constitution.

 

 

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ARTICLE V – OFFICERS OF THE ASSOCIATION AND GOVERNANCE

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The constitutional responsibilities of BANC shall be executed by designated officers through a variety of boards, committees and sub-committees as appointed for a fixed period and/or on an ad-hoc basis from time to time.

THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE & SPECIAL SUB-COMMITTEES

The management and operation of BANC shall be vested in the Executive Committee comprising of the executive officers elected by the general membership. The committee shall be entrusted with the responsibility to fulfill the purpose and objectives of BANC; to develop and manage financial affairs; to plan and organize programs and activities; to develop long range plans and to formulate policies and procedures to guide the operation of BANC. The committee shall be headed by the President and will have the following members at the core: Vice-President, General Secretary, Cultural Secretary and Treasurer, who shall also serve as the members of the Board of Directors of BANC. A few additional Members of the Executive Committee may also be elected. The executive committee may appoint several sub-committees and ad-hoc committees to assist in carrying out its responsibilities.

Further details on the composition and functional responsibilities of each officer of the executive committee shall be given in the By-laws of BANC.

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ARTICLE VI – THE GENERAL BODY, its power, authority and operation procedure:

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Section 1: The General Body of BANC shall consist of all duly paid members that include Life Member, Family Members and Individual Members. All members of the General Body shall have equal voting rights.

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Section 2: The General Body shall have the power to elect or dissolve the executive committee, elect or remove any member of the executive or the members of the board of advisors, make special recommendation to the executive committee and change the constitution and By-laws of BANC.

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Section 3: The Annual Meeting of the general body shall take place in the month of December each year to receive the annual report from the executive committee, to elect officers when required and to transact any other business as it deems appropriate. The meeting shall be presided over by BANC president who shall also present an agenda for the meeting in advance.

 

Section 4: Special Meeting of the General Body may be called by a majority vote of the executive committee or by a written petition with reason by at least one-fourth of the membership. The president shall call the General Body within 30 day period after such written petition is received.

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Section 5: Quorum Policy: The quorum of the General Body meeting shall be one-fifth of all current dues paying members. The quorum for General Body meeting to consider the dissolution of Executive Committee shall be one-third of duly paid membership; the motions concerning Constitutional amendment shall require one-third membership attendance and for By-laws shall require one-fifth of membership attendance. In each case, a simple majority vote of those in attendance shall carry a motion. However, in the event a quorum has not been attained, the executive committee may seek ‘up or down’ votes by electronic mail, provided that copies of electronic votes be maintained on BANC files for up to two years. A motion shall pass when a simple majority of those voted electronically in support of the motion.

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ARTICLE VII – ELECTION OF OFFICERS

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All officers of BANC must be elected through a democratic electoral process to be conducted by an election committee which is also elected by the general body. The election of office bearers shall be held every two years at the Annual General Meeting, The vacancies created due to dismissal or resignation may be filled in the next annual meeting for the remainder of the term. The details of the nomination and election process are described in the BANC By-laws.

 

 

 

ARTICLE VIII – FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT

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Section 1: BANC’s financial assets shall be derived from membership dues, donations, grants and other revenue generating activities. A system of fund accounting shall be adopted to maintain the integrity of various types of funds collected for various purposes.

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Section 2: The fiscal year of BANC shall be the calendar year. All transactions in the name of BANC should be through normal banking channels and are to be duly attested by the Treasurer or the President. Financial records are to be audited and shall always be available to the members upon request.

 

 

 

ARTICLE IX – DISSOLUTION AND DISTRIBUTION OF ASSETS

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Section 1: DISSOLUTION – If the association ceases to function and the Executive Committee determine that BANC is no longer fulfilling its purpose and objectives; it may dissolve by taking the following steps:

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1. The Executive Committee shall circulate to all members a notice of intent of dissolution and if it obtains the affirmation from a significant number of memberships, it shall declare a general body meeting.

2. In the general body meeting, the Executive Committee shall present a motion for the dissolution of BANC. If the motion passes by the majority of those in attendance, the association shall be dissolved. The quorum for meeting shall be one-third of all membership.

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Section 2: DISTRIBUTION – Upon the dissolution of the association by a formal vote of the General Body, the Executive Committee shall, after paying of all liabilities of the association, dispose of the remaining assets to organization (s) that comply with section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (or the corresponding provision of future United States Internal Revenue Law).

 

 

 

ARTICLE X – AMENDMENT TO THE CONSTITUTION AND BY-LAWS

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To facilitate evolutionary changes, a constitution committee may be formed when such changes deem necessary; the report of the committee should be placed in the Annual Meeting or in a Special meeting for approval. Following the quorum policy stated in Article VI, Section 5, simple majority of members present is needed to institute any such amendment(s).

 

 

 

ARTICLE XI – CONDUCT OF MEETINGS

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All meetings must follow the Roberts Rule of Order.

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ADOPTED, RATIFIED AND CONFIRMED by the GENERAL MEMBERSHIP
of the BANC on the December 16, 2007

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THIS CONSTITUTION AND ITS BY-LAW become effective on the
August 21, 2008

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END OF BANC CONSTITUTION

 

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