Club Committees

Subject to the approval of the board,
the president appoints all committees.
He is chairman of the aims and objects
committee and ex-officio member of
all committees. These relationships
make it possible for the president to
keep in close touch with all phases of
the club program and to maintain
active and well-balanced progress.

As the chairmen of the club, voca-
tional, community, and international
service committees automatically be-
come members of the aims and objects
committee, the president should be
especially careful in making these ap-
pointments. Subject to board approval,
the aims and objects committee pre-
pares the year’s program for the club
and coordinates the activities of the
four principal service committees. The
president will find Pamphlet No. 3,
“The Rotary Program,” helpful in this
connection and should be familiar with
it before he makes these appointments.
“Suggestions for Rotary Club Commit-
tees’ (No. 20) will also be useful.

In general, those members should be
selected as committee chairmen who
have demonstrated interest and ability
in the work they are assigned to do.
As committee members there may be
appointed, perhaps in consultation with
the chairman, men who lack expe-
rience, but who have an interest in a
particular phase of the club program
and who are willing to help and will
develop as they work. See Pamphlet
No. 3, “The Rotary Program,” for a
description of possible sub-committees
and their functions.

The Club Assembly

The club assembly is a forum with the
club president as leader. Its members
are the club officers and directors and
the chairmen of all club committees.
A meeting of the club assembly early
in the club year and other meetings
at regular intervals during the year
will help the president to keep all
activities in balance and will stimulate
the committees to greater effort. Plans
for holding club assemblies are de-
scribed in “Suggestions for Rotary
Club Committees” (No. 20).

The Board of Directors

The board of directors, of which the
president is the presiding officer, is
the governing body of the club. Reg-
ular meetings of the board, at least
once a month, are necessary even in
the smallest clubs. It is the president’s
privilege, if not his duty, to stimulate
and to guide the board. General poli-
cies, financial matters, and other busi-
ness details should be handled by the
board on behalf of the club, thus sav-
ing time in club meetings for those
things which further the program. Oc-
casional reports to the club, either at
a regular meeting, or through the club
bulletin, may be advisable, but only
rarely is it necessary to transact busi-
ness in a club meeting.

The first official meeting of the board
should be called promptly at the be-
ginning of the club year. At this
meeting the president should: (1)
submit his committee appointments for
approval; (2) request the board to
designate the bank where club funds
are to be deposited; (3) get the board
to indicate the amount of bonds (if
any) on officers who handle club
funds; (4) receive from the outgoing
administration a complete audit of club
funds, so that the new board may know
the club’s financial status; (5) secure
the consideration of probable financial
needs and the preparation of a budget;
(6) get a board decision on the time
and place of regular meetings and any
special meetings that are to be held;
(7) consider with the board any pro-
posals which the aims and objects
committee may have drafted.

At a meeting of the board early in
the club year, the board should care-
fully consider a form called “Annual
Review of Club Administration and
Activities” which the district governor
will send to the club before his official
visit. This form is designed to help
Rotary club officers to review the con-
dition of their respective clubs by com-
paring their own practices or trends

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