When should you consider by-laws?

When you conceptualize your IPC, you’ll also want to think about establishing rules for membership. This means thinking through the kinds of members the IPC will attract, expected behavior, and how the IPC is to be managed. Doing this will give you the basis for creating by-laws. To be clear on what I mean, Merriam-Webster dictionary defines a by-law this way: “a rule adopted by an organization chiefly for the government of its members and the regulation of its affairs.” We’ll use this definition for this article, and any subsequent articles going forward. This post will discuss when you should begin capturing and codifying your by-laws.

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I’ll start by saying this, let your IPC grow before formulating solid by-laws. You can think about what you’d like to suggest, but creating by-laws should be a group effort. Allow the group to grow, and then see what by-laws are needed. Considerable time can be wasted trying to anticipate how members are going to act, or how well the IPC's activities will conform to its focus. 

Never be a tyrant. Although you’re the one laying the foundations of the IPC, there will be a time where you’ll step down (I’ll also discuss this later), so the by-laws need to a product of the membership, equally binding to everyone. When you have grown enough to establish a steering board or board of directors, is when you need to start creating by-laws. This way, the membership is fairly represented when the by-laws are created, and amended in the future. Even if you and your membership do not form a steering committee or board of directors, you may want to eventually form a temporary committee to write the by-laws, and convene the committee every so often to amend them.

The only exception you may want to consider is when money becomes part of the business of running the group. Even when taking up donations, you may want to establish rules for how the money is to be spent and accounting. I always recommend complete transparency where money is concerned, and your by-laws should reflect this. Also, even if you feel you must establish by-laws for spending and accounting, you can revisit these rules and amend them to expand on other areas of club affairs when your IPC grows enough to support them.

A consideration at this point are Federal, State/Province and local laws regarding clubs, especially when your IPC begins to collect money. There might be laws regarding reporting intake, so it would be a sensible idea to know what those laws are. Even if you’re a small operation now, getting to know the law will benefit you when the IPC grows.

Approach your IPC by-laws thoughtfully, and encourage your membership in helping you formulate them. But first, give your IPC time to grow and develop its needs before you make any rule a firm written commitment.