Document:LPCA Affiliate Support Handbook: Difference between revisions

Document:LPCA Affiliate Support Handbook (view source)

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 == New & In-Progress Affiliates==
+Starting an affiliate is no easy feat. It requires a fair amount of time, energy, leadership, and commitment that not everyone has the ability to undertake. While it is the Area Coordinator’s job to assist new and in-progress affiliates with resources, support and information, it is incumbent upon the members of that respective county to do the “leg work” necessary to start and maintain
+their own organization.
+===Getting Started===
+====Chair Pro Tempore (Chair Pro Tem)====
+The first step for establishing a new organization is finding someone who would be willing to take on the role of Chair Pro Tempore. This is generally an individual with the drive and determination to build, organize and lead an affiliate. A Chair Pro Tem is a Central Committee Member who is officially recognized by the Party as the representative for their county. Chair Pro Tems are given access to Neon once they have been officially appointed, and have signed the Party’s Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) due to the sensitive information they would be privy to. They’re tasked with: early recruitment, finding other Central Committee Members willing to take on Officer roles, and holding proper inaugural elections for their county. Only the Area Coordinator for the unaffiliated county looking to organize may appoint a Chair Pro Tem.
+====Early Recruitment====
+One of the most important things, whether your affiliate is in “start-up” mode, or has been established and organized for years, is initial and consistent membership engagement and participation. The best way to achieve this, is by hosting socials that you can invite prospective members to. There are different tiers of prospective members that you want to focus your initial recruitment on, and in a particular order to maximize growth potential and overall success. See the “Recruitment” section under “Organized and In-Progress Affiliates" below for more information.
+====Officers====
+Successful affiliates have strong leadership comprised of people willing and able to put in the work. It is incumbent upon the Chair Pro Tem, with assistance from their Area Coordinator, to find County Central Committee Members to run for Officer positions at the aspiring organization’s inaugural elections. Generally the Chair Pro Tem runs for the Chair position, and needs only to find qualified individuals to fill the rest of the county’s leadership team. A full leadership team is generally comprised of a: Chair, Vice Chair, Secretary, and
+Treasurer.
+While an organization is only required to have a Chair and a Treasurer in order to be officially recognized by the Party, it’s a good idea to try to find candidates to fill all of the aforementioned roles before holding inaugural elections. This maximizes your organization’s
+potential for success as far as the consistent involvement and engagement in political activity you’re expected to assume within your county.
+====County Elections====
+A county organization is deemed as having selected its officers only if official notice has been given to its members (either via physical mail or email) at least 30 days, but no more than 60 days in advance of their elections. Election notice must also be given to the Party Secretary at least 30 days in advance of the election. The notice must specify the reason for the meeting as well as a time and place reasonably accessible to its membership. The onus falls on the Chair Pro Tem to fulfill the aforementioned requirements, and run the meeting where elections are held. Members running for Officer positions are usually nominated by another member, but they’re allowed to nominate themselves should they wish. Official meeting minutes should be recorded, and the results should be sent to the Party Secretary by the newly elected Chair or Secretary no later than 15 days after the elections take place.
+====Bylaws====
+After you have a newly formed Executive Committee for your affiliate, your first order of business should be to formally adopt Bylaws. The most efficient way to do this (if you’re a new affiliate) is to have a draft ready to adopt after your elections (this can happen at the
+same meeting). If you need assistance drafting them, contact your Area Coordinator and/or use the template provided below under “Sample Documents” and adjust according to your needs.
+====Post Box====
+The first action that needs to be taken after your affiliate is officially recognized is securing a post box. You’ll need it to be able to open a bank account, and receive membership dues from the Party Treasurer via check, among other things. Private post boxes generally have more options and are cheaper per annum that those offered by USPS. They’ll also often hold any large packages you receive for no additional fee. In the unfortunate event a private company isn’t an option in your area, you’ll need to look at getting a USPS P.O Box.
+====Checking Account====
+The second action that a new affiliate needs to take upon being officially recognized is opening a checking account. You are free to choose any bank that you believe serves your needs best. Most banks will require you to provide:
+*An Employer Identification Number (EIN) from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS)
+*A copy of your election meeting minutes
+*A physical mailing address
+*An official letter proving that you are an official representative of your organization. (The Affiliate Support Committee has a letter it can issue to you upon request, so please contact your Area Coordinator.)
+Again, while you are free to choose any bank to hold your affiliate’s funds, you should consider one which doesn’t charge maintenance or service fees. (Credit Unions usually offer free checking accounts.) It is also recommended that the newly elected Chair and Treasurer
+go and open the account together so that both of their names are associated with the account, making future withdrawals and change of ownership significantly easier. The State of California doesn’t require filings to be made until a political organization reaches the $2,000
+threshold during any fiscal year. For any specific questions or concerns regarding financial requirements, please contact Ms. Emily Tilford, LPCA Assistant Treasurer.
+====Affiliate Starter Kit====
+If you’re in need of materials for a tabling event that you believe may help “jump-start” affiliate involvement, you may want to consider purchasing an [https://24-7.master-print.com/Libertarians/UserJCatalog.aspx?category=26 Affiliate in a Box] starter kit from the Libertarian Party National website. They start at $100 (before shipping and taxes). Before considering making the purchase, it may be more prudent to ask neighboring affiliates for extra materials first. If one can’t accommodate your request, you can either: purchase this kit out of pocket and consider it a donation for your newly established organization, or you can reach out to your Area Coordinator to see if they have the funds in their budget to purchase it for you.
+====Shared Documents & Folders====
+It’s important that you have a shared (but secure location) where you can keep all of your organization’s shared data (i.e., logins and passwords for your website and official social media accounts, templates, letterhead, etc.). The easiest way to do this is to have a GDrive or some other shared medium that only your organization’s ExCom has access to.
+====Sample Documents====
+If you are having a difficult time creating documents that you need to get started, please refer to the linked templates below. You can copy each of these Google Docs to use for your organization (after filling in the essential information highlighted in yellow). These documents are compliant with rules of parliamentary order (RONR), LPCA Bylaws/Rules, and general conventions so they can be used immediately. You can however edit them if you would rather tailor them to your respective organization (just make sure that they still fulfill all requirements if you make substantial changes).
+* [https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ybx-lrQ2UIecurMq00cpePkvL9YPxC-5vXyX2xe_OiE Bylaws Template]
+* [https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Uyoc2w3S3Ns4Us6JLFADKruwWMsf7BmWos-g9NvoOAs Meeting Agenda Template]
+* [https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Mg4hUP7mtbDwode0Q-f9eha6GwU7xPTVHTPnFtfMdZ4 Meeting Minutes Template]
+====Branding====
+Branding is a critical part of outreach for affiliates part of a larger organization. By using standards utilized by Party across California and even nationally, you can tie your graphics into the larger Libertarian Party brand image, which not only helps you with recruitment and
+recognizability, but cross-promotes many organizations at once.
+A good starting place is [https://lpaction.org/ lpaction], a website created by the Libertarian Party to serve as a repository for branding information that you can draw on. It contains fonts, colors, and images that you can use as a base for your designs. While you are free to utilize whatever logo you want for your affiliate (or make one using the standards found on lpaction yourself), a basic design utilizing the lpaction layout can be found for every affiliate in California [https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1rc4K1Zwk_tZ2UcJPb9dgqUlIK_nYFLG_ here]. Different higher quality designs can also be found and downloaded [https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1UpW6cLTT5j16yRSKbicZ--rsd8fdtoEe?fbclid=IwAR3kfqXYEuyTELXRgN3BVRj4mqPm3r43ejtlhMrFgaLBmKzOqZVeGte3dAg here].
+Business cards that are customized to your organization are essential to professional outreach efforts, and the LPCA has a store that makes it as easy as possible to get cards with a standard LPCA brand feel. Reach out to the Affiliate Support Committee to ensure you get
+cards specific to your affiliate. Once you do, you can set up an account for the store at [https://www.brandly.com/join/8747/8d6dc4d5-0aa2-4f55-a40f-a872803880d4 brandly], and follow these steps:
+*On the top left hand menu, select “Dashboard”
+*Under the “Design” box, choose the black back or the grey back by clicking on the arrow
+*Click on “Start Order”
+*Click on the text on the front of the card to amend to show your name, title, cell phone (or alt number) and email
+*Click “Add to Cart”
+*Hover over the preview and click
+*Change the quantity to your desired amount (The other details should be defaulted to Premium Matte Business Cards, Square Corners, Spot Gloss Finish)
+*Click “Cart”
+*Click “Checkout”
+*Fill out your shipping, billing and payment info
+*Select me as the admin to approve your order
+*Click on "Place Order.”
+====Brochures====
+If your affiliate does (or is planning) in-person tabling events where physical literature would be beneficial or preferable, having access to brochures on a wide variety of libertarian answers and positions on political topics (which can be modified in Microsoft Word) is
+important, and are available [https://docs.lpac.us/brochures/ here]. These were initially made for the Libertarian Party of Alameda County by Mr. [[Jim Eyer]], but can be modified to reflect your organization’s branding and logo as necessary.
+===Executive Committee Role Descriptions===
+It’s important that members understand the commitment they’re taking on when they agree to run for an Officer position. While a well established organization requires less maintenance, a newly established one requires a fair amount of work early on (depending on the role, it could be anywhere from 3-6 hours a week if not more). Officer roles are always: Chair, Vice Chair, Secretary, and Treasurer. An Executive Committee is comprised of Officers, as well as other positions deemed necessary according to the needs of the affiliate. Additional positions range from the typical At Large role which is generally tasked with a variety of duties delegated at the discretion of the Officers, as well committee chairs tasked with very specific duties (e.g., Activities Chair, Membership Chair, etc.). The following is a general description of what each of the most common roles entail.
+====Chair====
+The Chair is the Chief Executive Officer of the Party. The Chair presides at all meetings of the Party, and the Executive Committee.
+====Vice Chair====
+The Vice Chair performs the duties of the Chair (1) to the extent delegated by the Chair; and (2) to the extent that the Chair is, for any reason, unable to perform the duties of the office.
+====Secretary====
+The Secretary keeps, or causes to be kept, a book of minutes of all meetings of the Party and the Executive Committee. The Secretary keeps, or causes to be kept, a membership record containing the name and address of each voting member of the Party, and the date upon
+which such voting member joined the Party. The Secretary gives, or causes to be given, notice of all meetings of the Party. The Secretary keeps, or causes to be kept, all other books, records and papers of the Party, and has such other powers and performs such other duties as
+may be prescribed by the Executive Committee or the Bylaws. The Secretary may appoint an assistant to perform their functions when they are unable to do so. Such an assistant must already be a member of the Executive Committee, or someone the Executive Committee has
+approved.
+====Treasurer====
+The Treasurer receives, expends, and accounts for the funds of the Party under the supervision and direction of the Chair and the Executive Committee. The Treasurer makes an annual financial report to the Executive Committee, and performs all duties required of the office by applicable federal and state laws. The Treasurer is responsible for oversight of all financial functions, including but not limited to: receipts, disbursements, and internal and external reporting. The Treasurer only issues disbursements that are approved by at least two-thirds of the Executive Committee, and can be substantiated by appropriate documentation. The Treasurer timely files such federal and California income tax returns as may be required under applicable law.
+====At Large Representatives====
+At Large Representatives inform the Executive Committee of any issues of relevance throughout the county including, but not limited to: activism opportunities, candidate support opportunities, local elections, events in which the Party’s participation could prove beneficial,
+and expanding membership. At Large Representatives participate in all Executive Committee discussions and debates, and vote on all matters. At Large Representatives may perform other duties per the direction and discretion of the Executive Committee.
 == Organized Affiliates==
 == Web Presence==