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By-Laws and Constitution

1.0 Name

The name and the title of the organization shall be “SPARSH OF GREATER CHARLOTTE”, henceforth referred to as SGC. It shall be an organization registered under the laws of the State of North Carolina.

2.0 Objectives and Purpose

The purposes for which SPARSH OF GREATER CHARLOTTE Association is organized to provide common platform to:

1. Preserve, maintain, perpetuate and promote the heritage of people with interest and links to Bihar and Jharkhand culture.
2. Foster friendship and understanding among people with interest and links to Bihar and Jharkhand culture.
3. Promote and encourage Arts and Cultural activities of Bihar and Jharkhand.
4. Assist and propagate cultural, educational, social and community affairs of the members.
5. Preserve and propagate Bihar and Jharkhand cultural heritage in the young generation.
6. Raise, solicit, collect and disburse funds, charities, and donations for cultural, educational, and charitable purposes either directly or in cooperation with other not-for- profit organizations in the U.S. and abroad.
7. Organize community service events in the greater good of local community

3.0 Seal

The seal of SGC shall be circular in form and mounted upon a metal die suitable for impressing the same upon paper about the periphery of the seal shall appear the words "SPARSH OF GREATER CHARLOTTE"

4.0 Registration of Organization

SGC will file with NC Secretary of State as a certified Organization and with IRS after adoption of the Bylaws and Constitution. It is recommended that Sparsh of Greater Charlotte investigate the advantages of a not-for-profit organization status and taken action as necessary.

5.0 Membership

Any person who subscribes to the objectives and purposes of SGC is eligible for membership. Persons residing within a geographic area of 50-mile radius from uptown Charlotte are eligible for SGC membership. Membership is for one year, beginning on January 1st and ending on December 31st of the same year. The categories of membership shall be 1) Single, 2) Family, 3) Youth and 4) Honorary. Applicants for the membership shall be at least 18 years of age and should submit an application in the format approved by the Board of Directors of SGC along with required dues if any. Membership application needs to be endorsed by at least one Director of the SGC.

Single Member: Single membership shall be open to any person who fulfills the requirements as defined in Section 5.0 of the By-Laws.

Family Member: A family membership shall be open to any family which fulfills the requirements as defined in Section 5.0 of the By-Laws. A family is defined as husband, wife, dependent children and dependent parents.

Youth Member: Youth of Bihar and Jharkhand heritage between ages 18 and 25 years fulfilling the requirements defined in section 5.0 of the By-Laws is eligible for a youth membership.

Honorary Member: Any person who served the Bihar and Jharkhand community with honor and distinction may be elected as an honorary member upon the unanimous vote of the Board or by a two-thirds vote of the members present during voting at any general body meeting of SGC. Membership is granted for life, unless revoked by Board of Directors.

The annual membership dues shall be determined by the Board of Directors. There shall be no part year dues and dues are non-refundable except when the application for membership has been rejected. Eligible voting members who are in good standing at least sixty days prior to the voting shall have the voting privileges on all matters presented to the general body. Single and Youth members shall have one vote; family member shall have two votes (one for each spouse). Honorary members shall not have any voting privileges.

Any member of SGC who has demonstrated an activity against the objectives and purposes of SGC shall be served with a maximum of two notices. A failure to respond to such notices or provide a suitable explanation to Board of Directors may result in suspension or revocation of his/her membership. The action of the Board of Directors may be over ruled by a vote of two thirds of the voting members present by voting at a general body meeting.

6.0 Organization

General Body

The general body shall be composed of all the voting members and shall determine the basic philosophy of SGC and set all policies. The general body shall have the right to amend the Articles of Incorporation and the by-laws and to elect and recall Directors.

Board of Directors

The Board of Directors of SGC shall consist of Nine Directors. SGC will encourage and promote equal opportunity to all its members to run for Board of Directors. The positions shall be President, Vice-President, Secretary, Treasurer, IT & Website, Events Director I, Events Director II, Youth, and Fund-Raising and Outreach. The term for the office of the Board of Directors shall be 2 years or until their successors have been chosen. The President and Vice-President will not be able to hold office for more than one consecutive terms or four continuous years at a time.

The term shall begin on December 15th of the election year. The Board of Directors shall have the general supervision of the affairs of the SGC. It shall have the control of all properties and funds belonging to SGC. Each of the nine Directors will have one and equal vote in all matters that require voting by the Board.

President

The president shall preside at all the meetings of SGC and shall perform such duties as custom parliamentary usage requires. The President shall be the chair-person of the Board of Directors and an ex-officio member of all the committees of SGC and subsequent Board of Directors.

President is accountable for the strategic direction set forth by board of directors and accomplishes the overall goals of the SGC.

Vice President

Vice-President shall assist the President in all matters pertaining to SGC and shall assume the duties of President in his/her absence.

Secretary

The Secretary shall be the custodian of the seal of SGC and all records and papers belonging to SGC except those that properly belong to the Treasurer, keep minutes of all meetings, maintain a correct list of all members with the help of the Treasurer and give a proper notice of all general body meetings to the members of general body.

Treasurer

The Treasurer shall receive all monies for SGC and shall be the official bookkeeper of all SGC finances. He/She shall submit the accounts to such examinations as the Board of Directors may direct. The Treasurer shall prepare any financial reports, prepare tax returns and submit as needed.

IT and Website

The Director of IT and Website will maintain the SGC website and will be in charge of all matters related to Information and Technology. In the absence of the Secretary, the IT and Website Director will perform the duties of the Secretary.

Events Director I and Events Director II

Events Director I and Events Director II will be responsible to coordinate among themselves and will be responsible for all social and management of Events for SGC.

Youth

Youth Director will be responsible and organize youth activities in conjunction with Events Directors focusing on youth and children.

Fund-Raising and Outreach

The Director of Fund-Raising and Outreach will coordinate with the Treasurer to reach out to the community and encourage and facilitate current and future programs for fund-raising for SGC other than membership and event fund collection. In the absence of the Treasurer, the Fund Raising Director will perform the duties of the Treasurer.

7.0 Activities

SGC shall organize its year round activities to best fulfill the objectives and purposes of the organization.

8.0 Meeting

Regular Meeting: Board of Directors shall meet at least 6 times between January 1st and December 31st of the same calendar year. The quorum for such a meeting shall be six out of nine attendees. A Director who is absent for two consecutive meetings without a valid or approved reason ceases to be a member of the Board of Directors. There shall be one annual general body and this shall coincide with Budget presentation.

Special Meetings: Special meetings of the general body for any purpose or purposes may be called by the President or the Board of Directors and shall be called at the request of 1/3rd of members and shall require as quorum of 2/3rd of members. The notice for such a meeting shall state the purpose or purposes of the meetings called for. The meeting shall be held within 4 weeks from the date of the notice of such request from the members of the association.

9.0 Election process

The Board of Directors shall appoint an election committee consisting of 3 members. No current Director can be a member of the election committee.

The duties of the Election Committee will be as follows:

1. Prepare of the Nomination form for potential candidates. The committee will provide an opportunity for candidates to express past accomplishments and future goals for SGC in a format as deemed appropriate before the election.
2. Perform due diligence work and investigate candidates to qualify them for election.
3. Prepare ballot forms or electronic voting process for clean and fair elections. It is the responsibility of the Election Committee to encourage participation of all members of the General Body. The Election Committee will make provisions for members who might not be physically present on the day of Election.
4. Qualify and count votes for the purpose of Election of Board of Directors. E. Provide dates and deadlines for filing of nominations as well as withdrawal of nomination papers.

The secretary shall provide a list of eligible members to the election committee at least by November 1st.The election committee shall call for nominations by November 15th of the election year. Anyone who wishes to serve can fill out the nomination form and give it to the election committee. Members can nominate others with their full consent as candidates by filling out the nomination form and submitting to the Election Committee.

As part of the general funds for SGC, there will be a non-refundable donation made by all the nominees for election in the amount as follows:

• President: $250.00
• Vice-President: $150.00
• Other positions: $50.00

These amount can are subject to increase as deemed suitable by the Election Committee in the future. Elections shall be held on a day determined by the election committee such that new Board of Directors shall be decided and take office by December 15th. In case of a tie for any particular post, new limited elections will be held within a week by the Election Committee unless the winners can mutually select a single candidate.

The election committee shall call for a transition meeting with the existing and newly elected Board of Directors shortly after the elections. The out-going Board of Directors is legally bound to transfer all assets, including documents, financial statements that belong to SGC to the in coming Board of Directors.

The election committee dissolves after the formation of the new Board of Directors.

10.0 Budgets, Finances, and Auditing

The Board of Directors shall prepare the annual budget and publish it by end of December.

The Treasurer shall open a Savings and Checking account for SGC at any federally insured financial institution. Checks for disbursement of funds up to $500 shall require only one signature that of the treasurer. Checks for amounts exceeding this require two signatures, one of Treasurer and one the President.

Any budgeted item exceeding $1000 or unbudgeted expenditure exceeding $500 shall require approval of the Board of Directors.

There shall be an interim financial report presented to Board of Directors at scheduled meetings and an annual financial report to the General Body. There shall be an annual audit of SGC Accounts.

11.0 Amendment of By-Laws

The Board of Directors shall have the power to make, adopt, alter, amend and repeal, from time to time, by-laws of SGC by two-thirds vote of the full Board of Directors in a duly convened meeting, except by-laws dealing with number, composition and election of Board of Directors. Any amendments made by Board of Directors can be overruled by a special meeting. Any amendments to exceptions noted above shall require approval of general body.

12.0 Amendment of Articles of Incorporation

Articles of Incorporation may be altered, amended or repealed pursuant to the procedure stated below:

1. The Board of Directors may propose an amendment to the Articles of Incorporation by two thirds vote of the full Board of Directors without the use of proxy voting in a duly convened meeting of the Board of Directors.
2. Any member of the SGC who is entitled to vote may propose an amendment to the Articles of Incorporation provided the proposal is supported by at least 15% of the eligible members.
3. Any proposed amendment shall remain on file with the Secretary for at least sixty days before it may be acted upon.
4. During the sixty day period, the matter shall be brought to the attention of the voting members of SGC at least thirty days prior to the meeting during which the proposal will be acted upon.
5. All proposed amendments will be submitted to the committee designated by by-laws to review the amendments to the Articles of Incorporation before they are submitted to the members.
6. Such proposed amendments may be passed by a written ballot only at a regular or special meeting at which at least two-thirds of eligible members are present. Such proposal shall be deemed approved if approved by at least two-thirds of the majority.
7. No amendments shall change the purpose and objectives of SGC nor authorize the Board of Directors to conduct affairs of SGC in any manner inconsistent with North Carolina law or IRS.

13.0 Rights and Liability

No member of the SGC shall have any right, title or interest in or to any property or assets of the organization either prior to or at the time of any liquidation or dissolution of the organization.

Directors of SGC shall not be personally liable, either directly or indirectly, to either the association or its members for monetary damages for breach of fiduciary duties unless the breach involves 1) a Director’s duty of loyalty to SGC; 2) acts or omissions not in good faith or which involve intentional misconduct to a knowing violation of law; 3) a transaction from which the Director derived an improper personal benefit. Any repeal or modification of this article shall be prospective only and shall not diminish the rights or expand the personal liability of the Director with respect to any act or omission occurring prior to the time of such repeal or modification.

14.0 Compensation

Neither directors nor officers shall receive any salary for their service. No director or officer shall receive compensation for serving the organization. This includes forebears and descendants of a director or officer, brother or sister and any spouse of a director or officer of SGC.

15.0 Powers

Except as otherwise limited by the articles of incorporation or the Bylaws, the corporation shall have all the powers of an organization registered under the laws of North Carolina.

16.0 Code of Ethics and Conduct

Each Board member shall adhere to the following Code of Ethics:

1. Board members shall act with integrity and in an ethical and professional manner in their interactions with each other.
2. Board members shall maintain high ethical and moral character, both professionally and personally, so that their behavior will reflect positively upon the Board.
3. Board members shall act with competence and shall strive to maintain and enhance their competence and that of their fellow Board members.
4. Board members shall use proper care and exercise independent professional judgment in the performance of their duties.
5. Board members shall maintain confidentiality about all matters that are considered in closed meetings.
6. Board members will not abuse their authority by using their offices to obtain favorable treatment from any person.
7. Board members shall exercise due diligence to avoid breaches of duty via negligence, intentional action or omission, and unauthorized communications with individuals trying to influence by improper means or seeking to receive personal gains through Board decisions.
8. Board members shall not engage in conduct that would compromise, discredit, or diminish the integrity of the Board.
9. Board members will strive to establish sound working relationships with each other by taking time to know and appreciate each other as individuals.
10. Board members will be respectful of each other and will not utilize Board meetings to upstage or embarrass colleagues.
11. Board members will respectfully consider the opinions of others during deliberations, strive for integration of viewpoints or consensus building in decision-making, and will respect the judgment of the Board in regards to its decisions.
12. Board members will refrain from using Board meetings or regulation approval processes to advance their personal agenda.
13. A Board member shall not participate in a breach of this Code of Ethics and Conduct by another member, contribute to the concealment of such breach, or knowingly or negligently allow such breach to occur.

17.0 Dissolution

Upon the dissolution of the corporation, the Board of Directors shall, after paying or making provisions for the payment of liabilities of the corporation, dispose of all the assets of the corporation exclusively for the purpose of the corporation in such a manner and in compliance with rules and ordinances of the Internal Revenue Code (or the corresponding provision of any future United States Internal Revenue Law), as the Board of Directors shall determine.