Bylaws can be helpful when significant change is afoot within an organization. Or, when a significant problem arises. So, they are needed. They can help guide organizational decision-making.
But bylaws can also become the point of the organization – which is almost never good.
The point of your organization is your mission and advancing that mission.
When we find our governing Board or leadership team consistently focusing regular meeting time on updating the bylaws or reviewing the bylaws or on enforcing Robert’s Rules of Order, the entire organization will begin to miss its true purpose.
Here are some guidelines for bylaws:
- Create bylaws using the fewest words possible.
- Review bylaws every other year – by only a small group of people such as the Governance Committee of the Board.
- Change bylaws only when a significant organizational change suggests the bylaws are unhelpful.
Human beings become more deeply engaged with worthwhile missions not because of enhanced bureaucracy, but rather because of a heartfelt connection to the cause.
