Can anyone recommend a good way to screen potential new
members into the club? Do existing members interview the
potentials? Is there some sort of vote? I'd appreciate any
guidance on this matter.

Thanks!
Paul Ellwood
Totem Partnership

Our club is working on a "new member" packet. This would include a printout
of our bylaws, our mission statement, and a list/advisory of things we would
expect of a new member - eg. everyone must attend a certain amount of
meetings, participate in research, etc. etc. We plan to attach this
packet to the existing bylaws. Also, we expect a prospective new member to
attend at least three meetings before we take a vote on her. ( This usually
shows her interest and gets us to know her better.)


----- Original Message -----
From: "Paul D. Ellwood" <pellwood@bivio.com>
To: <club_cafe@bivio.com>
Sent: Saturday, September 18, 2004 10:28 AM
Subject: club_cafe: New Member Decision Making Process


> Can anyone recommend a good way to screen potential new
> members into the club? Do existing members interview the
> potentials? Is there some sort of vote? I'd appreciate any
> guidance on this matter.
>
> Thanks!
> Paul Ellwood
> Totem Partnership
>

Paul D. Ellwood wrote:
> Can anyone recommend a good way to screen potential new
> members into the club? Do existing members interview the
> potentials? Is there some sort of vote? I'd appreciate any
> guidance on this matter.
>
> Thanks!
> Paul Ellwood
> Totem Partnership

My simple observation is this....keep the numbers small and
manageable. We set a minimum ($25) and a maximum ($100)
contribution per month per member. They are allowed one
month grace. If they miss two consecutive contributions,
they are AUTOMATICALLY withdrawn. Works very well (since
02/2001). If you get a new member who doesn't pay up using
this system - just boot him out. Works for us.
We also have a current cap on # of members (12) - Started
out at 25 in 2001. I found that anything over say 20 members
and whoever is treasurer has their hands full come payment
time.
Also make sure the new members understand the "rules and
regs" of your organization (we give to our newbys in
writing)
A lot of this also depends on how "close" your members are.
We basically take just about anybody who is willing to make
the monthly contributions and agrees to our bylaws. But we
don't have that many new members either....
Larry Kenimer
GISMO - "good investors stock market organization"

Paul D. Ellwood wrote:
> Can anyone recommend a good way to screen potential new
> members into the club? Do existing members interview the
> potentials? Is there some sort of vote? I'd appreciate any
> guidance on this matter.
>
> Thanks!
> Paul Ellwood
> Totem Partnership

Having them come to multiple meetings is one of the best
ways we've found. We've lost many members who did not even
get past this period. If they are too busy at this point,
you can bet that once they get in, the interest can drop a
little more.

Others have suggested kicking people out, but as a past
treasurer I can tell you that's not a treasurer talking.
There is a lot of paperwork involved with doing that. It's
a lot easier to do the screening before they join versus
after. Otherwise your stuck with a K-1 for someone who
maybe made 1 contribution, and a withdrawl report, etc. I
understand Bivio does a lot of this, but it's just more
bookkeeping that you need to do. Running a club is
complicated enough. Weed out the chafff before it gets into
the granary, not after.

Larry Kenimer wrote:
> Paul D. Ellwood wrote:
> > Can anyone recommend a good way to screen potential new
> > members into the club? Do existing members interview the
> > potentials? Is there some sort of vote? I'd appreciate any
> > guidance on this matter.
> >
> > Thanks!
> > Paul Ellwood
> > Totem Partnership
>
> My simple observation is this....keep the numbers small and
> manageable. We set a minimum ($25) and a maximum ($100)
> contribution per month per member. They are allowed one
> month grace. If they miss two consecutive contributions,
> they are AUTOMATICALLY withdrawn. Works very well (since
> 02/2001). If you get a new member who doesn't pay up using
> this system - just boot him out. Works for us.
> We also have a current cap on # of members (12) - Started
> out at 25 in 2001. I found that anything over say 20 members
> and whoever is treasurer has their hands full come payment
> time.
> Also make sure the new members understand the "rules and
> regs" of your organization (we give to our newbys in
> writing)
> A lot of this also depends on how "close" your members are.
> We basically take just about anybody who is willing to make
> the monthly contributions and agrees to our bylaws. But we
> don't have that many new members either....
> Larry Kenimer
> GISMO - "good investors stock market organization"
Check out our by-laws and procedures -
www.bivio.com/lmic/files
We require prospective new members to attend two meetings
prior to requesting to join. At the third meeting, they
must present a stock study to the group, to demonstrate that
they can complete an SSG with reasonable judgement. For my
club, it is mandatory that every member own Toolkit and be
an individual member of NAIC with the OPS database. The
two-month waiting period gives us a small opportunity to
ensure their personality does not clash with any current
partners.

Bob