Arkansas Pagan Pride, Inc. - Bylaws

Name, Purpose, General Information

Name

The name of this organization shall be the Arkansas Pagan Pride, Inc., hereinafter known as APP.

Purpose

The purpose of this organization shall be the advancement of religion and elimination of prejudice and discrimination based on religious beliefs, specifically those religions that fall under the definition of "Pagan" as defined for this document. The organization is organized exclusively for charitable, religious, and educational purposes, including, for such purposes, the making of distributions to organizations that qualify as exempt organizations under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, or the corresponding section of any future federal tax code. This corporation is a religious corporation.

For the purposes of this document, the words Pagan and NeoPagan may be used interchangeably, and are defined as follows. A Pagan or NeoPagan is someone who self-identifies as a Pagan, and whose spiritual or religious practice or belief fits into one or more of the following categories:

- Honoring, revering, or worshipping a Deity or Deities found in pre-Christian, classical, aboriginal, or tribal mythology; and/or

- Practicing religion or spirituality based upon shamanism, shamanic, or magickal practices; and/or

- Creating new religion based on past Pagan religions and/or futuristic views of society, community, and/or ecology; and/or

- Focusing religious or spiritual attention primarily on the Divine Feminine.

Distribution of earnings

No part of the net earnings of the corporation shall inure to the benefit of, or be distributable to its members, trustees, officers, or other private persons, except that the corporation shall be authorized and empowered to pay reasonable compensation for services rendered and to make payments and distributions in furtherance of the purposes set forth in Section 2 hereof. No substantial part of the activities of the corporation shall be the carrying on of propaganda, or otherwise attempting to influence legislation, and the corporation shall not participate in, or intervene in (including the publishing or distribution of statements) any political campaign on behalf of or in opposition to any candidate for public office. Notwithstanding any other provision of these articles, the corporation shall not carry on any other activities not permitted to be carried on (a) by a corporation exempt from federal income tax under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, or the corresponding section of any future federal tax code, or (b) by a corporation, contributions to which are deductible under section 170(c)(2) of the Internal Revenue Code, or the corresponding section of any future federal tax code.

Activities

The mission of the APP is to foster pride in Pagan identity through education, activism, charity and community. To further this mission, APP makes itself available to assist groups across Arkansas organize local events in honor of Pagan Pride Day and the Autumn Equinox, including but not limited to public religious ceremonies, picnics, parades, festivals, networking events, public education through media or publications, and food drives or other charitable donation drives. Other activities may be included depending on the wishes of the local organizers; members shall not in any substantive manner engage in activities that are illegal or that are not in furtherance with the stated purpose of the organization.

Each September APP will host a Pagan Pride event in the Little Rock area.

Board of Directors

Membership

The governing board of APP shall be the Board of Directors, hereinafter called the Board. The Board shall have a minimum of three members; additional may be added as the Board sees fit.

Duties and Powers

The duties and powers of APP shall be vested in the Board. They shall be able to do all things necessary or convenient, not inconsistent with law, to further the activities and affairs of the corporation, as laid out in federal law under Section 501(c)3 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954.

Meetings

The annual meeting shall take place on or near the Spring Equinox, at such a place and time as shall be designated by the Board. The purpose of the Annual Meeting shall be to review the annual operations of the APP and to transact such other business as may come before the meeting.

Notice of the annual meeting shall be communicated to every member through telephone, letter, e-mail, or other means of communication to which the Board and members are amenable.

Regular meetings shall be held at any convenient place and time decided by the Board.

A member may participate in an annual, regular, or special meeting of the members by or through the use of any means of communication by which all members participating may simultaneously hear or communicate with each other during the meeting. This includes but is not limited to communication on a chat room or via e-mail. A member participating in a meeting by this means is considered to be present in person at the meeting.

Special meetings shall be called as needed.

Decision making process

It is expected that the majority of decisions shall be made via consensus among the members. If consensus fails, the decision will be made by a 2/3 majority.

Appointment to the Board, Term of Office, Vacancies, and Removal

Appointment to the Board shall be made by the Board of Directors.

Members of the Board shall make a commitment to serve on the Board until they feel the need to not remain on the board. Vacancies on the Board due to a decision not to recommit, death, resignation, removal, disqualification, or otherwise shall be filled by the Board. Any Board member may be removed when, in the judgment of the Board, they have failed to fulfill their obligations as a Board member. The regular decision-making process shall be used to determine removal of a member. A Board member may remove himself voluntarily at any time.

Quorum

A majority of the Board shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business at any meeting of the Board. If less than a majority of Board members is present at a meeting, the meeting may be adjourned.

Action without meetings

Action required to be approved by the members can be taken without a meeting if the action is approved by members holding at least fifty-one percent (51%) of the votes entitled to be cast on the action. The approval must be written, either on paper or electronically.

Proxies

Members may vote by proxy.

Vote entitlement

Any member is entitled to a single vote on any issue.

Committees of the Board

At its discretion, the Board shall have the ability to appoint committees. Such committees shall act in an advisory capacity.

Officers of Pagan Pride

Officers

The officers of APP shall be as follows: President, Vice-President, Secretary/Treasurer, General Board Members.

Election and Term of Office

The officers shall be elected every year at the Annual Meeting. If the election of officers is not held at such meeting, it shall be held as soon as possible thereafter. Each officer shall hold office until a successor shall have been duly elected and qualified.

Removal

Any officer elected by the Board may be removed from the Board, with or without cause, following the regular decision-making process outlined in Article II Section 4.

President

There will be a President. The President must be a member of the Board, and shall have general executive duties as assigned.

Vice-President

There will be a Vice-President. The Vice-President shall have duties as assigned, including but not limited to website maintenance and photographic documentation of Pagan Pride events.

Secretary/Treasurer

There will be a Secretary/Treasurer. Secretarial duties shall include but not limited to the keeping the written records. These duties may be delegated as needed, but it is the responsibility of the Secretary/Treasurer to ensure that the records are complete. The duties of Treasurer shall include but are not limited to the maintenance of financial records required by both the Federal Government and the State of Arkansas. These duties may be delegated as needed, but the Treasurer must ensure that the records are complete.

Genreal Board Members

There will be General Board Members added as the group grows. Dutries shall include but not limited to helping other board members with their duties, helping with committies, and in general extra help as needed.

Sharing Responsibilities

The organizational, fiscal, corporate, and legal duties of the corporation shall be the responsibility of all Board members equally. When necessary, the Board will appoint individuals to carry out specific tasks including the convening of meetings, keeping and reporting of financial records, signing of contracts or other instruments, and entering into agreements necessary to carrying out the objectives of the Corporation.

Amendments

Amendments to the Articles of Incorporation

The Board may approve amendments in accordance with Article II, Section 2.04 of this document, cases where the law requires membership approval, a simple majority is needed to approve.

Amendments to the Bylaws

The Board may approve amendments in accordance with Article II, Section 2.04 of this document. In cases where the law requires membership approval, a simple majority is needed to approve.

Dissolution

Upon the dissolution of the corporation, assets shall be distributed for one or more exempt purposes within the meaning of section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, or the corresponding section of any future federal tax code, or shall be distributed to the federal government, or to a state or local government, for a public purpose. Any such assets not so disposed of shall be disposed of by a Court of Competent Jurisdiction of the county in which the principal office of the corporation is then located, exclusively for such purposes or to such organization or organizations, as said Court shall determine, which are organized and operated exclusively for such purposes.

Adopted and accepted by unanimous agreement this 27th day of June, 2005.