Organizational Information

As part of our commitment to best practices, Audubon Society of Western Pennsylvania reviews it bylaws and other organizational documents on a recurring basis. The last major revision of our bylaws was in 2010.  At that time, we adjusted the number of board members, allowed for remote participation (teleconferencing) in board meetings, and made other changes to bring our practices up-to-date.

Since then, we have made small changes to reflect the growth of the organization and to stay in compliance with current nonprofit law.

A draft of new bylaws was presented at our October 2018 board meeting and will be finalized at the December 2018 meeting. In addition to updating and simplifying the language, we are proposing a change to how board members are elected. For as long as anyone can remember, a slate of candidates has been presented by the board nominating committee and voted on by the members in attendance at the annual business meeting. Few members participate in this activity and no candidate has ever been rejected.

Most newly-formed nonprofits have what is known as self-perpetuating boards, in which the board is responsible for sourcing and electing its members. ASWP proposes to formally switch to this style of governance to better reflect our actual practices.

Below are links to our existing bylaws, a version where you can follow all of the changes, a version that shows just the final “clean” text, and a summary of the major changes. We welcome any comments, questions, or suggestions on these changes. Please email those to me at jbonner@aswp.org.  Also, if you are interested in serving on the ASWP Board or have questions about any of the organization’s practices or policies, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Jim Bonner

Executive Director