You must follow your Chapter by-laws. If you don't, you aren't serving your group faithfully.
By-laws are purposefully a little vague, to give you flexibility, and specific in other ways, to keep you on track.
If your Chapter has been going along, but find something about your by-laws doesn't work for you, or is holding you back, (too many, or too few board members? Outdated name choice, if your group has grown? etc.) it might be time to change your by-laws.
Your by-laws explain in them, what has to happen to change them. Typically a vote of your Chapter's membership is required. Also, ACBS requires to approve your new by-laws before the by-laws are officially changed. ACBS needs to be sure that the proposed changes aren't so drastic that it changes your mission too far away from ACBS's goals/values. Also, ACBS can offer some suggestions about by-laws (and warn you against too large boards, or specifically requiring certain committees, etc.) before you take them to your membership.
Steps:
- Draft a new version of your by-laws. (Tracking changes in Word is the best way to display the differences/changes.)
- Send the new version of your by-laws to the ACBS Executive Director for review and approval.
- The ACBS Executive Director will notify you if the new version of your by-laws is approved, or if you are required to make changes.
- Follow your existing/old by-laws to put the proposed changes in front of your membership for a vote (typically it's your entire chapter membership, not the board, unless you are in a country with different by-laws requirements).
- Notify the ACBS Executive Director of the results of the vote.
- If the proposed changes are approved by your membership, then you are required to send the updated by-laws to the ACBS Executive Director to keep on file.