As professional volunteer departments age, so do the bylaws or rules that they operate on. A good set of bylaws can guide your department into the future while bad ones can doom it. Changing your bylaws can be a daunting task, but they should be updated regularly and, every once in a while, completely overhauled. One of our readers presents it this way:
“Our small department just celebrated our 50-year anniversary. Unfortunately, our bylaws are about as old. My question is, how do you go about revising bylaws when the entire document needs to be changed? Our line officers need to be changed, the addition of junior and ladies auxiliary bylaws, we have a new station, we need to add administrative positions such as president ... ( the chief is in charge of everything), and so on. Basically, how do we go about “re-writing” the bylaws? Can we just replace the old ones with new, or does it have to be revised from the old?” – Anonymous
The first question of “how” depends on the department. Most bylaws have a requirement for any changes to be published and voted on by two-thirds or three-quarters of the department, and the best bet is to get “buy in” before any process is started. As in the above situation, it seems that a perceived need for change is necessary before any bylaw revision will be accepted. If there is not a perceived need for change, even the best bylaws will be voted down.
The second step is to figure out what change is needed. This is a great time for a brainstorming session with the membership as a whole. You could either go through it section by section, or ask the general question: If you could change any section of the bylaws, what would it be, how would you do it, and why? Emphasis needs to be placed on generating ideas and potential solutions but not on “getting it right.” Determining what is best will take time and effort, and that needs to be explained.
At this point, it is important to understand your department, its members and their way of thinking. Every department will have members opposed to any change, especially those who believe that traditions must always rule. VolunteerFD.org started with the slogan, “100 years of tradition, unimpeded by progress” and this goes doubly for most bylaws and the members maintaining them. It may take a good dose of reality to make people understand that just because something worked in 1940s does not mean it works now. The challenge is to hold onto your department’s core, and core beliefs, but bring your members into the 21st century and become a professional volunteer department.
With your brainstorming and your own understanding of your department, you will then be able to tell if your bylaws need a complete revision or just some tweaking. While it may seem like a daunting task to completely rewrite them, sometimes you are better off getting a fresh start. Even if you do need a complete rewrite, you do not have to go it alone.
VolunteerFD.org was originally founded on the concept of volunteers helping volunteers and we have been fortunate that hundreds of departments have submitted their bylaws or sections of them at http://www.volunteerfd.org/bylaws/. In addition to sample bylaws, you will also find columns I wrote on this topic. All I ask is that when you finish your bylaw rewrite, please share it with the community at VolunteerFD.org.
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