DRAFT MARCH 2021
This page is meant to facilitate the transition of duties to the next secretary. I served as secretary (May 2017- May 2019, May 2020 - May 2021) and vice chair (partial term: May 2019 - May 2020). In this summary, I outline not only requirements of the role, but also some established practices that the next secretary is free to modify or discard.
I. Background
In May 2017, I was elected to the first Leadership Board of Democrats Abroad China (DACN) as secretary, along with Aaron Kruse as chair and Samantha Wong as vice chair. We did not know each other much at all, and only Sam had been previously involved in DA. We were ushered in as the first leadership board by Ada Shen and Rich Welch, two volunteers who were active in DA while living in China before 2017. They led the effort to establish our official Country Committee (CC) in China recognized by the Democratic Party Committee Abroad (DPCA). They were responsible for carefully drafting the bylaws and organizing the election of the first leadership board for DACN.
Farewell party for Ada and Rich, July 2017. From left - Aaron Kruse (DACN Chair), Ada Shen, Sam Wong (DACN Vice Chair), and Rich Welch.
Ada and Rich explained to me that one of their intentions in writing the bylaws was to separate the roles of secretary and communications. They wanted to allow the work to be shared and avoid placing too much of a burden on a single person. Even so, the secretary has substantial responsibilities including maintaining the membership list, meeting minutes, and administrative records for DACN.
II. Meeting Minutes
Minutes of any regular meeting, with the roll of those in attendance, shall be distributed by the Secretary at least one week prior to the next meeting and may be sent out by the Chair electronically.
Democrats Abroad China Bylaws, Article XIX, Section 6 (Revised 2019)
Our only regular meeting is the monthly leadership board meeting and the annual general meeting (AGM). Monthly meetings take place on Sunday evenings at 8:00 or 8:30 pm via Zoom. I would try to email the minutes immediately following the meeting, also posting them to the wiki. The bylaws require the minutes to be shared at least one week prior to the next meeting. At the top of every meeting we vote to approve or amend the minutes as shared.
It is not necessary for the secretary to be the notetaker at every meeting, but they must ensure someone takes notes and then distribute the minutes to the leadership board.
III. Wiki
The secretary shall […] maintain minutes of all meetings and all files and administrative records of the organization, making them reasonably available for membership review.
Democrats Abroad China Bylaws, Article VIII (Revised 2019)
In the spirit of openness, our bylaws as well as the DPCA bylaws require all meetings to be open to all members. We also work to give our members notice of meetings via email, WeChat, and online. I set up a dedicated section for Democrats Abroad China on the wiki where I post meeting announcements, meeting minutes, our bylaws, and other administrative documents. Not every CC uses the wiki this way, and it is not a requirement, but it does fulfil our obligation to make the records available to our members.
The secretary may upload meeting minutes, bylaws and other records to the wiki.
The wiki also includes an updated leadership list and meeting announcements.
In accordance with the Confidentiality Agreement (CA), member data cannot be shared here.
For access to edit the wiki, contact the Wiki Admin, Merrill Oates DA Wiki Admin/Own
IV. Member Verification: New Members
The Secretary shall maintain a current list of verified members of the organization […].
Democrats Abroad China Bylaws, Article VIII (Revised 2019)
One major ongoing duty of the secretary is to verify new members. New members join Democrats Abroad through the signup form on the website and then their information is automatically fed into the membership database. As the database administrator for China, the secretary receives an email notification each time a new member joins. Most of the time the number of new members is no more than 12 per week, while closer to an election the number may be more than 20 per day.
NationBuilder Database. The secretary must log in and verify each new member.
New members will not receive any communications (email, calls, etc.) until they are verified.
While not required, use the option to send a welcome email when verifying the member. Include an invitation to join us on WeChat in this message.
Remember to use the shared country login (username: info-china@democratsabroad.org).
Some members in China, have trouble accessing the website, and a signup form can be created on MikeCRM. While this signup form can be shared and completed on WeChat, the information must be transferred to NationBuilder. Once recorded and verified in NationBuilder, the data should be deleted from MikeCRM.
If the secretary uses MikeCRM, all info must be manually typed into the signup form on the website.
We have a free account at http://mikecrm.com/ (both Chinese and English interface).
They have a mini app for WeChat so you can set up forms to send you notifications of new signups (only in Chinese).
V. Member Verification: Expiring Members
The current list of members as maintained by the Secretary per Article VIII shall be delivered annually to the appropriate officers of the DPCA pursuant to procedures adopted by the DPCA.
Democrats Abroad China Bylaws, Article III, Section 4 (Revised 2019)
The total number of verified members determines our vote share in DPCA. A membership lapses (expires) if there are no updates to the person’s record in the database for three years. Every year, there is a review of expiring memberships and we make an effort to verify if they are still in China. The official number of verified members is calculated annually and the secretary is required to confirm the membership count with the international secretary.
The international secretary records the Membership Counts on the wiki along with the other Country Committee Compliance Requirements.
Best practices to verify members are still in China: /wiki/spaces/MC/pages/3482517539
Keeping Tabs
The secretary should be able to produce a list of all leaders, including leadership board members as major roles of other volunteers. In addition, the secretary should know the existing ad hoc and standing committees.
Checklist for New Secretary:
- Review the Advice for New Leaders.
- Email the International Secretary <secretary@democratsabroad.org>and copy the Asia Pacific Regional Vice Chair <rvc-ap@democratsabroad.org> with the meeting minutes from the AGM where you were elected and a list of the newly elected leadership board members (name, role, and email). This must be done within 15 days of the meeting.
- Complete and submit the Confidentiality Agreement.
- Complete the NationBuilder Trainings for website content, email, and database.
- Ask the new DACN Chair to complete the New Admin Access Request Form for you.
Tools
Mobilize - internal comms for DPCA leaders
Wiki - internal comms for DACN members
Nationbuilder - member list, indicate leaders, send emails to members, manage RSVPs for events (use shared DACN login)
Website - publish events and news (also part of Nationbuilder but use personal login)
MikeCRM - China-friendly signup forms
Record Keeping:
Leadership roles, committees
Meeting minutes and materials, bylaws
Tasks:
Update wiki with current leaders, next meeting, meeting minutes, and current bylaws.
Notify DPCA International Secretary on issues of country committee compliance.
Create lists and design email blasts
Create WeChat forms for signups and fundraising
Publish events and news to website