Name: The name of the organization shall be Bengali Association of Madison, hereinafter referred to as BAM.
Mission: Create opportunities to promote and provide quality educational, social and cultural activities within the Bengali community.
Goal: Create awareness of the Bengali culture and history in the diverse American communities. Promote Bengali cultural and educational activities in the greater Madison Area. Provide a platform for social networking that will include but not limited to welcome and help all newcomers to the Greater Madison Area. Promote the involvement of youth in its various programs.
Organization: BAM is a strictly non-profit organization centered at Madison, WI and MUST remain so for its lifetime.
Membership: Any person over 16 years of age and is interested in advancing BAM Mission is eligible for being a BAM member as long as that person agree to abide by the BAM constitution and pays the annual membership dues, amount of which shall be determined by the BAM General Body Meeting that has at least 50% of all BAM members attending.
Fiscal Year: BAM fiscal year shall begin on the Bengali New Year day on April 14 or 15 and ends on the day before the next Bengali New Year day. All memberships are due on the beginning of each fiscal year and are good through the end of the year.
Voting Privileges: All BAM members in good standing and have paid their membership dues are eligible to vote.
The governing power of the BAM shall be vested in an Executive Committee consisting of a President, a Secretary, a Treasurer and three members-at-large. All BAM members in good standing is eligible for being a member of Executive Committee fifty per cent of the Members of the Executive Committee shall be elected each year by voting by secret ballot by the eligible BAM members either at the General Body Meeting, or by mail in ballot or by proxy. P.S. All proxy ballots MUST have prior authorization of the member-at-large The membership in the Executive Committee shall be not more than two years in continuum. The positions of the President, the Secretary, and the Treasurer will be elected by the Executive Committee and they must be over 21 years of age. All the Executive Committee positions shall be strictly honorary positions. Any resignation from the EC position except death shall be ratified in the General Body Meeting.
The Executive Committee shall be primarily responsible for organizing all the cultural, social and religious activities in accordance with the BAM constitution. The responsibility of the Executive Committee shall include but not limited to decide date, place, venue, food items, and cultural program itinerary of all BAM activities.
President: Supervise all BAM activities in accordance with the constitution and by-laws; call and preside over all the Executive Committee and General Body Meetings and will have the power to decide on an issue if the Executive Committee is evenly divided.
Secretary: Will be the official correspondent of the BAM; will keep the minutes of the Executive Committee and the General Body Meetings.
Treasurer: Will be responsible for all collections and disbursement of funds, maintain the BAM account, prepare and submit reports of financial activities to the Executive Committee and the General Body, and present the accounts for audit when required.
Members-at-large: will participate in all Executive Committee activities in organizing the BAM activities.
The succession to the Presidency shall be decided by the Executive Committee.
At least two General Body Meeting must be held each year within a gap of not less than 90 days. Any BAM member in good standing with 25% support from BAM members can request for a special General Body Meeting. In case of such request, the President is obliged to call a general body meeting. The Preliminary Agenda of the General Body Meeting will be decided by the Executive Committee. Any new agenda item can be raised from the floor if it is supported by no less than 25% of the BAM members.
All expenses of the BAM activities (except Durga Puja) including but not limited to social, cultural, and religious festivals will be equally shared between all BAM members and their family members over 10 years of age (members under 10 go free).
All Guests of BAM members will be charged at the same rate as their hosts.
Guest is defined as a non-resident of the Greater Madison Area who has come to stay with a BAM member for less than 90 days.
All non-members will be charged extra (the amount to be decided in the GBM) over what is due from the members.
Non-member is defined as a resident of the Greater Madison Area either independent or with a BAM member for over 90 days and has not paid the membership fee.
In case of any accident during a BAM event, the members of EC and General Body will have only limited responsibility in so far as cleaning spills, using hand-held fire extinguishers and reporting to the appropriately charged authority as soon after the incident as possible.
The collections and contributions shall be such that the BAM can file and maintain non-profit or not-for-profit status for all times.
The first Executive Committee will decide internally about the tenure of the Committee members who shall be replaced by the first election.
All BAM members MUST abide by the normal code-of-conduct of the society and the use of physical force and abusive language as well as illegal consumption of restricted substances during any BAM event shall be strictly prohibited.
Upon dissolution of the BAM, any remaining asset shall be donated to organizations whose goal is not in conflict with that of the BAM's and must be approved by the majority of the General Body.
All funds collected shall be free from any limitations that are incompatible with the objectives of the BAM. No par of the net asset of the BAM shall be distributable to its members, trustees, officers, or other private persons except for charitable purposes or except for the payment of reasonable compensation for services performed.
At least two-thirds of vote of all the BAM members in good standing is required to amend this constitution.
