A meeting was held in Wilmington, Massachusetts on February 19, 2000 to discuss organizing the above-named corporation. Those present were: Christine Bennett, David Berwind. Keith Bilafer, Vicky Bilafer, Beth Croghan, Lori Hardy, Michael Lain, Alan Moyer, Linda Massey, Suzanne Rubins, Suzanne Smith, Melissa Golembewski Wilson and Kip Wilson. Several other volunteers have committed to support this organization but were unable to attend the meeting.
Forming a New Corporation
Due to concerns about management of the Massachusetts House Rabbit Society, Inc. (MA HRS), many active volunteers decided we had no choice but to form our own corporation to continue our work with fostering and placement of unwanted rabbits and providing educational services to the public about rabbit care. We have drafted Articles of Organization and Bylaws which have been available by electronic mail to many volunteers and were shared at the meeting. The Articles will be filed with the Secretary of State on Tuesday, and once we are incorporated, everything else can proceed. The next steps include:
--Obtaining a P.O. box and telephone number. Melissa has arranged for both of these:
P.O. Box 812369 in Wellesley 781-431-1211
--Setting up a bank account. Suzanne S. is taking care of this and some of the organizers will get us started by making voluntary donations.
--Changing the Web site. Peter Ritter has donated a URL for us and Linda Massey will arrange for a host site. The address will be RabbitNetwork.org . Our goal will be to establish the new site as soon as the telephone number is operational, within a few days of becoming incorporated.
--Applying for charitable status with the Attorney General. Suzanne R. will take care of this; it requires a short form and a copy of the final bylaws and Articles. We are not certain how long the approval process will take; with the MA HRS it took months, but as there is no financial data yet for them to review for us, it could be a lot faster. We want to move as soon as possible to minimize the out-of-pocket veterinary expenses for our fosterers before we are authorized to raise funds.
--Notifying MA HRS of our change in affiliation. Suzanne R. had drafted a brief notification stating that fosterers do not believe transferring their rabbits would be in their best interests. We discussed options for how to word this notice and agreed that it will be sent to the Directors of the MA HRS within a week of our incorporation. We will not identify education volunteers who have chosen to work with the HRN. We have requested assistance from a law firm which has a pro bono program, however, we will go ahead and notify MA-HRS and use the law firm if there is a dispute over custody of the rabbits. Past changes of affiliation from other rabbit groups have not created this type of problem. When discussing the new organization with MA HRS and others, we plan to be neutral and professional, and simply state that there were differences of opinion about management.
--Applying for Tax Exempt Status with the IRS. Suzanne R. has the forms to apply for an Employer Identification Number and 501(c) (3) exemption. She briefly reviewed the requirements that the organization not engage in political activities. We will prepare information on the responsibilities and requirements of members and post them on our Web site so everyone knows what limitations there are on our activity.
--Creating flyers. Suzanne S. has draft flyers for us to distribute to start getting publicity as soon as possible. These will be available on line for download. None of our publicity will indicate that we are a charity or request donations until we have the license from the Attorney General.
Information for Active Volunteers
Several volunteers noted that they would like to have access to important documents on the Web and have a way to communicate concerns or ideas to the management. The organizers stated that keeping volunteers informed and involved was one of the reasons why we are forming this new corporation. We plan to have two annual meetings and provide notice and agendas to active members in advance so they can attend. Important documents including a fostering agreement, policies and guidelines, and educational mailing packets. will be available on the web site. There's already a members Email list but we can also think about a "parking lot" area for suggestions. One volunteer noted that not everyone has access to the Web so a mailing list or phone tree for active volunteers should be established.
Continuity
We plan to continue to follow the philosophy, care guidelines and placement policies of the House Rabbit Society. The National HRS has in the past made its educational materials available for non-affiliated volunteers to distribute, so we believe we can continue to do so. However, we will not represent ourselves as affiliated with local or national HRS. We need to revise our contracts for pet sitting and adoption to reflect the new organization but do not plan to alter the content of these documents substantially. We will request discount arrangements with area vets to benefit our rescued rabbits.
Volunteer Roles and Responsibilities
Suzanne S. has agreed to be General Manager and all present support her in this role. While details will be established in subsequent meetings, she has started a list of the activity-related (as opposed to management) tasks which can be delegated. Beth Croghan and Michael Lain volunteered to be fundraising coordinators. Christine Bennett expressed interest in coordinating foster home information. Suzanne S. will follow up on this and act as volunteer coordinator. Suzanne R. expressed interest in being the adoption coordinator. Linda Massey has been maintaining the Web site. We will meet again in March or April to further discuss all the activities we plan for the organization and designate coordinators for them including newsletter, education activities, computer support, shelter outreach, etc.
We discussed several things including priorities for rescues, whether home visits are required for prospective adopters, and our procedures for handling "dump" calls. We will discuss these issues further at future meetings but decided that, within reason, rescue priorities are 1. shelters, 2. veterinary clinics we work closely with, and 3. animal control officers. We will not rule out private rescues on principle because we may need flexibility to deal with individual situations. We will provide "dump" information on our web site to cut down on the number of calls we get, though we will be careful to word it in a way that does not have the effect of facilitating rabbit abandonment.
Suzanne S. and Suzanne R. have been working on the bylaws and articles to create classes of membership. Active members, including all fosterers and people who have been determined by the directors to be making significant contributions to our mission, will have the right to vote on directors at each annual meeting. Membership in this class will expire if a year goes by without any volunteer activity. We decided the terms of the directors should end on January 31 of each year so we can have our annual meeting and election after the holidays. We will have other board meetings (the bylaws as drafted specify two a year at least) and notice, agendas and minutes will be provided to active members on line. Another class of members, supporting members, will also be included on our electronic mailing list to be informed of activities, but will not vote for directors. The third class of members includes those who make financial contributions and are on our mailing list to receive any publications we produce but do not volunteer for us. They have no special rights. Active and supporting members will be able to attend board meetings and provide input, but as the directors are legally responsible for managing the organization, only directors can vote. Final versions of the bylaws and articles will be available for everyone to review for further details and we can amend the bylaws to fine-tune this setup in the future.
Election of Directors and Officers
Those present at the organizational meeting approved the following individuals to act as directors, with additional responsibilities as officers as indicated.
Those directors present signed the Articles of Organization. Bylaws will be finalized and signed within the next week. The meeting adjourned at 4:00 with plans to hold another planning meeting in March or April as events warrant and keep people informed as we go.
Submitted by Suzanne Rubins, Secretary