Charter Petition for the APMP Central Texas Chapter (Example)
January 1, 2008

1. Introduction

This formal petition requests that the APMP Board of Directors (BOD) approve a charter for a new APMP Chapter: the APMP Central Texas Chapter (also referred to as the “Chapter” in this petition.) It is requested that this charter request be approved by the APMP BOD in January 2008, to allow the Chapter to hold our first General Membership meeting in early February 2008.

In September 2007, there were 31 APMP members in Central Texas. Amy McGeady conducted a preliminary survey of these members as well as other proposal professionals in Texas; 27 people responded and indicated interest in a local chapter. Of these 27 people, 18 are current APMP members. Based on survey responses, a planning committee was formed in October 2007 to establish an APMP Chapter to serve Austin and San Antonio. From October through December, the planning committee met three times. Attachment 1 provides the minutes of these committee meetings.

The following describes the plan to form and maintain a viable APMP chapter in support of the APMP mission “to advance the arts, sciences, and technology of new business acquisition and to promote the professionalism of those engaged in those pursuits.”

2. Location

The Chapter will serve primarily APMP members in Austin, San Antonio, and the surrounding area in Central Texas, although APMP members from other areas may attend Chapter General Membership meetings and affiliate with the Chapter. To be an official member of the Chapter, APMP members, regardless of their location, will be required to affiliate with the Chapter through the APMP membership database via www.apmp.org.

3. Chapter Name

The chapter’s name will be the APMP Central Texas Chapter, reflecting the geographic coverage of the Chapter.

4. Chapter Officers

The following are the interim officers for the Chapter:

• Chapter Chair – Amy McGeady
• Chapter Co-Chair & Membership Chair – Steve Beeler
• Secretary/Treasurer – Martha Hallman
• Programs Chair – Mary Anne Bernard
• Communications Chair/Webmaster – Dee Hutchison (with Monica Shields designing the official website, and Julie Wickert serving on the committee)

Attachment 2 provides job descriptions for these officer positions. The interim officers will perform their duties until December 31, 2008. See Section 7.2 of this petition for our officer election plan.

5. Mailing Address

The mailing address for the Chapter will be the mailing address of the current Chapter Chair. For this petition, the mailing address will be that of the interim Chapter Chair, FirstName LastName: Address, Town, State, Country, Country Postal Code.

6. Charter Members

Attachment 3 provides a list of the Central Texas APMP members supplied to us by the National APMP Office. The Chapter’s 18 charter members are highlighted in yellow. We have identified nine additional individuals who are interested in participating in APMP activities and possibly joining.

7. Chapter Operating Plan

The following sections describe the planned operations of the Chapter.

7.1 Chapter Bylaws

The Chapter will operate in compliance with APMP BOD reporting, operational, and financial requirements and the Chapter Bylaws. Our draft bylaws are provided in Attachment 4. The following are details about the Chapter operating plan.

7.2 Chapter Meetings, Locations, and Agendas

The Chapter’s operational year will be based on a calendar year running from January – December.

• The Chapter will conduct at least four General Membership meetings per year. We plan to hold general membership meetings on the first Thursday of the month in February, May, August, and November. We will add virtual (Internet/conference call) and hybrid meetings (a combination of a virtual/physical meeting) once the Chapter is established and can support them.
• The Chapter will conduct at least four Board meetings of its Board of Directors per year. All Board meetings will be virtual meetings. The Board meetings will be held the month before the General Membership meetings: January, April, July, and October.

For 2008 operations – assuming a January approval of this charter petition – the Chapter plans to hold our first General Membership meeting on February 7. We have held planning meetings in October 2007 and November 2007, and our first board meeting in December 2007. Our first board meetings are open to members of our planning committee (the board members plus Lauren Dumosch, Michelle Petty, Julie Wickert, and Mark Wigginton).

Our goal is to work with the Lone Star Chapter (based in Dallas) and the Houston Chapter to create regional networking and professional development opportunities for all Texas APMP members.

At the first Board meeting, scheduled in February, the Board will vote to approve the proposed Bylaws and then elect Chapter officers. The slate of elected officers will be presented for confirmation by a simple majority vote of the attendees at the February General Membership meeting. The interim officers will lead the Chapter until the newly-elected officers assume their duties on the day following the election. At that time, the one-year term for officers will run from January 1 – December 31.

The Programs Chair will develop a 2008 schedule for General Membership meetings and the proposed program topics and speakers for these meetings. A likely source of program topics and speakers will be those from recent APMP-sponsored events. We have identified three core communications needs:

• Private Place. This will be an online bulletin-board type location where group members can post and read messages, manage discussion lists on various topics, share data and files, and use other basic collaboration tools to share work and accomplish Charter objectives. To provide these services to our members, the Chapter will use Yahoo!® Groups, a free service. We have formed a new group named the APMP_Central_Texas_Chapter, which will is ready for use.
• Public Face. The Chapter will develop a website for public and member communication. We plan to have a basic website available by our second General Membership meeting. The Chapter has obtained the domain name www.apmpcentraltexas.com  for one year. The cost for the domain names was donated by a company of one of our members. Monica Shields is acting as our interim webmaster, and is responsible for creating a basic website. We will work to find an ongoing webmaster support for developing and maintaining the website.
• Meeting Space. An initial survey of our member revealed that local chapter members prefer to meet midday, so we are working to find a regular meeting place that serves lunch. When we are ready to host webinars, the company of one of our members has agreed to donate this on-line meeting capability and facilitate a virtual bridge with other chapters.

7.3 Other Possible Chapter Activities

After chartering, the Chapter plans to perform the following activities:

1. The Chapter plans to conduct a membership drive in Austin and San Antonio. It is believed that many proposal professionals who work in Central Texas have no knowledge of the APMP, and we would like to contact them and encourage these professionals to join the APMP and the Chapter and become active in Chapter events. The Membership Chair will develop a membership drive plan for discussion at the first Board meeting. As part of this membership drive, we will publicize the Chapter formation and events to all Texas APMP members and invite members to affiliate with the Chapter.

2. The Austin and San Antonio areas have numerous networking organizations in related professional fields that we intend to contact to publicize our local chapter: the Association for Women in Communications, Freelance Austin, eWomen, the Association for Marketing Professional Services, etc.

3. The Chapter plans to start a newsletter that will be posted on our website. We do not plan, however, to start the newsletter until after the end of the Chapter’s first year.

7.4 Operating Budget

The Chapter’s initial budget will be based on the $500 seed money provided by APMP after approval of this charter petition. At this point, we have had the cost of hosting our website donated and the time for creating the website and planning the chapter donated. At this point, we have not identified additional expenses for 2008, though we will likely encounter expenses associated with publicizing the Chapter and purchasing our first set of checks.

After we are chartered, the Treasurer will open a checking account for the Chapter, and for review and approval at the first Board meeting will propose a budget based on expected revenue and expenses for the 2008 calendar year. The Treasurer will comply with APMP financial, accounting, and reporting requirements.

After our first year of operation, the Chapter’s primary income will be the $15 “rebate” from the APMP given to chapters for each active and affiliated member. Assuming this income – and the continued donation of “virtual” services – we should have more than enough funds to cover Chapter expenses.

7.5 Reporting Requirements

The Chapter will comply with APMP record keeping and reporting requirements. The officer job descriptions in Attachment 2 provide associated responsibilities. The Chapter will correspond with the APMP BOD to announce meetings or activities for publication in the APMP “Perspective” and posting on the APMP website. The Chapter will provide www.apmp.org with a link to the Chapter’s website and primary contact person. (A Chapter point-of-contact has already been posted on the APMP website.)

More specifically, the Chapter will perform the following record keeping and reporting tasks:

• Checking Accounts. A checking account will be established with the Chapter Chair and Treasurer as the authorized signatures for the account.
• Transaction Logs. Transactions logs will be kept documenting all fund transactions. Original receipts and a description of the transaction will be kept for each receipt and expenditure.
• Bank Statements. Bank statements will be reconciled monthly. Any irregularities will be reported to the APMP BOD within 30 days of the monthly closing date. Bank statements, canceled checks, and all other records pertaining to the account will be maintained throughout the year and submitted to the APMP Executive Director upon closure of the account.
• Annual Reports. The chapter will submit an annual report to the APMP BOD no later than January 31 for the preceding calendar year. The annual report will include the operational and fiscal information required by the APMP BOD. Included in this report will be the minutes of the Chapter General Membership meetings. (The Chapter will document the minutes of its General Membership and Board meetings and make them available to the membership.)

8. Chapter Logo

Attachment 5 shows the Chapter logo, reflecting the Chapter’s geographic coverage and formal name: the APMP Central Texas Chapter.