Meeting Details

Each Member has to complete a membership form to commit to donating $100 annually. Completing this form makes you an official member who will attend our annual meetings. Membership is open to those 19 years of age or older. Events are diligently conducted in a two hour period. Any member who has registered may nominate a registered charity for consideration - deadline for 2024 is August 22nd.  To continue your membership year after year, you must have honoured your previous year's commitment.

Registration and networking will be open for 1 hour prior to the actual meeting and is optional. This is held from 7:00 – 7:45 pm. If you choose, you can just attend the meeting portion but please allow enough time to register your attendance prior to 7:45 pm.  The meeting area will remain closed until 7:45 and the meeting will begin at 8:00 pm sharp.

Nominations

Any member who has registered and who is current with her donations may nominate a charity for consideration. Representatives from the three randomly selected charities will make a five minute presentation about their organization to the group. Deadline for nominations for 2024 is midnight, August 22nd.  Charities under consideration must serve either Richmond, Inverness, or Victoria Counties, must be located in the tri-county area, must be in existence for at least one year, and must earmark the funds to be spent on a project in one of the tri-counties served.  They must also be a registered charity in Canada, and be able to provide individual tax receipts directly to contributing members within 30 days following our event.

Voting

Each registered member who is current with her donations may vote (by ballot) for one of the three organizations during her attendance at the annual meeting. There is no proxy voting. If you can't attend, you must mail or deliver your blank $100 cheque prior to our event and we will fill in the name of the winning charity after voting is closed.    If there is a tie after the first vote - the membership will vote again between the tied organizations.  If a tie persists, the names will be put in a hat and the winner decided by a draw. 

Donation

Each member will write a cheque for $100 (or cash) to the charity receiving the most votes. The selected charity will receive a group donation of $10,000 or more (depending on number of members). Members who did not vote for the selected charity agree to make their donation regardless. The donation is placed in a self addressed envelope (do not seal). Members will receive a tax receipt directly from the charity (using the self-addressed envelope) within one month after they've donated. Members who are unable to attend a meeting are expected to get a cheque to one of the members of the Core Committee prior to the meeting or give her blank cheque to another member to deliver on her behalf, making sure the name is the same name as was entered into the membership form. This is important as all money is awarded that evening following the vote.

Future Meetings

A charity not selected at the annual meeting will remain in the draw for the next year. A successful charity who receives funds is not eligible for 5 years for future consideration but the nominating member may submit the name of another charity. The selected charity must agree not to give out member information to any third parties except for tax purposes. The recipient of funds from the annual meeting will give a five minute update on how the funds donated at the previous meeting were used by the successful charity. This occurs while we are counting the votes.