Make it official

Once your affiliate is having regular meetups, you’ve formed a core group, and you’re involved in or considering actual activism, it’s time to make it official. Make a list of your county townships and/or wards. Some counties have both. Identify the township/ward each of the folks in your core group live. This is easily done using the Secretary of States website.⁷ Per Missouri election law, there shall be two people from each township/ward, a man and a woman. They are referred to as committeemen and committeewomen. It’s fine to have some folks in the organization who are not official committeepeople. Now is the time to elect officers.

Officers – There must be a Chairperson, a Vice Chairperson, a Secretary, and a Treasurer. The only offices that may be combined are Secretary and Treasurer.  The Chairperson and Vice-chairperson must be official committee persons. The secretary and treasurer can be anyone from the county. 

Create and adopt a Constitution and By-Laws – There are basic templates available to get you started. Be sure yours include language specifically adopting the LPMO Constitution and ByLaws. The LPMO has a checklist of all the party requirements and the legal requirements to help you make sure everything is on target.

It’s not necessary to have multiple governing docs. Starting and staying with just Bylaws is actually recommended in the latest “Robert’s Rules of Order” (RONR).

You may need to obtain an Employer Identification Number (EIN) at this point and may need to fill out additional forms for the Missouri Ethics Commission. This is a good time to get to know them and ask what they will expect and need. Set up a bank account with your EIN, and have the Chair and Treasurer each have signatory privileges on the account. 

Turn your list of committee people and officers to the state chair, executive director, and secretary. This list should also be provided to the local county clerk or Board of Elections. 

When both the LPMO and your local county clerk have accepted your affiliate, congratulations! You are now an official LPMO affiliate.

Treasurer’s and Chair’s Monetary Responsibilities

Once you start to obtain donations, you will need to establish a bank account. You will definitely need that EIN and probably the constitution and bylaws and the minutes adopting them and electing the officers. You need to know that your organization is a U.S. tax-exempt organization organized under Section 527 of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code (26 U.S.C. § 527). A 527 group is created primarily to influence the selection, nomination, election, appointment, or defeat of candidates to federal, state, or local public office.  Activities other than these listed are likely taxable and will require filing a tax return Form 1120 POL.

Chair’s Responsibilities

Running a successful meeting starts with planning. Make sure all interested parties have been notified of time and place. Create an agenda, share it prior to the meeting, and request suggestions to flesh it out. Robert’s Rules of Order is helpful if you’re not familiar with running a meeting.