Club Elections - Sample email requesting for nominations

You can find below a sample email that is sent out by the club nominations committee chairman, requesting nominations from candidates for various club officer posts.

(Also read: Sample Script for conducting Club Elections in a Toastmasters Club)
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Hello friends,

Toastmasters is an organisation for the development of public speaking and leadership skills. Public speaking opportunities are available every week as roleplayers, speakers or evaluators. Leadership opportunities are available as members of the Executive Committee,

·         ensuring the smooth running of the club,

·         interacting with other clubs in the Area,

·         organizing contests and special events

·         ensuring the club meets the Distinguished Club Programme goals

Clubs which meet on a weekly basis go in for a round of elections every six months, while those who meet fortnightly do so every year.

It's time for change of guard at ____________ Toastmasters Club, and I have been given the privilege of being the Nomination Committee Chairperson for the term July 201? – December 201?. Toastmaster XYZ (xyz@gmail.com) has kindly agreed to help me in this role. 

Nominations are now open for:

• President
• Vice President -Education
• Vice President- Membership
• Vice President -Public Relations
• Treasurer
• Secretary
• Sgt. @ Arms

  

Procedure:

• Members can nominate another member with their consent.
• Member can also make a self nomination.
• Both nominated and nominating members need to be a member in good standing. Member in good standing means those who have paid their membership dues and marked ‘Active’ in the TM Membership Roster.
• New members who have received their membership No. from TMI HQ are also eligible to nominate / vote.
• Nominated members can call up and speak to the Nominations Committee Chair alone for clarifications on the Election Process.
• The Nominations shall be sent to the Nominations Committee only, not to anyone else.
• Once the nominations are received, the Committee will review the nominations and send out the slate to the members of the club.
• The slate will contain one name for each post, which will be proposed by the Nominations committee after they interview the candidates. However this may only be a suggestion and all other nominationswill also be published.
• For any post if more than one nomination is received, an election process shall decide the winner.
• If for any post only one nomination is received, that candidate shall be declared winner on the day of the election.
• If only one nomination is received for every position, this constitutes a ‘slate’and  the committee can be elected thereof.
• At any point of time, only the candidate may withdraw his/her nomination, even if this candidate wasnominated by another member.
• Any candidate may be nominated for more than one post, however he/she may take over only one officer role, even if he/she wins both the officer roles
• During the propaganda period, a candidate is alone allowed to do propaganda; he/she may seek support only from members of ______________ Toastmasters Club.
• The candidate may seek support via email/sms/phone and may also send his/her action plan for the upcoming term to the members.
• The Nominations Committee is entitled to interview the candidates, but shall keep the results with them alone.
• No other member of the club, area, division shall be allowed to interview the candidates or do propaganda on the nominee’s behalf.
• During the Propaganda, the nominees shall take utmost care that other nominees, present and future leaders of the clubs are not hurt.
• The Nominations Committee alone shall release the final list of candidates on 04.06.2011
• On the day of the election, unless 51% of the clubs members are present (including the nominatedmembers), the election shall be called off and a new election date shall be announced.
• The members present then constitute the quorum for the meeting.

You can find the roles of club officers in TMI website.

http://www.toastmasters.org/clubofficers.aspx

It should be noted that those are expected guidelines. The final Executive Committee once elected, has the right to determine responsibilities for each of the post within the framework of Toastmasters International byelaws.

Here are the guidelines that the Nominations Committee shall be following during Interviews:

Reliability

• Has the member been dependable?
• What kind of attendance do they have?
• Do they arrive on time for club meetings?
• Is it easy or difficult to communicate with them?
• Do they return telephone calls etc.?
• Do they fulfill their assignments on the schedule?

Performance

• If they held a club office in the past, did they do a good job?
• Were they committed to serving the members throughout their term as opposed to just filling the spot?

Qualification

• Some leadership positions in the club require experience before a member can successfully assume the position. For example, the club president should know and understand what it takes for the club to function properly and maintain Toastmasters International standards.

We have had a policy for many years that before becoming Club President a member must serve successfully as Vice President of Education.

For Vice President of Education a member must have demonstrated acceptable performance in one or more club officer positions.

Experience has shown that a member who performs poorly in one or more positions of club leadership also performs poorly in subsequent positions. 

Members who have never held a Club office

Toastmasters International requires that clubs provide all members with the opportunity to become a Competent Leader and/or Advanced Leader. They must have held a club office to obtain these Toastmasters leadership awards. The nominating committee strives to meet this requirement. This also provides future nominating committees with a basis for evaluating performance when deciding whom to include in a slate.

Toastmasters Promise

Every Toastmaster makes a promise upon acceptance into the organization. This promise includes 10 things that a Toastmaster agrees to do upon becoming a member.

The nominating committee discusses how well a member meets this promise. Things a Toastmaster agrees to but is not limited to are attending meetings regularly; fulfilling meeting assignments; treating fellow members and guests with respect and courtesy; adhering to the guidelines and rules for all Toastmaster programs; maintaining honest and highly ethical standards during the conduct of all Toastmasters activities.

I request all the members to send in their nomination by May 30th, 201?, so that we can have elections on June 5, 201?. Send in your nominations to myself & TM _____________. Please state your name, position for which you are nominating yourself for, email id, contact phone #.

Important dates to remember

23.May.20?1- Nominations open

30.May.201? – Nominations  close.

31.May.201? - 04 Jun.201? –  The Candidates can do propaganda. The Nominations Committee will verify candidature, interview candidates and release the slate with proposed candidature list.

05.Jun.201? – Elections at _____________ Toastmasters Club –Business session –open to members only.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Thanks,