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There shall be three classes of membership in the corporation as identified below.
1. Class A Members. A Class A membership may be granted to any corporation, institution or other entity pursuant to the following principles:
a. The organization shall be national in scope and purpose.
b. The organization shall consist of voluntary memberships or constituencies, shall have a not-for-profit structure, and shall have tax-exempt status under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of the United States.
c. The organization shall have a disaster response program and policy for commitment of resources (i.e. personnel, funds, and equipment) to meet the needs of people affected by disaster, without discrimination as to race, creed, gender, or age.2. Class B Members. A Class B (or Associate) membership may be granted to any chartered state VOAD (Voluntary Organization Active in Disaster) group.
3. Class C Members. A Class C (or Affiliate) membership may be granted to any organization with disaster planning and operations responsibilities or capabilities which does not meet the requirements for membership in Class A or Class B.
The clear intent of
the By-laws is that any qualified organization may become
a Class A member of the organization. The mission of NVOAD is to foster,
through cooperation in mitigation and response, more effective service
to people affected by disaster. It does
this by focusing its efforts by the following priorities: cooperation,
coordination, communication, education, mitigation, convening mechanisms,
and outreach.
The VOAD Organizational
Manual published by NVOAD defines guidelines for State VOADs. The
manual states that "State VOADs should adopt purposes consistent
with NVOAD purposes that include cooperation, coordination, communication,
education, mitigation, convening, and outreach." The manual goes
on to state that
"Both NVOAD and state VOADs involve as many member organizations
as possible, thus making disaster service programs more successful. The
NVOAD principles, conditions and structure of membership should be adopted
by state VOADs,
allowing for minor adjustments, so that both national and state members
will be
clearly identified as partners active in disaster service."
Regarding the state
VOAD's solicitation of members, the manual states that "State VOADs
are encouraged to use the requirements and guidelines for membership
used by NVOAD..."
Finally, regarding
the formation of and relationships with County or Substate VOADs,
the manual states: "It is appropriate for a VOAD to allow and even
encourage the development of county or substate VOADs... However, no such
regional group
should form without the permission of he State VOAD. And the state organization,
before giving permission, must be satisfied that the local VOAD accepts
NVOAD's principles and conditions of membership... The county or substate
VOAD should,
with minor adjustments, follow NVOAD's principles, conditions and structure,
just as the state VOAD does."
Clearly it is the intent of the Board of Directors and membership of NVOAD that inclusivity be a driving factor in the organization and operations of VOAD at all levels -- national, state, substate. Toward this end, the following policy proposal was adopted by the Board of Directors at its May 20, 1998 meeting, with the understanding that the policy statement should be incorporated into all administrative documents of the organization.
Policy on Inclusivity
The
VOAD Movement was born from, and continues to exist to serve the need
for
greater cooperation, coordination, communication, and collaboration in
addressing the needs of those affected by disaster. Toward this end, NVOAD,
as the catalyst and
keeper of the VOAD concept, establishes inclusivity as a basic tenet of
that concept.
The greater the number the number of organizations which adopt the principles
of
VOAD and work to fulfill its mission, the more effective and comprehensive
will be the services delivered by each.
VOADs at al levels, therefore, are expected to offer membership to any and all organizations which meet the criteria defined in each membership category. An organization at the local level may not be disqualified because of its lack of representation in the levels of VOAD above that to which it is applying.