Proposed Bylaw Changes
At the November 2024 CMF Board meeting, the Board of Directors approved a proposal to make three changes to the CMF bylaws. These proposed changes came out of a discussion at the previous Board meeting (May 2024) concerning ways to increase engagement of our key stakeholders.
The 1949 annual giving requirement for a CMF voting member was set at $25 and remains at that level today. This means that we need to inform more than 8,000 people each year of our annual meeting, in writing, and provide information about the current slate of Board members that they will be voting on at the annual meeting. Less than 70 people have voted through this process in each of the last five years, representing less than 1% of our voting membership.
The Board created a task force to look at options for changing our bylaw voting processes to increase stakeholder engagement. The proposal from the task force makes three specific changes that we believe will both increase engagement and modernize the current processes.
The three specific proposed changes are:
- Increase voting engagement by limiting the pool of voting members to include all CMF missionaries, churches that support CMF ministries at a level of $10,000 or more annually, individual donors who support CMF ministries at a level of $10,000 or more annually, and any donor who supports the general fund of CMF at a level of $1,000 or more annually. This will limit the pool of eligible voters to an estimated 400-500 members. This will greatly increase the weight of CMF missionary voting and the key stakeholders who are most engaged in CMF ministries, which was the intention of the $25 level in 1949. Individual donors supporting CMF ministries with lower financial amounts will still be considered members, just not voting members, and most will be represented by the vote of the church that they attend.
- Remove the requirement to notify voting members in writing by mail through the US Postal Service. We are proposing that we move to primarily communicate electronically. CMF already maintains a list of financial partners who do not have electronic communications and will continue to contact them by mail.
- Change the 12-month notification and waiting period between a proposal and a vote to a period of 90 days. The 12-month waiting period made sense in 1949 when paper communications had to pass back and forth from our ministry locations by mail. We are now able to instantaneously communicate with our missionaries and have global meetings online and no longer require such a long waiting period.
The specific bylaws that will be changed by this proposal are provided below in their current form and then with the proposed changes.
Because of the 12 month waiting period since the proposal was made, we will be voting on these changes at the CMF Annual Meeting in November 2025 in Atlanta. The specific location and date of the meeting will be announced in May 2025.
If you have any questions about these changes, please send an email to our Board Chair, Bob Clemens and Executive Director, Kip Lines: stakeholder@cmfi.org.
Article IX, Meetings, Section 1:
Current:
Section 1. The Annual Meeting of the Fellowship shall be held each year at such a time and place as may be determined by the Board of Directors, written notice of which shall be given by the Recording Secretary to each member by depositing same in the United States mail properly addressed to such member's last known mailing address at least thirty (30) days prior to such meeting. Notice shall be sent to the missionary members by digital communication.
Article IX, Meetings, Section 1:
Proposed:
Section 1. The Annual Meeting of the Fellowship shall be held each year at such a time and place as may be determined by the Board of Directors, notice of which shall be given by the Recording Secretary at least thirty (30) days prior to such meeting. Electronic communications will be the primary means of communication to members for any purpose.
Article III, Membership, Section 1
Current:
Section 1. An individual, group, or church contributing to the Fellowship will become a member of the Fellowship for the next fiscal year following which a contribution is made.
Article III, Membership, Section 1:
Proposed:
Section 1. Voting membership will be limited to active missionaries and board members, and to those churches and individuals who contributed $10,000 or more during the previous calendar year or contribute $1,000 or more to any of the undesignated funds. Non-voting membership will be granted to all who contributed during the previous calendar year.
Article XV, Amendments, Section 1
Current:
Section 1. These bylaws, except Articles One and Two, may be altered or amended at any time by a two-thirds majority vote, providing the proposed alteration or amendment shall have been presented in the form of a motion and submitted to the membership one year previous to the time when submitted to the membership for their actual vote.
Article XV, Amendments, Section 1
Proposed:
Alterations and amendments to these bylaws can be approved following 90-day notice to voting members. Notice to voting members will be given after the full board proposes an alteration or amendment at a regular board meeting, which will be confirmed by a quorum of voting members at an annual meeting not less than 90 days following notification. A quorum will be calculated at 20% of the eligible voting membership.