I-1 PURPOSE

This portion of the procedure manual is intended to provide District Officers with a reference source for the procedures and standing rules of District 12.

 G. Appoint committees as needed and provided for in this document,

 D. Provide liaison between the District Governor and the Youth Leadership and Speakers Bureau Chairmen,

  IV-5.1 The Immediate Past District Governor (IPDG) shall be appointed as the Committee Chairperson.  In the event that the IPDG is unavailable or ineligible, the District Governor shall appoint a Past District Governor to be the Chairperson of the committee.

  IV-5.2 The members of the Committee shall consist of the current Area Governors with the exception of those who participated in the Nominating Committee the prior year or are candidates for elected office being considered by the current Nominating Committee.  In these instances, the District Governor shall appoint a substitute member from that Area.  The objective is to have one representative from each Area.

  IV-5.3 Nominations may be made in writing by the Nominee or by any member of the District to the Chairperson of the Nominating Committee, or may be made from the floor at the Nominating Committee meeting with the Nominee's prior consent.  The Officer Release Statement must be completed and the Candidate's eligibility verified prior to any candidate being considered by the Committee.

  IV-5.4 Meeting Conduct: The Nominating Committee is a closed meeting and only the Chairman and members of the committee shall be present during deliberations.  To assist in the deliberations, the Committee may invite candidates to address the committee and answer committee member questions.  Candidates shall be invited to speak in closed session before the Nominating Committee for no more than five minutes.  Following the candidate's presentation, the Committee may ask questions of the candidate.  Only one candidate may be in the room at a time during the presentations and question and answer session.  No other speeches (nominating or seconding) shall be presented at the meeting.  The voting shall be by secret ballot.  The committee discussions, candidate presentations and results of the balloting are confidential according to the referenced Procedural Rules.  The Committee shall submit its report in writing to the District Governor immediately following the meeting and to all members of the District Council at least two weeks prior to the election meeting.  The Chairperson following notification of the District Governor shall notify the candidates of the results and verify the nominee's desire to fulfill the obligation.

   A. Each administration should maintain its financial expenditures within the limits of its adopted budget.

   B. The District Governor must authorize all charges to the District account at World Headquarters.

   C. The District Governor must authorize all checks drawn against the District checking account. Items not in the budget can be paid only if approved by the District Governor and the District Executive Committee.  Any account over budget by 10% or more requires approval by the District Governor and the District Executive Committee prior to payment.  There are four authorized co-signers for the District checking account.  If one of these co-signers is the recipient of a check, then two of the other co-signers shall sign the check.

V-2.1 Allowances are established by the District Budget and are intended to be partial reimbursement to the officers for the administrative and travel expenses incurred in performing their duties on behalf of the District.

   A. These accounts will be paid as determined by the District Governor as provided in the District Budget and will be reduced, if necessary, to bring the District Budget into balance.

   B. Reductions or pro-rations in these accounts will be made in the event of resignations or nonperformance of duties.

 V-2.2.1 If distance to the conference site exceeds ten miles, the District Governor, Lt. Governor Education and Training, Lt. Governor Marketing, Conference Sergeant at Arms, and Conference Treasurer may be provided, at District expense, overnight lodging (room cost) at or near the conference site on the evening preceding the conference.  In addition, if there is a meeting scheduled with the International Director on the morning following the conference and the distance to the meeting site exceeds ten miles, the District Governor, Lt. Governor Education and Training, and Lt. Governor Marketing may be provided, at District expense, overnight lodging (room cost) at or near the meeting site on the evening following the conference.

 V-2.2.2 Accommodations will be offered for up to two nights (evening prior to and the evening after the conference) to the visiting International Director from Region II attending the Conference if Toastmasters International does not reimburse his/her expenses.

 V-3.1 General Certain District Officers are expected to attend both the Region II Conference and the Annual International Convention each year. The travel allowances to be budgeted by District 12 are listed.  An attempt is made to specifically list those who should be included in the budget planning and how much should be budgeted for each person entitled to travel allowances.  The District cannot support speech contest winners for travel beyond the District’s boundaries.

   A. Out-going District Governor - Full amount in accordance with Toastmasters International reimbursement for newly elected District Governor.

   B. Conference registration for officers required to attend training: District Governor (DG), Lt. Governor of Education and Training (LGET), and Lt. Governor of Marketing (LGM). The newly designated District Treasurer and District PRO may also be reimbursed if they attend their respective orientation / training program and the expense is included in the District Budget.

   C. If funds are available and the Region Conference is more than 50 miles from the home of the DG, LGET, and/or LGM, provide hotel registration for Thursday and Friday night (officers are to be ready for training by 8 AM.)

   A. Conference registration for officers required to attend training: District Governor (DG), Lt. Governor of Education and Training (LGET), and Lt. Governor of Marketing (LGM).

   B. If funds are available and the Region Mid-Year Training is more than 50 miles from the home of the DG, LGET, and/or LGM provide hotel registration for Friday Night (officers are to be ready for training by 8 AM.)

V-3.4 INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION TRAVEL ALLOWANCES TO BE BUDGETED BY DISTRICT 12 

   A. One (1) District Lt. Governor – 1/2 of the amount (Toastmasters International pays the other 1/2 of the amount).

   B. One (1) District Lt. Governor – Full amount.

   C. One (1) Immediate Past District Governor - Full amount, provided the District ended the year as "Distinguished" or better for this District Governor’s term of office.

V-4.1 Division and Area funds are District and ultimately Toastmasters International funds.  Therefore, all revenue or loss experienced by the Division (and Areas) is the revenue or loss of the District.  Independent accounts separate of the account provided by the District are not authorized.

V-4.2 Each Division shall be provided a bank account by the District as a means of providing for Division and Area fiscal control.  Working with the District Treasurer, the bank accounts shall be used by the Division Governor for funding the tasks of the Division and Areas.  The Division accounts are established for the general operations of the respective Division and affiliated Areas and are not to be used for personal expenses such as meals, travel, telephone, etc. of the Division or Area Governor.  Covered expenses include items related to serving the Division or Area such as printing costs, educational materials, speech contest costs, postage, and a Past Division or Area Governor pin.  The District maintains the account for auditing purposes.

V-4.2.1 The Division account contains all funds allocated to both Areas and Divisions and requires two signatures for all expenditures. Areas cannot have accounts separate from the Division Account.  The Division Account may be set up to consist of sub-accounts which may be used for teaching fiscal responsibility to the Area Governors.  The Area and Division Governors should prepare a budget for their term of office.  The Division Governor (Treasurer) should prepare monthly reports reflecting Area and Division sub-account activity.

V-4.2.2 Division Governors, District Treasurer, District Governor and one District Lieutenant Governor are the minimum signatories on the Division account.

V-4.2.3 Division Governors are encouraged to appoint a Division Treasurer.

V-4.2.4 All Division/Area reimbursement requests must be submitted on a District 12 Division Invoice form, accompanied by a receipt and requires Division Governor approval.  If the reimbursement is for the Division Governor the authorization to pay must come from an Area Governor.

V-4.3 Division Governors and Division Treasurers are required to attend District sponsored fiscal training (preferably during Area/Division Governor training which should then include Area Governors) before that Division Account is activated for the new term of office starting in July.  At this training session, signature cards will be prepared, and budgets will be prepared for each Area and Division.  Area Governors should be trained to understand the Division account, and how it relates to them.  Every effort should be made to have the signature cards ready to submit to Toastmasters International by July 1.

V-4.4.1 The District shall provide financial assistance equal to the shortfall of the Division(s) that does not have the minimum total balance amounting to $100 for the Division and $50 for each Area.  The final Division balances must be ascertained by July 15, and verified by the outgoing District Treasurer.  Allocation of District funds to Divisions and Areas is made available on receipt of the Division/Area budgets for the upcoming term, and on determination of the Division final balance.  Allocations shall be forthcoming when District audit has been completed.

V-4.4.2 The Division Governor is responsible for providing all transaction information to the District Audit Chair and the District Treasurer monthly starting in August.  Each month, the District Treasurer shall provide to each Division Governor a copy of the bank statement for their Division.  The Division Governor shall provide semi-annual audit reports to the District Audit Chair by January 31 and July 31 that reflect the budget and the actual expenditures of the Division and the affiliated Areas.  Failure to provide the fiscal report may result in the District withdrawing funds from the Division.

V-4.4.3 Division Account Balances.  No Division account shall have a balance greater than the total of $300 for the Division and $250 per Area as of June 30 each year.  Excess funds shall revert to the District account; the District Governor-elect may authorize a portion of any excess funds to remain in a division account for the purpose of a long term purchase objective for the Division, provided a written budget request is submitted prior to June 30. Final Division account balance at or under the funding cap shall be rolled over into the next term.

V-4.4.4 At the conclusion of the year, the outgoing Division Governor shall provide the fiscal records of the Division to the outgoing District Treasurer.  The records shall include the final fiscal report, the reconciled checking account, and all receipts in support of the year's expenditures.  The Division fiscal records shall be included in the District permanent records filed with Headquarters, Toastmasters International each year.

V-4.5 In the event of a realignment of clubs between divisions, it is recommended that the funds in the division account should be distributed as follows:  The balance of the Division Account at the end of the Toastmaster year is divided by the number of the Clubs in the Division as of June 30.  This amount represents a prorated amount of money to be transferred to the new Division for each club that is being transferred.  The resultant division account balances will be considered in computing year-end balances for paragraphs V-4.4.1 and V-4.4.3 above.

V-4.6 A District 12 Trust Fund has been established at World Headquarters for the support of Prison Clubs.

   A.  General.  Assuring that all Club are represented at the District Council meetings best reserves the interests of individual Clubs.

   B.  Authority - Toastmasters International Policy and Procedures Manual, Section VI E 9 requires a credential/proxy form be sent to each Club President and Vice President Education at least two (2) weeks in advance of a District Council Meeting for use in the event that either, or both, cannot attend the meeting.  This form may be included in the District newsletter or in a separate mailing announcing the meeting.

  C.  Procedure - District level proxies may be either mailed via either surface mail or via electronic means to the District Governor prior to the Council Meeting.  The proxy should contain:

VI-2.1 Area Governor Authorization and purposes: the District Governor appoints The Area Governor.  The Area Governor acts as the District Governor's representative to the Club in the Area and serves as the liaison between the District, Division and the Clubs.  As the District Officer who makes the personal contact with the Club Officers, the Area Governor is able to offer counsel and advice, and promote the programs and objectives of the District and Toastmasters International.  The Area Governor is directly concerned with Club operations and performance.

VI-2.2 Recommendation and Appointment Procedure: During the term of office, an Area Governor shall encourage past Club Presidents to act as Area Assistants.  Such assistants are appointed by the Area Governor subject to the approval of the District Governor.  The use of assistants permits an Area Governor to provide greater service to the Clubs in the Area, and also permits evaluation of their performances as potential Area Governors for succeeding years.  Suggested assistants include, but are not limited to: Educational, Administrative, Secretary, Treasurer, Sergeant-at-Arms, and Bulletin Editor.  In May, each Area Governor shall submit to the District Governor a written recommendation(s) for a successor to the Area Governor.  This recommendation(s) may be that of the Area Governor or as a result of action by the Area Council.  The Division Governor may also submit to the District Governor recommendations for successors to the Area Governors in their respective Divisions.  These recommendations shall be passed to the District Governor-Elect for information used in making the appointments.

VI-2.3 New Club Assignments.  New clubs may be assigned to the Area of the sponsoring club(s) if applicable for the remainder of the Toastmaster year at the discretion of the District Governor.  As of the following July 1, the Club may be assigned based on geographical location. 

VI-3.1 Division Council: The Division Council shall consist of the Division Governor (as the presiding officer), Division Assistants, and the Area Governors from that Division.  The Division Council shall meet monthly (recommended to meet during the first week of each month) to plan Division Activities, such as the Division speech contest; share information on Toastmaster activities; have the Areas submit an Area status report for the previous month; present an Educational Feature for the Council; and provide other activities as desired by the Division Governor or the Council.

VI-3.2 Division Assistants.  The Division Governor shall appoint Division Assistants to permit the Division Governor to provide greater service to the Clubs and the Areas.  Suggested assistants include, but are not limited to: Educational, Administrative, Secretary, Treasurer, Sergeant-at-Arms, Marketing, Club Specialist, Speechcraft, Youth Leadership, Communications, and Bulletin Editor.

VI-4.1 Purpose is to serve as a communications link between the District Officers and the Club members by publishing and delivering a District Newsletter on a periodic basis. Delivery of the District Newsletter may be distributed electronically if requested by the member in writing and the request renewed on a yearly basis.

VI-4.2 Responsibility.  The Editor of the District Newsletter "Images":

VI-4.3 Procedure.  The Editor of the District Newsletter shall:

(1) Make sure the contributors are aware that the copy from the contributors should be in the Editor's hands by the fifteenth of the month before publication,

VI-5.1 The District Council, upon recommendation of the District Executive Committee, shall establish the type of speech contests to be conducted each year throughout the District. If the District Council takes no action before the beginning of a contest season, the type of speech contests to be conducted throughout the district shall be Humorous and Evaluation in the fall and International and Table Topics in the spring.

VI-5.2 As provided by the Toastmasters International Speech Contest Rule Book, the decision as to whether or not the first and second place winners of a club and/or area contest proceed to the next level shall be made solely by the District Council, upon recommendation of the District Executive Committee.  Should the District Council take no action before the beginning of a contest season, only the first place winner of such contests shall advance (unless the first place winner is unable, and then the second place or alternate winner shall advance as provided in the Rule Book).

VII-1.1 General.  This is an optional event which is to be held at the discretion of the newly elected District Governor.  This outline is intended to provide a guide for the presentation of this event.  The planning personnel will determine the specific program.

VII-1.2 Assumptions.  The purpose is to provide a forum for recognizing the incoming and outgoing District Officers and to provide a relaxed atmosphere for socializing among District Officers and Club Members.  Spouses may be in attendance, and no formal business will take place except for recognition for the past year services and installation of current officers.

VII-2.1 Eligibility.

VII-2.2 Selection.

VII-2.3 Qualifications.

VII-2.4 Time Period.  The Award is for the period July 1 through June 30.

VII-2.5 Nominations.  Nominations are optional.  Any Toastmaster may make recommendations for the recipient of this recognition.  Nominations must be received by the District Governor not later than June 30.  Nomination submittals should contain the following information:

VII-3.1 Criteria:  The Top Three elect should appoint a committee as soon after the Spring Conference as possible.  Their charge being to devise criteria and points that distinguishes between the achievements of a strong Area and the work of the Area Governor.  The system should be designed to recognize all Division/Area Governors who meet a certain criteria (similar to the Distinguished Club.  Area, Division, District programs) as well as a first place and runner up.  This plan should be published as close to or before July 1 as possible.

VII-4.1 Criteria:  The Top Three elect should appoint a committee to devise criteria based on the Distinguished Division/Area plan criteria.  Account should be taken for the number of clubs/members in the Division/Area to insure an equal opportunity for all.  This Plan should be published as close to or before July 1 as possible.

VII-5.1 Eligibility.  A Toastmaster who has served or is serving as an elected/appointed officer above Club level and is active in the community.

VII-5.2 Selection. The District Governor, in consultation with the District Lieutenant Governors, Education and Marketing, will decide the recipient of the award.

VII-5.3 Qualification. The Award will be given to that Toastmaster who best exemplifies Penny Cole's involvement in Toastmasters and the community.  The Award will be based on:

   a. Overall District activities, a person who has been instrumental in the success of the District, and/or

   b. Input from Clubs or Area Governors recommending individuals for the Award.

VII-5.4 Nominations.  Although nominations are optional, Toastmasters may be recommended for the Award.  The District Governor must receive nominations not later than April 15.

1.  The Nomination submittal should contain the following information:

VII-6.1 Selection.  This award shall be determined by the Public Relations Officer and shall be given to the Club that obtained the most publicity points in various media during the period from July 1 through April 1.

VII-6.2 Recognition.  Recognition shall be given to the top three Clubs in the District at the Spring District Conference, with special recognition given to the top Club in the form of a traveling trophy and a plaque.

VII-6.3 Qualifications.  Send dated proof, clipping, audiotape, videotape or photograph of any and all publicity, displays, interviews, etc. to District Public Relations Officer for the period July 1 to April 1.  The following list describes the ways to earn points.  A club may apply with as few of three (3) items from the list or as many items as they'd like.

VII-6.4 Publicity Awards Points System:

The Leader of the Pack Award will recognize, on a quarterly basis, the Division Team which has excelled in motivating clubs to achieve educational awards, bring in new members, develop Club websites and train Club Officers. It also recognizes Divisions for new Club starts. It is weighed out by the number of clubs the Division began the year with. It encourages Division teams to focus on membership building and educationals early in the year, and continues to do so each quarter. The award will be calculated by the District Statistician, or as assigned by the District Governor. Most of the data is retrievable from the Toastmasters International database and can be accessed from the Toastmasters International Website (http://www.toastmasters.org/). This award will be presented quarterly, subsequent to the database update by Toastmasters International, and at the first available District meeting.