Join and Serve with our TDNT Social Services, Inc.’s Nonprofit Board! Elections are conducted every five (5) years during our mandatory annual meetings starting from 2021. Board of directors vacancies are every thirty (30) years unless current members are voted off, through expulsion or unless through member resignation (termination) during our annual meetings. Board of directors can be reelected for a second life term of 30 years. The maximum number of life terms that can be served on this board is two (2).
Board members of our 501(c)(3) Public Charity is comprised of our Board of Directors as well as our Executive Officers. Our executive officers are appointed or elected by our board of directors and our external Voting Members through votes. Our initial officers were appointed by our board of directors. Non-executive staff of our nonprofit organization can be hired directly by our executive officers; however, this has to first be proposed on an agenda issue to our Board of Directors who will then meet with our Voting Members for a consensus on approval. Non-executive staff can include non-executive directors and officers as well as managers. Those positions are also referred to as non-executive organizational staff.
Our nonprofit’s structure consists of our governance members including our external members with active voting membership status and our internal board of directors. Our hierarchy is governed by our Articles of Incorporation and our nonprofit Bylaws. No one person within or outside of our structure owns the domestic nonprofit. Our beneficiaries or shareholders are the Public within these United States of America, including community members as well as entities such as private citizens and other organizations. No one person or entity can make decisions outside of those guidelines or outside of our governance members vote or consensus.
Board Directors are voted to remain within each of their role or position by our voting members and the board of directors themselves. To break a tie or reach a quorum or consensus, the external voting members must be involved. See our Bylaws with enclosed guidelines for more. Our Bylaws guide and dictate our public body’s operations. Voting Members are external public members, including private citizens and organizations such as private trusts, who purchase a voting membership, which is how they become governance members. They may terminate their membership or face expulsion in accordance with our Bylaws, membership rules and regulations.
We have three (3) classes of external members who may enroll in our membership plans. The first class is our voting membership with governance powers and rights. This class is part of our governance members; and is at the top of the hierarchy with board members right after following suit. You may hear or see us refer to this class as Voting Members or “governance membership”. The second class of members is our limited-voting membership; and the third class is the non-voting membership.
These two classes are not part of our governance members and may be referred to as “privilege memberships”; and so, these two classes do not have organizational voting powers or governance rights or entitlements. Albeit, the second class of membership consisting of Limited-Voting Members can vote in, lead and/or co-lead some of our Committees, supervised by our board members. Our non-voting members can co-lead certain nonprofit projects in some of our committees under the guidance of the limited-voting members or our board members. See our Membership page for more.
In 2025, we added a new class of membership which is not part of the board and is less committed than our non-voting members. These are Essential Members. They can participate more to receive benefits, leadership opportunities and community service hours; essential members are encouraged to attend our mandatory annual meeting, although it’s optional for them. This membership plan is convenient for individuals who would still like to support a good cause but choose to be less committed and less involved due to several factors including time, location/distance and other challenges in life. See our Membership page for more.
Our board members, including our directors and officers, are unpaid volunteers. Our external members, including governance members and privilege members, are paying patrons and are also not paid by the organization; although, the external members enjoy privileges and entitled rights which may include discounted or free services and items as well as more engagement. Our directors and officers may be eligible for some discounts and reimbursed expenses. Like all other public members, the external members are part of the community and are therefore eligible for reimbursements once enrolled in any of our reward programs, including our point-based loyalty reward investment programs. The number of hours spent in events is at the discretion of the member, although internal board members are expected to attend the mandatory annual meetings and at least one other meeting or event per year. A member can expect to spend at least about two (2) to ten (10) hours volunteering with our organization, per each year.
Our committees are as follow: Audit, Creative, Fundraising, Marketing, Outreach, People, Project, Research, and Public Relations. Essential members do not typically lead or co-lead any of our committees but are welcomed to actively participate as much as possible when invited. Non-Voting members can engage and participate in activities organized by any committee as long as they are invited and there is interest, a desire or a need. They may also co-lead in specific committees only, along with the Limited-Voting members or the Board members if endorsed or approved. Limited-Voting members can co-lead most committees and they may lead specific committees. Voting members can lead and co-lead most committees along with the Board members. You may also view our About and Join Us page for more information. More details on our membership plans, enrollment and committees are found on our Membership page.
TDNT Social Services, Inc. 