You’ve been elected to your USA DANCE chapters Board of Directors – What now?

First of all, thank you for being willing to assume a leadership role in your chapter. The dedication and enthusiasm of volunteers like yourself have enabled USA Dance to grow from a few hundred members and a handful of chapters to a national organization recognized by the International DanceSport Federation and the United States Olympic Committee with more than 20,000 members and 160 Chapters.

The best way to get your new year off to a positive start is to

1. Have a joint meeting with old and new Board members. Use that opportunity to complete the Annual Report form. This form confirms new officer information as well as details on chapter activities for the prior year and plans for the coming year.

2. Provide a list of new officers to Central Office by 12/31. Because so much communication is now handled via email, it is imperative email addresses provided are current and all of those listed are willing to receive information from National USA Dance (normally in the form of a monthly newsletter).

3. Reporting requirements – Annual Report (usually completed by joint meeting of Board Members or outgoing Chapter President/Secretary is due by 2/28 and Financial Report (normally completed by outgoing Chapter Treasurer) is due by 3/31. Instructions for both reports are sent via email to Chapter Officers.

4. Make sure any Blue Books, minutes, financial records, etc. have been turned over to new officers.

5. Have local authorized signers updated on checking, savings or money market account if necessary. If a new account will be established review guidelines on how to establish a USA Dance checking account in the Blue Book or contact Central Office with any questions.

6. Familiarize yourself with the resources available from National USA Dance to guide your chapter to a successful year.

Responsibilities of Chapter Officers

Chapter President

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Preside at all membership or board meetings.

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Serves as Chapter contact for National USA Dance and the public or designates another Board member to handle this responsibility.

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Ex-officio member of all committees

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Complete, with assistance of outgoing board and/or other Board members, the Annual Report to National USA Dance per guidelines provided.

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See that information provided by National USA Dance via email, phone or mail is disseminated to others on the Board and membership as appropriate or designate another Board member to handle this responsibility.

Chapter Vice President

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Act in place of President in his/her absence or incapacity.

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In event of a vacancy in the office of President, VP assumes Presidency.

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Duties as designated by the President or Board of Directors.

Chapter Secretary

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Keeps minutes of all membership and Board meetings.

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Records all votes and all actions taken by the Board, at meetings as well as via email or phone conferences and without meetings.

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Distributes minutes of meetings to Board members within reasonable time following meetings.

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Responsible to notify USA Dance Central Office of any changes in officers.

Chapter Treasurer

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Trustee of all monies – Collects all dues and money due the Chapter.

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Treasurer maintains accurate and complete financial records including all deposits, expenditures and signs all checks.

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Present to Chapter board a financial summary at each meeting.

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Prepare annual financial report to be submitted to the National Treasurer no later than 3/31 each year in accordance with provided guidelines.

Following would normally be initiated by Board discussion and implementation handled by any Officer or Committee as designated by the Board.

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Facilities/venue selection

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Arrange for dance instructors for pre-dance lessons and music

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Initiate plan for special events –

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workshops & beginner lesson programs

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special youth programs – dances, lessons, K-12 & college clubs

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NBDW events

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charity, fund raising and black tie events

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public dance demonstrations

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Initiate election process in accordance with guidelines

This is a suggested breakdown of responsibilities of various committees common to Chapters. Responsibilities can be reassigned to suit chapter needs but this can serve as a guideline.

Newsletter/Publicity

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Solicit, write and edit articles and ads for chapter newsletter.

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Coordinate printing/mailing of newsletters or flyers.

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Design and print flyers for chapter activities.

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Submit regular dance information and news releases to the media.

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Coordinate contact with chapter members about regular events via email, mail or phone.

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Development of a website

Membership

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Maintains Chapter membership list and compares to monthly list provided to Chapter President by National USA Dance to maintain accuracy.

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Notify National Membership Director of changes via email at membership-dir@UsaDance.org.

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Provide labels, member information as required by other committees.

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Provides supply of membership applications at all chapter events and communicates with non-members in attendance to make them aware of benefits of membership.

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Develop promotions to increase membership, i.e. join and attend next dance at ½ price; encourage all members to bring a friend, etc.

Social Dance Committee

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Coordinate volunteers to handle

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Set up/clean up

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Decorations

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Refreshments

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Greeters/front door ticket sales

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Information table – membership applications, suggestion box, questions, flyers about future chapter events and other dance related flyers from studios, clubs etc.

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Dance hosts

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Chapters MUST

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Maintain checking account listing chapter name as USA Dance Chapter # _____ as per guidelines provided with all income/expense for chapter sponsored events flowing through that account.

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Clearly identify themselves at all events, in all promotional flyers. press releases and on website as a chapter of USA Dance and include the chapter number.

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Submit Annual Report by 2/28 each year.

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Submit Financial Report by 3/31 in accordance with provided guidelines to enable National USA Dance to comply with IRS reporting requirements.

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Outgoing officers should turn over to new officers any Blue Books, minutes, financial records etc. as soon as possible.

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Strive to be neutral in local dance community.

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Strive to maintain good relationships with all local studios and instructors.

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Seek to educate the public about the mental, physical and social benefits of ballroom dance.

Chapters SHOULD, dependent on local conditions, instructors, facilities and volunteers available

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Host regular (usually monthly) social dances open to the public, singles as well as couples, providing a discount on admission to USA Dance members.

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Schedule group lesson at the start of each social dance.

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Publish information about the chapter via newsletter, flyer, press releases

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Serve as an information resource about local dance opportunities, i.e. studies, instructors, other dance events, clubs

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Sponsor beginner lesson programs or workshops.

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Develop youth programs for K-12 and/or support college clubs in the area.

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Seek to build reserve financial funds which can be placed in a savings or money market account to provide a financial cushion for chapter and resources to do special outreach programs.

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Encourage members who are DanceSport athletes and consider hosting DanceSport competition if membership supports.

Chapters MAY NOT

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Share, sell or give USA Dance membership list to others. This is a protected list for use in chapter communications only.

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Open charge accounts or take loans.

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Own real estate.

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Incur debt or obligation in excess of ability to pay.

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Incur debt or obligation for the National USA Dance organization

Resources available to assist chapters

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Blue Book – a blue loose leaf binder provided to 4 officers of each new chapter containing information about national, regional and chapter activities and responsibilities. This is being reviewed and plan is to also make all documents available in our on line document library for easier access by all officers. Outgoing officers should pass along their copy to new officers.

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On Line Document library - contains guidelines and reference materials from the Blue Book and more

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List of Chapter and National officials and access to the document library is available through each chapters web listing on the national website. If you do not have an access code from the prior President, contact Central Office to have a new one issued. President can share the code with designated officers.

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Email Newsletter from National USA Dance to Chapter Officials who list an email address on the Annual Report form keeps you updated on news and available information.

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National website www.UsaDance.org

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National website offers a link from our List of Chapters page so the public can email your chapter directly for information and visit your website.

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American Dancers, the USA Dance bimonthly magazine, is a great promotional tool to encourage membership and participation.

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Regional Officials are also volunteers and your first point of contact to assist and guide – Regional Vice President, Asst. RVP, Area Coordinators, DanceSport Delegates, Regional Committee representatives.

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Central Office is a communications center designed to direct inquiries to appropriate officials or assist directly with information or guidance as appropriate. Contact Mary Schaufert, 800-447-9047, email: central-office@UsaDance.org or mail to P O Box 152988, Cape Coral FL 33915-2988.

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Membership Director – For questions regarding Chapter membership lists, contact Jerry Bonmer, Director Member Services via email at: membership-dir@UsaDance.org or by mail at P O Box 126, Southampton PA 18966-0126.

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Monthly Chapter membership lists are available to Chapter Presidents or other designated officers for order as pdf file. Can also be provided as a .txt file for chapters that maintain their own database

National & Regional – Quick Contact List

president@UsaDance.org Peter Pover National President

senior-vp@UsaDance.org Lydia Scardina Senior Vice President

secretary@UsaDance.org Stan Andrews National Secretary

treasurer@UsaDance.org Leland Andrew National Treasurer

dancesport-vp@UsaDance.org Ken Richards VP DanceSport

ycn-vp@UsaDance.org Andrew Pueschel VP Youth College Network

social-vp@UsaDance.org Jean Krupa VP Social Dance Network

membership-dir@UsaDance.org Gerald Bonmer Dir. Membership Serv

public-relations@UsaDance.org Angela Price Dir. Public Relations

rvp-reg1@UsaDance.org Darlene Forbes RVP Reg I

dorenegoin@aol.com Dorene Goin Area Coord.Reg.I (OR)

johnraby@hughes.net John Raby Area Coord.Reg.I (WA)

rvp-reg2@UsaDance.org Bobbi Jo Gamache RVP Reg II

pittsburghdancesport@gmail.com Andrew Pueschel Asst. RVP Reg. II

barbarakfinn@comcast.net Barbara & James Finn Area Coor. Reg.II (IL)

dancinginfortwayne@comcast.net Vivian & David Hans Area Coord.Reg.II (IN)

b.orning@sbcglobal.net Betty Orning Area Coord. Reg.II (OH)

ek865@aol.com Mike Youngdahl Area Coord.Reg II (MN, WI, SD)

mdjdcarter@aol.com Philip Carter Area Coord Reg II (TN)

djohncole@aol.com John Cole Area Coord.Reg II (MI)

rvp-reg3@UsaDance.org Efrosyni Iosiphidis RVP Reg III

rvp-reg4@UsaDance.org Bill Rose RVP Reg IV

okazakig002@hawaii.rr.com Glenn Okazaki Area Coord Reg IV (HI)

rvp-reg5@UsaDance.org Barbara Wally RVP Reg V

yjkdance@hotmail.com Yvonne Kubicek Area Coord.Reg.V (TX)

fliprann@aol.com Ann Durocher-Steven Area Coord.Reg.V (LA)

rvp-reg6@UsaDance.org Richard Obney RVP Reg. VI

9dancer@msn.com John Davis Ass't RVP Reg VI

mariecrowder@earthlink.net Marie Crowder Area Coord.Reg VI (NC,SC)

flacoordinator@yahoo.com Jean Krupa Area Coord. Reg VI (FL)

ritchiews@bellsouth.net Shannon Ritchie Area Coord. Reg VI (GA,AL,MS)

pksabato@att.net Peggy Sabato Area Coord. Reg VI (VA, WV)

sarah.e.brown@verizon.net Sarah Brown Area Coord. Reg VI (MD,DE,DC)

ds-del-reg1@UsaDance.org open DSD Reg I

ds-del-reg2@UsaDance.org Roger Greenawalt DSD Reg II

ds-del-reg3@UsaDance.org Eugene Katsevman DSD Reg III

ds-del-reg4@UsaDance.org Borbala Bunnett DSD Reg IV

ds-del-reg5@UsaDance.org Hans Stork DSD Reg V

ds-del-reg6@UsaDance.org Open DSD Reg VI

central-office@UsaDance.org Mary Schaufert Central Office

ad-editor@UsaDance.org Shawn Fisher Managing Editor –