Charitable Foundation

The Constitution and By-Laws of the Bunts Association of North America Silver Jubilee Charitable Foundation

ARTICLE I: NAME
The Foundation will be called the Bunts Association of North America Silver Jubilee Charitable Foundation. (Also known as Bana Charitable Foundation). This Foundation will represent the charitable arm of Bunts Association of North America.

ARTICLE II: BUSINESS ADDRESS

The primary place of business shall be the same as the current address of the Bunts Association of North America.

ARTICLE III: PURPOSE

The Foundation has been established mainly to serve the underprivileged and disadvantaged members of our community during crisis both in the U.S and India , with a special emphasis on literacy, healthcare and humanitarian causes. The foundation being a part of Bana, our primary focus is to identify and serve the less fortunate Bunts in our community here and in India , and to support causes that preserve and promote our proud heritage.

ARTICLE IV: MEMBERSHIP
The Foundation member is anyone who subscribes to the objectives of foundation set forth in the article III a: Founder: Donation of $ 10,000.00 and higher during the first term of the foundation b: Patron: Donation of $ 5000.00 and higher c: Donor: Donation of $ 2000 .00 and higher d: Life Member: $ 1000 .00 e: General Member: $ 200.00 for a period of 2 years Voting right: All members of the Article IV: Category a.b,c,d,e, carry one vote.

ARTICLE VI: MANNER OF ELECTION
The Executive Committee shall be elected from among the general, life, donor, patron and founding members of the Foundation. The members interested in being a part of the Executive Committee shall file their nomination three months prior to the meeting of the Foundation. If there are more than 9 nominees, an election will be conducted during the Foundation’s meeting. Members eligible for voting include - founding, patron and donor, life and current general members. The election will be conducted by the current President of the Foundation. The ballots will be mailed to all Foundation members prior to the meeting. Foundation members who wish to participate in the election but are unable to attend the meeting, may mail in their ballots. The candidates securing the top nine votes will become members of the Executive Committee. The Executive Committee shall elect the President during the foundation’s general body meeting. The President will nominate a treasurer/secretary for a period of two years. The term of the President and the executive committee shall be until the next biannual meeting of the Foundation.

ARTICLE VII: EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE DUTIES
1. President: The President shall preside at all meetings and serve as spokesperson for the Foundation. He/she shall be the Chairperson of the Executive Committee.
2. The Secretary/Treasurer and the Executive Committee under the supervision of the President will fulfill the following duties. a. Record the minutes of the Foundation meeting. b. Maintain active mailing list/email addresses of all the Foundation members. c. Assist the BANA website team in maintaining the Foundation website. d. Provide assistance to the President and Secretary/Treasurer in preparing the periodic updates and annual Foundation newsletter. e. Assist the President and Secretary/Treasurer in organizing special fund raising activities sponsored by the Foundation. f. Assist the Secretary/Treasurer in filling the appropriate financial reports, and help coordinate with the Bana executive team.

ARTICLE VIII: MEETINGS
The meeting of the BANA Charitable Foundation shall take place during the course of the BANA Convention that is held once every two years. a. The time, venue and duration of the meeting and the matters to be discussed will be decided by the Executive Committee and notified in advance to the members. b. The election to the Executive Committee will be held during the meeting of the Foundation. c. Other meetings may be scheduled at the discretion of the Executive Committee. It is understood, that much of the Foundation business will be carried out by correspondence utilizing email, telephone, or written mail.

ARTICLE IX: DUES AND FINANCIAL MATTERS
a. General membership dues for 2 years $ 200.00. b. Life membership $ 1000.00

ARTICLE X: ALLOCATION OF FUNDS
All contributions made by the founding members, patron members and donor members and other fund raising activities will go towards the BANA Charitable Foundation core Fund. The funds will be invested in a secure, high interest-yielding vehicle. The Executive Committee will allocate only the interest accrued by the Foundation core Fund for charitable causes. Proposals on behalf of the charitable causes and institutions in U.S. and India will have to be submitted to the Executive Committee either as a written document or in an electronic format or email. The selection of beneficiaries (preferably registered charities in the U.S. and India ) and proportion of allotment is to be decided by the majority of the Executive Committee. The charities supported will be the in accordance to the Foundation objectives outlined in Article III Under extraordinary circumstances, or catastrophic events a portion of the Foundation Fund may be allocated to a worthy cause or institution. This will have to be approved by a strict 2/3-majority vote by members of the Foundation and the amount to be donated shall not exceed 5% of the Foundation core Fund.

ARTICLE XI: CHANGES IN CONSTITUTION AND BY-LAWS
a. Proposal for changes to the constitution should be submitted to the Executive Committee and in turn, to the membership prior to the Foundation meeting. b. The by-laws of the Foundation may be amended or repealed only upon a 2/3-majority vote by the members of the Foundation. c. If and when amendments are approved at the foundation meeting, the secretary shall file such amendment to the constitution to the concerned authorities. d. All matters not specifically covered in the by-laws are to be presented to the Executive Committee for consideration, recommendation, or action.