CLUB AND AFFILIATE GOVERNANCE BYLAWS

To function effectively, all clubs and affiliates should adopt a set of bylaws and submit them to the Alumni Association for review. Bylaws provide the basic rules for conducting business and affairs (a “road map”); outline expectations for volunteers, including the duration of their terms on the board; and legitimize that volunteers are working for the club or affiliate in an official capacity for insurance and other purposes.

A club or affiliate may also have articles of association, an instrument under which the group was organized, and the bylaws and articles may reference or incorporate each other. A sample bylaws document can be found in the online toolkit. 

The Alumni Association strongly recommends that bylaws include the following provisions:

 • All board members and officers are required to be dues paying Alumni Association of the University of Michigan members during the tenure of their term; and 

• Establish term limits for board members and officers, including that no president shall serve more than, at most, four (4) consecutive years. 

Bylaws should be reviewed on an annual basis to determine whether revisions are desirable or necessary. 

We discourage clubs and affiliates from incorporating on their own. Those that form their own nonprofit are not covered under our Alumni Association of the University of Michigan general liability insurance policy. 

Model Bylaws are located here