Club Scuderia Constitution

 

1.0 What is Club Scuderia?

 

1.1 The main purpose of Club Scuderia is to provide an online forum for discussion about the Ferrari Marque and associated subjects as deemed fit by its members, both subscribing and not subscribing.

 

1.2 Club Scuderia’s legal definition is "club and unincorporated association", as it is run solely for the benefit of its members. It does not make a profit as all funds are returned in some form to its members via goods and/or services. Please see http://www.hmrc.gov.uk for more information.

 

1.3 Please note that "club and unincorporated association" defines our legal status, not our specific operating model. This broad term covers all club, association, society and charitable organisations and should not be mis-interpreted as defining this forum as an "official members club"

 

2.0 Funding

 

2.1 Club Scuderia has a bank account with LloydsTSB Bank. All subscription fees are paid into this account via Paypal along with cheques from sponsors. Cash payments are generally not accepted unless by prior arrangement with the Club Scuderia Management Team.

 

2.2 The outstanding balance in the bank account is available for Club Scuderia use after the Club Scuderia committee have reserved adequate funding to support the anticipated running costs of Club Scuderia for two complete years. This figure is based on the previous year's expenditure on:

 

2.2.1 Server hire

2.2.2 Software Licensing

2.2.3 Domain registrations/renewal

 

2.3 The amounts reserved for running costs may be added to in order to cover costs of engaging the services of external personnel (e.g. legal representation, accountancy, etc), flags, banners, stickers and other ad hoc running costs.

 

2.4 The Club Scuderia year runs from 1st January to 31st December.

 

2.5 At the end of each year the Club Scuderia Management Team will provide a list of monies in and monies out, but please note that this is a not a legal requirement. It is merely a courtesy extended to the members and as such will only be displayed in the Club section.

 

3.0 Distribution of Club Funds to Charity:

 

3.1 Nominated Charities:

 

3.1.1 Any surplus funds will be distributed in equal parts between each of Club Scuderia's nominated charities and a fund for ad hoc donations.

3.1.2 The nominated charities are selected at the discretion of the committee based on feedback from the membership.

3.1.3 The criteria for suitable charities for consideration by the committee is that they should either be directly related to the activities of Club Scuderia members in general, or that they are charities that Club Scuderia members otherwise support through Club Scuderia activities.

3.1.4 The date of any donation made to a nominated charity will be at the discretion of the committee in order to be able to time donations to coincide with specific events that the charities in question may be staging during the year.

 

3.2 Ad Hoc Pot:

 

3.2.1 There will be an ad hoc pot made up of an equal part to that distributed to each nominated charity. This is to allow flexibility for unexpected donations, for example, to send flowers to injured members.

3.2.2 Paid up members may suggest recipients and amounts for ad hoc donations by sending a private message to the committee account. Committee members may not suggest recipients for ad hoc donations.

3.2.3 Ad hoc donations may not exceed £500 per donation (there is no minimum).

3.2.4 Ad hoc donations may be made from the ad hoc pot by a majority vote of the committee. No membership vote is required.

3.2.5 The committee reserves the right to consult with moderators and/or other paid up members on the validity of making a suggested ad hoc donation or even put the ad hoc donation to a vote of the membership if they so desire. However, they are not under any obligation to do so.

3.2.6 The criteria for suitable charities for consideration by the committee is that they should either be directly related to the activities of Club Scuderia members in general, or that they are charities that Club Scuderia members otherwise support through Club Scuderia activities.

 

3.2.7 There is no upper or lower limit to the number of ad hoc donations that may be made in a year subject to funds remaining in the ad hoc pot.

3.2.8 Any undistributed funds left in the ad hoc pot at 31st December will be rolled over into the following year’s funds for distribution between the nominated charities and the ad hoc pot for that year.

 

4.0 Admin Responsibilities

 

4.1 The Club Scuderia Administrators are responsible for the following:

 

4.1.1 Ensuring that the hired Servers are fit for purpose, and represent good value for money.

4.1.2 Keeping the installed vBulletin software functioning adequately and ensuring that appropriate software fixes, patches and upgrades are attended to in a timely fashion.

4.1.3 Arranging for frequent backups of site data and attachments.

4.1.4 Ensuring that domains are registered and/or renewed as required.

4.1.5 Ensuring that the sections of Club Scuderia are relevant to the membership’s requirements.

4.1.6 Ensuring that sponsors' logos are displayed correctly.

 

5.0 Moderator Responsibilities

 

5.1 The Moderators are responsible for the general enforcement of the Club Scuderia rules. In most instances they will deal with individual and/or simple issues concerning warnings and bans. If a more protracted discussion on a discipline issue is required it may be escalated to a committee decision.

 

5.1.1 General discipline of the membership (subscribed and unsubscribed)

5.1.2 Cleaning up threads/sections

5.1.3 Removing contentious material

5.1.4 Ensuring that the rules are enforced

 

6.0 Committee Responsibilities

 

6.1 Elections

 

6.1.1 Typically committee positions run for two years, with full elections being held bi-annually in February. There may be times when a committee member would wish to stand down before the completion of their term. If this happens within 4 months of the next full vote then the position remains unfilled until the next committee election. If they wish to stand down before this, then it may be necessary to run an interim election to ensure that the committee has adequate personnel to discharge its obligations to the membership. (Click here for election framework)

6.1.2 Sponsors are not permitted to occupy committee positions or moderate Club Scuderia. This is to remove any risk of Club Scuderia being steered in any direction that could potentially compromise or influence the experiences of the greater part of the membership for the benefit of the few.

6.1.3 Upon election a committee member is not permitted to hold an official position on any other forum that offers services that are in direct competition with Club Scuderia. If so, a member will not be able to take office or have access to the Management Section until they have resigned and left their position on the other forum. It is acknowledged to that it would be acceptable for the elected member to give up to a month's notice to enable an organised hand over of responsibilities on the other forum. Should the elected member not resign and leave that position within a month of the date of the election the right to a place on the committee will be forfeited and standard rules will apply for a replacement.

 

6.2 Responsibilities

 

6.2.1 Appointing administrators

6.2.2 Appointing moderators

6.2.3 Commenting and voting in extended disciplinary procedures.

6.2.4 Dealing with marketing and publicity,

6.2.5 Liaising with membership over events.

6.2.6 Making decisions on the expenditure of Club Scuderia

6.2.7 Answering sponsorship enquiries (although in reality that's normally done by the admin as first point of contact).

6.2.8 Issuing invoices and collect monies for all sponsors' contracts.

6.2.9 Organising (where appropriate) special offers/discounts on products and services for the subscribed members.

6.2.10 Assisting (where appropriate) in the organisation of regional/national events and consider requests for funding of same.

6.2.11 Please note: As the group elected to manage the running of Club Scuderia, the committee is able to make/amend policy without recourse to the general membership.

 

7.0 Code of Conduct.

 

7.1 The entire Club Scuderia management team are bound by the same set of rules that govern the general membership (subscribed and unsubscribed).

 

7.2 Whilst Club Scuderia Admins and Mods have a much higher level of control of the forum content and infrastructure, by agreeing to act in these roles, they undertake to not abuse this privilege.

 

7.3 Any messages sent via the Private Messaging System will only be accessed by the sender and the recipient, and will never be accessed by any of the Club Scuderia Management Team under any circumstances.

 

7.4 The abuse of this privilege will result in suspension from the Management Team.

 

7.5 The entire Club Scuderia Management Team will at all times act in the best interests of CLUB SCUDERIA and its Membership.

 

8.0 Ownership

 

8.1 Club Scuderia is owned jointly by all its subscribed members. Membership of Club Scuderia does not entitle any individual or collective members to any monetary, or other, recompense at any time.

 

8.2 Club Scuderia is not for sale and will remain collectively owned, and run for the benefit of its subscribed members

 

9.0 Contacting us

 

9.1 Club Scuderia can be contacted either by emailing admin@clubscuderia.co.uk or by post at Club Scuderia, PO Box 416, Beckenham, Kent, BR3 9BH