Electronic Meetings.

#3.  The 11^th edition of RONR has added pages concerning electronic meetings.  Although many people want to do things electronically they often don’t know how to do it. The book gives procedures to consider.  The highest use of electronic means in organizations is e-mail communication.  To save money many want to send out notices of meetings by e-mail.  See page 89.  It states, “When notice is required to be sent, unless a different standard is specified that requirement is met if written notice is sent to each member either: a) by postal mail to the member’s last known address; or b) by a form of electronic communication, such as e-mail  or fax, by which the member has agreed to receive notice.”  The key here is “by which the member has agreed to receive notice.”  Organizations should have a policy that about electronic notice.  The Washington State Non Profit Code has a law that authorizes e-mail notifications and also states what the procedure should be. The code requires organizations to have a signed record that the person wants to receive notifications by e-mail and a provision for opting out of it.  All organizations who want to do e-mail notification should consider something similar to what this code requires—have a signed record that proves the person wants to receive e-mail notifications and a way to opt out and return to getting the notice by mail.