Our bylaws are a nine-page legal document. Most people do not want to read one, and should not have to in order to understand how we operate. This page says what they establish, in plain language. The signed bylaws are on our accountability page and they are the authoritative version if anything here differs from them.
Who runs this
A board of between three and nine directors. Everyone serves as a volunteer. Directors serve two-year terms and can be re-elected once, then have to sit out a year before returning. That is deliberate. It stops a board becoming the same handful of people indefinitely.
The board is split into two groups whose terms end in alternating years, so the whole board is never replaced at once. There are three officers, all drawn from the board: a Chair, a Secretary and a Treasurer.
We are supposed to seek nominations from neighborhood organizations across Davidson County, and to aim for geographic spread rather than a board drawn from one part of town.
Members elect some of the board, not all of it
Membership is open to neighborhood leaders and to neighborhood organizations in Davidson County. Members in good standing vote on two things: electing directors, and dissolving the organization.
At least two board seats are reserved for members to elect. The board sets how many, and that number always stays below a majority. Members can also put a candidate on the ballot by petition of ten percent of members, independent of any nominating committee, which means the board cannot control who runs.
Each organizational member gets one vote regardless of its size. A large neighborhood association does not outvote a small one. There is no proxy voting, and the person chairing a meeting cannot waive that.
Our membership program is not open yet. Until it is, those seats are filled by the board and stand for election at the first annual meeting that reaches a quorum.
How money is controlled
Payments over $1,000 need two authorized signatures. Spending over $5,000 that is not in the approved budget needs full board approval. Signatories are named annually by board resolution.
We cannot lend money to a director, officer or employee. Reasonable expense advances are allowed, but they have to be documented and repaid within sixty days.
Once annual revenue passes $100,000, an independent accountant reviews our financial statements every year. Below that, the board does an internal review. That is where we are now.
What we are required to publish
Within 120 days of the end of each fiscal year, we owe members a report covering our activities and our finances. Our fiscal year is the calendar year.
Members can inspect our books and records on written request. Donor information and personnel records are excepted, and records obtained that way cannot be used commercially or to solicit for something unrelated to us.
The policies the board has adopted
Our bylaws require five written policies, and the board adopted all of them on August 3, 2026.
- Conflict of interest. Every director and officer signs an annual disclosure. Anyone with a conflict steps out of the discussion and the vote.
- Gift acceptance. What we will and will not accept, and how donors are acknowledged.
- Document retention. What we keep, for how long, and when records may be destroyed.
- Whistleblower protection. Anyone reporting suspected misuse of funds in good faith is protected from retaliation.
- Compensation. Nobody is paid at present. If that changes, the board has to review comparable data first, and the person concerned takes no part in the decision.
If we hired staff
The board can employ an executive director. That person would be an employee, not a board member, and could not vote or count toward a quorum. A sitting director who took the job would have to resign from the board first. They could not be present for any decision about their own pay, evaluation or continued employment.
Hiring anyone who is a director, an officer, or a family member of one requires board approval regardless of the amount.
Changing the bylaws, and ending the organization
Amending the bylaws takes a two-thirds board vote with fourteen days notice of what is being proposed. Amended bylaws go to all members within thirty days. We amended ours on August 4, 2026, in five separate votes, and the amendments are published alongside the bylaws themselves.
Dissolving the organization is harder, on purpose. It needs a two-thirds board vote and then approval by two-thirds of all members in good standing, counted against the whole membership rather than just those who turn up. Members get thirty days notice. Any assets left over go to another 501(c)(3) doing similar work. None of it can go to any individual.
Non-discrimination
Nashville Community Collective does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, veteran status, or any other protected characteristic in its programs, activities, membership or governance.
Something here unclear, or want the full document? Ask us. We would rather answer than have you guess.
