Your Organization and NGS

Your organization becomes eligible to participate in programs and receive services and benefits as soon as it joins as an organization member of NGS. But how does an organization participate? Through its individual people.

Every organization has two contacts with NGS: the delegate and the administrator. Those people are the conduits for the relationship of your organization with NGS. We hope you and others in your organization find the information below helpful with understanding the roles of delegate and admin.

Download the Society & Organization Member Benefits Guide to learn more about specific resources admins and delegates access for your organization. If you need to add an admin or delegate to your organization’s account, or update who is linked in one or both of those roles, please email the NGS Organizations and Communities Manager with the name and email address of any individual who should be linked (we ask that an email belong only to the individual and not be a generic or role-based address).

What are Delegates and Administrators?

Your organization should assign a delegate and an administrator to your account with NGS. Each of these people has a valuable role to play.

Being a delegate to NGS is a important job. As a delegate, you are the official representative of your organization to NGS and the primary contact for all communication from NGS to your organization. You represent your organization’s needs to NGS and cast your organization’s votes for the NGS Board of Directors and other elections. You also are a member of the Delegate Council (see below), an advisory body to NGS.

As an administrator, you are a second contact and the person in your organization assigned to manage your membership account with NGS. Admins can update who is the delegate or admin, maintain contact information in the NGS database, and pay dues online. Many of the organization member benefits, particularly items on the NGS website, are available only through your administrator account link (this is accessed through your individual personal account after you log in to the NGS website).

The delegate and admin should be different people but can be the same person in extraordinary circumstances.

What is the Delegate Council?

As part of the agreement to merge, the Federation of Genealogical Societies (FGS) and NGS agreed to establish an advisory committee for member organizations. We chose to create a group of delegates similar to the way FGS operated for over 40 years. That group is the Delegate Council. The purpose of the Council is “Building the Community of Genealogy Organizations through Collaboration, Communication, and Counsel.” The Council is responsible for:

• providing advice on genealogy and family history issues to the NGS Board of Directors,
• providing advice to the Board on how NGS can best serve genealogy and family history organizations, and
• implementing programs that are delegated to it by the Board or that delegates recommend and approve.

The Council is authorized in the NGS Bylaws, Article XIII Section 4. The delegates meet annually in conjunction with the NGS Family History Conference. There also are meetings held online via Zoom on a quarterly basis. The delegates establish their own procedures subject to approval by the Board. A chair and chair-elect (who serves as vice chair) are elected from among the delegates.

The Board recruited Dawn Carey Henry and Sam Williams to serve as the initial chair and vice chair, and an organizing workshop/training was held in May 2021. A steering committee is now in place to work with the elected leadership and guide the work of the Council. The available recordings from the May 2021 workshop and other events can be found on the NGS YouTube channel.

Why Does Your Organization Need a Delegate?

Your organization has a voice in NGS through the Delegate Council. Every NGS member organization has one vote in the Council on motions and resolutions, and as the delegate you cast that vote. You also vote on the leaders of the Council itself.

As a delegate, you also facilitate communication with NGS. You bring news from NGS (conference news, RPAC issues, webinars, and so on) to your home organization as appropriate. NGS news and announcements can be made at your meetings, in your newsletters, as a part of your website or blog, or in your organization’s email blasts. You are also tasked with keeping NGS up-to-date on your organization’s activities, meeting information, achievements, and so on by communicating with NGS (we may want to share announcements in NGS Magazine). You also coordinate with your admin to make sure your organization is making the most of its membership in NGS and using resources.

Delegate Job Description

To sum it up, a delegate’s job includes:

1. being the primary advocate in your organization for NGS and bringing ideas or concerns to NGS from your organization
2. encouraging others in your organization to support national, state, local, and specialty genealogy societies and organizations
3. attending delegate meetings, especially the one in-person meeting with the Family History Conference if at all possible, and the NGS Annual Membership Meeting
4. voting in NGS elections and on motions and resolutions during delegate meetings
5. disseminating information about NGS conferences and events to your organization
6. updating NGS on news in your organization
7. participating in webinars and other forums on topics related to genealogy organization management and encouraging your board or appropriate leadership for your organization to participate as well

Why Does Your Organization Need an Administrator?

Someone from your organization has to maintain your membership account. NGS needs a person to receive your organization’s online member benefits and serve as a point of contact for distributing programs and services to your organization. We also need to know who is responsible for receiving and paying your organization’s dues invoice each year. As the account administrator, that person is you.

Administrator Job Description

The admin’s job includes:

1. maintaining your organization’s membership account with NGS and accessing most benefits on behalf of the organization
2. ensuring your organization’s profile is current and making changes as needed
3. ensuring that your delegate is identified and their contact information is correct
4. paying the dues online to renew annually (if the admin has an organization credit card)
5. reading NGS Magazine for tips, ideas, news, and other information and sharing what you’ve read with your organization’s leaders (this is offered in case the admin and leaders are not individual members of NGS – note that the magazine and journal are primarily individual member benefits and should not be distributed freely)
6. assisting with submitting bylaws for a review, facilitating nominations of your organization’s members and leaders for awards that recognize their hard work, and submitting your organization’s events and activities to ConferenceKeeper

If you have any questions regarding delegate or admin duties or your organization’s membership, please don’t hesitate to email us at [email protected]