You've received the agenda for the next meeting and note that a matter that is very important to you — or important to your group or organization — is on it. Maybe you support the idea for a fundraiser so more charitable work can be done in the community. Perhaps a decision needs to be made on naming scholarship recipients. Voting is to take place on a slate of officers and you're hoping that there will be new leadership, not another year of that chair. What can you do to ensure voting will happen and business will be valid?

Burn up Those Wires

It's time to get out that phone list of members. You do have a phone list of members, don't you? If your group or organization is large, divide up the list with other interested members, and start calling. You want to call as many members as you can to make certain that there will be not only a quorum for the meeting, but the number of members required for an affirmative vote.

Send up the Smoke Signals

An alternative to making phone calls is to e-mail or fax other members to make certain that they know that an important item will be on the agenda at your group or organization meeting. Keep the message as brief as possible while emphasizing the importance of their attendance at the meeting for passage of the motion. Include your phone number in case they want more information.

Be prepared for people to let you know they aren't in favor of your pet project. You can hope that they'll either change their minds after they hear debate or be outvoted. Or better yet, that they'll stay home. It's okay as long as you have a quorum.