Preamble
We, the founding Michaels, in convocation assembled, recognizing the improbable and durable fact of our shared given name, and desiring to organize ourselves into a body capable of advancing the general betterment of all Michaels — and, where consistent with that aim, of such other persons as may from time to time be deemed worthy of our regard — do hereby establish and adopt the following Bylaws, to be binding upon ourselves, our successors, and the chapters severally chartered hereunder.
Article I — Name and Seat
§1. The body shall be known as The American Institute for Michaels (hereinafter, "the Institute"). The acronym AIM may be used in informal correspondence, on the Institute's seal, and upon stationery of the President's office.
§2. The Institute shall maintain its seat in such jurisdiction as the Board may by resolution appoint, provided that the seat shall at no time be located in a county whose population is less than ten thousand persons.
Article II — Purposes
§1. The Institute exists to connect Michaels across geography, faith, and profession; to foster the practice of honesty, excellence, and compassion; and to advance the social and intellectual infrastructure of Michael-hood.
§2. The Institute shall not engage in partisan political activity. It may, however, take positions on questions of nomenclature, civic letters, and the proper conduct of community life, where such positions are consonant with the practice of long-form patience.
§3. The Institute does not provide legal services, financial advice, or pastoral counsel, and shall not represent itself as competent to do so.
Article III — Membership
§1. Membership shall be open to any natural person bearing the given name Michael or any of its standardized variants as catalogued in the Institute's etymological register.
§2. Persons not bearing the canonical given name may, by lawful name change, become eligible for membership in accordance with the procedures set forth on the Friends page.
§3. Honorary membership may be conferred under Article VII, §3.
Article IV — The Board
§1. The affairs of the Institute shall be governed by a Board of not fewer than five and not more than nine Michaels in good standing.
§2. The Board shall convene quarterly. Three convenings per fiscal year shall constitute the minimum required for the valid conduct of business; in any year in which fewer convenings are achieved, the President shall submit a written explanation to the membership.
§3. A quorum of the Board shall consist of a simple majority of seated members. In the absence of a quorum, the senior Michael present may declare the meeting adjourned but may not transact business.
Article V — Officers
§1. The officers of the Institute shall be the President, the Recording Secretary, the Treasurer, and such other offices as the Board may from time to time create.
§2. The President shall preside at all general convenings, shall represent the Institute to the public, and shall sign such instruments as the Board may authorize.
§3. The Recording Secretary shall maintain the minutes of the Board, the standing register of fellows, and the correspondence files of the Institute. The Recording Secretary shall be a Michael of fastidious habits.
§4. The Treasurer shall keep the books of the Institute, shall report quarterly to the Board, and shall furnish the annual report to the membership.
Article VI — Chapters
§1. Local chapters may be chartered upon written application by no fewer than three Michaels resident in a common locality, accompanied by a statement of intended activities and a proposed meeting cadence.
§2. A chapter shall be deemed dormant if it fails to convene for four consecutive quarters; a dormant chapter may be revived upon written assurance from its coordinator that the conditions giving rise to dormancy have been resolved.
§3. No chapter shall publish under the Institute's seal without the prior written consent of the President.
Article VII — Fellows and Honorees
§1. The Standing Committee on Notability shall maintain the register of fellows, in accordance with the procedures published on the Notable Michaels page.
§2. The Committee shall meet not less than twice per fiscal year and shall report its actions to the Board at the first convening following each meeting.
§3. Honorary status may be extended to persons not bearing the canonical given name by two-thirds majority of the Board, after no fewer than two readings in open session, and shall be recorded in the honorary register.
Article VIII — Finances
§1. The Institute shall accept contributions in such denominations as the Treasurer deems administratively reasonable. The Institute shall not accept anonymous gifts in excess of one hundred dollars in any single fiscal year.
§2. The Institute's books shall be reviewed annually by an independent accounting practice retained for the purpose. The reviewer's letter shall be included in the annual report.
§3. The fiscal year shall coincide with the calendar year.
Article IX — The Mark
§1. The Institute's wordmark, seal, and visual presentation are governed by the standards published on the wordmark page. No member, chapter, or third party shall apply the mark in any manner inconsistent with those standards.
§2. The President is the sole authority on questions of mark application not addressed by the published standards.
Article X — Amendment
§1. These bylaws may be amended by two-thirds vote of the Board, provided that the proposed amendment has been circulated to all Board members not less than thirty days prior to the convening at which the vote is to be taken.
§2. Amendments to Articles I, II, or X shall additionally require ratification by a simple majority of all chartered chapters.
Article XI — Dissolution
§1. In the unlikely and undesirable event of the Institute's dissolution, all assets, after the satisfaction of outstanding obligations, shall be distributed to one or more charitable organizations selected by the final Board, with preference given to organizations whose work bears some plausible relation to the Institute's purposes as set forth in Article II.
§2. The Institute's archives shall, upon dissolution, be deposited with a research library of national standing.
Adopted by unanimous resolution of the founding Board, October 12, 2020.
Last amended: third quarter, fiscal 2025.