How to Form a Chapter

Putting together an employee development chapter of NMA doesn’t have to be a daunting task. We’ve made it easy for you, with guidelines, sample materials, and promotional tools for you to modify to fit your own particular needs. The NMA staff will work with you to make it a learning and enjoyable process.  Five basic steps will get you on your way:

  1. Find the right person to spearhead the formation process

  2. Ask a respected senior executive to publicly support the idea

  3. Contact NMA for staff assistance and a suggested “boilerplate”

  4. Put together a “Steering Committee” or “Formation Committee”

  5. Follow our “30-60 Days to Forming an NMA Chapter” guidelines


Whether you’re constructing a company chapter (within the confines of a particular business or industry) or a community chapter (with anticipated membership from multiple businesses) some commonalities apply. First and foremost, you need a key individual who can drive the decision through the organization or the community.

In a company chapter, that individual is most often the Vice President of Human Resources or another member of executive management. Sometimes it’s the CEO. Support from top management is absolutely essential. They must be convinced that an NMA chapter can become a partner in helping the organization “grow” its employees and achieve its mission and vision. Once he or she decides that an NMA chapter will be a value-added business partner, they have the resources and the connections to appoint a Steering Committee or Formation Committee… and “make it happen”.

For community chapters, you will be looking for that well-connected “sparkplug” who can help you reach out to business owners, entrepreneurs, and other community leaders. He or she must understand that by pooling resources and jointly sponsoring the formation of a chapter, everyone can have an extremely cost-effective vehicle for developing employees and growing each and every organization. An added benefit comes from the ability to share best practices and lessons learned between and among various businesses.


So, your first goal is to get a decision made: “Yes, we will form a chapter and be visible in our support of its development”. As you set out, contact NMA headquarters and let us know that you are spearheading a drive to start a chapter. We can assist you as you go through the website and showcase the online and human resources available to you. We have several stock publications and other tools which can help you explain the benefits of NMA affiliation. Often times, we can put you in contact with sister organizations and/or other business partners of yours which have in-house NMA chapters. In short, we can put you in touch with colleagues and peers who currently work within the NMA family of affiliates. Often, there is a member of the NMA Board of Directors in your community or a chapter close-by – people ready to work with you, hand-in-hand. If not, the NMA staff will work with you electronically, by phone, and even in person, if need be. Remember… you are not alone!

In a company chapter, history teaches us that if the CEO appoints a committee to get the chapter up and running, you are well on your way to success. It’s that old principle: “The jobs that get rewarded are the jobs that get done.” In a community organization, it’s much the same. There’s always a community leader or a business person who has “clout” and who can help you identify and contact the “right” organizations which might be interested in participating.

Once a Formation Committee has been identified, it’s simply a matter of sitting down with the team and making sure that they understand what an NMA employee development chapter entails… and what their “assignment” is, in terms of putting together the foundation on which the chapter will build and grow.

To assist you, NMA has an abbreviated formation process which we call “30-60 Days to Forming an NMA Chapter”. Those steps are as follows:

30-60 Days to Forming an NMA Chapter


1.   First Meeting (1 hour)

Select your formation coordinator. Using the NMA Sample Bylaws as a guideline, the coordinator assigns teams to prepare Articles as they apply to the new chapter. Assign volunteer to do physical changes of the Bylaws for review by the group.  Results should be brought to next meeting for final review and approval.

Sample company Chapter Bylaws        Sample Community Chapter Bylaws

Article I - Name (Have everyone list suggested names on paper submit to coordinator prior to next meeting.)
Article II – Mission and Purposes (assign to team)
Article III – Membership (assign to team)
Article IV – Dues (assign to team)

2.    Second Meeting (1 hour)

  1. Conduct a preliminary review of suggested chapter names submitted by committee members.
    Review, wordsmith, and approve Article II, Article III, and Article IV. 

  2. Review, wordsmith, and approve Article II, Article III, and Article IV.  (Assign volunteer to do physical changes of Bylaws as they are changed by the group.)

  3. Using the sample Bylaws as a guideline, coordinator should assign teams to prepare the following Articles for the chapter being formed.  Results should be brought to the next meeting for final review and approval.

Article V - Officers
Article VI - Committees
Article VII - Board of Directors
Article VIII - Nominations and Elections
Article IX - Meetings
Article X - Amendments
Article XI - Dissolution

3.    Third Meeting (2 hours)

  1. Review Article recommendations, wordsmith, (painful), and approve.

  2. Select officers (could be steering committee volunteers for first year).

  3. President should make committee chair selections prior to next meeting.

  4. Assign a team to develop skeleton program plan for the upcoming year 1.

  5. The Treasurer should meet with officers to develop a tentative budget which could be approved at the next meeting.

  6. Review suggested chapter names and have group rank them in the order of preference.  Take a vote on the 3 highest ranked names and insert name in Bylaws.

4.    Fourth Meeting (1 hour)

  1. Announce committee chair selections

  2. Approve Program Plan

  3. Approve Budget

  4. Select charter date

  5. Treasurer and President should open bank account for chapter.

  6. Complete and submit Application for Charter to NMA.  (Don't forget to include your charter fee with the form!)

READY FOR CHARTER!