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Results from our Membership Survey - Join us November 8 to discuss

All members are invited to join our board of directors to discuss the ideas below.
We want to hear from you how Seeds of Diversity should maintain its strong governance, and democratic membership voting.

Register here  https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/seeds-of-diversity-membership-governance-discussion-tickets-1839557829989

Most of our members are mainly interested in our seed projects, and only a small number share a passion for voting and by-laws. In our recent membership survey, a significant number of members agreed that our membership structure should reflect those interests.

Do you agree that those who wish to participate in Annual Meetings should opt-in as "voting members", and those who prefer to simply participate in our projects and receive our communications should be "non-voting"?

We want to hear from you about how memberships should reflect the governance interests of our community of gardeners and seed savers. Whether you would prefer to be a "voting" member or "non-voting", your opinion helps to guide our board in the best direction.

Why did we ask you about this?

Seeds of Diversity has always been a stable, membership-governed organization. Members are invited to our Annual Meeting each year to cast their votes on the business aspects of the organization: our official financial statements, occasional amendments to our by-laws, and to elect members to our board of directors. We currently have about 3000 members, but only around 60 attend the Annual Meeting, and we have never had more than 100.

It is not unusual for a small number of members to participate in an organization's governance. Most of our members join to participate in our projects, to receive our communications, or to connect through local seed events. Like many other organizations, participation is not the same as governing. So why do we have only one voting structure?

Many organizations have found improved governance by allowing members to choose the role they want. If members identify themselves as being interested in attending our Annual Meetings, voting on by-law amendments, etc, then we can do a better job of informing them and including them in the governance process that they care about.

We think an opt-in choice for "voting memberships" can ensure Seeds of Diversity's continued stability and good governance, while keeping the door open for democratic participation by seed savers who want to participate in that role.

What did members say in the survey?

Our first question asked whether members should have to opt-in to obtain a voting status. Anyone who joins Seeds of Diversity would be able to participate in projects, like the Seed Exchange and the Community Seed Growouts, but would be non-voting by default, unless they made that second step to identify their interest in voting. The vast majority of responses agreed with this, and most of the rest wanted more details. We feel like we're headed in the right direction, and we hear that you want more information, so let's discuss it more.

Our second question asked whether the respondent would prefer to be voting or non-voting. We expected that members answering this survey would want to be voting members, but we were surprised that slightly less than half would make that choice. Again, governance, financial statements, bylaws, and voting are not everyone's interest. We're grateful to see that even members who would opt out of that duty were still inclined to answer the survey though!

Our last question invited members to join an advisory group to help us discern the best path for membership. A few said yes, some said maybe, and most said no thanks. Perhaps most of our members feel like things are going smoothly at Seeds of Diversity (which we feel is true too). We decided to invite everyone to a discussion on November 8, and if you answered yes or maybe to this question we'll be in touch for more consultation. (note that the survey was anonymous unless you asked to be contacted).

Actually, there were two more questions. One was about our quorum, which was inadvertently described as being very low - it is actually a sensible threshold that most organizations use, the same as the quorum for board meetings. And in addition we asked for any comments. You had lots of comments. Here are just a few of them, not even chosen for good looks, because they were all positive!

I'm keen to see Seeds of Diversity grow and evolve and I would like to find ways to be more involved with the organisation. Thanks for your hard work! Seeds are worth it.

 Kudos to the Board for considering these issues and demonstrating good governance. The voting member solution looks like an excellent way to bridge the different interests of members.

I’m impressed with the vision of a balance of inclusion and responsibility shown by these ideas. Thank you and keep on truckin’!

I think these changes are excellent. I am a retired lawyer who primarily advised in this area of practice and these are changes I would have strongly recommended!! It is part of your transition from a grassroots organization to something bigger and stronger and more effective forms of governance are needed!

Thank you to the dedicated people who keep Seeds of Diversity going.

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