Steps in Organizing a Chapter
of the Order of Confederate Rose
South Carolina Society

This page updated October 2003.

1.    To form a local Chapter in SC, you must have
       A.  7 members, and 
       B.   the sponsorship of an SCV Camp in the SC Division

2.    You may recruit your members by using a brochure such as the sample. Be sure to add the contact person, address, phone and email for your new chapter. To recruit members, you may:

       A. Contact the SC Society to see if there are any members-at-large in your area.

       B. Contact the commander of the local Sons of Confederate Veterans camp. Ask the commander to invite the wives and /or families of the members to a camp meeting and recruit the wives who attend. You may even make arrangements with the commander for you to speak at a local meeting to explain the functions of the OCR.

       C. Put an ad in the local SCV newsletter, your local newspaper, or the state SCV newsletter (The Palmetto Partisan). 

3.    During your organizational meeting, you will need to decide on a chapter name, elect officers (or provisional officers to act until an election can be held), appoint a member to represent your chapter in the Society’s Executive Council, complete the charter application, and have each member complete an application. 

4.    Once you have accomplished the above steps, 4. and 5. may be done in either order or concurrently:

       A. Send to the Society: the charter application, the charter members’ applications, a recommendation letter from the sponsoring SCV camp, and the agreed amount of dues/assessments ($10.00 per new member; $5 for renewal or transfer members). The SC Society will contact you with an approximate date in which your charter will arrive so that you may set a date for your chartering meeting.

       B. Start writing your constitution and bylaws. Samples from other chapters will be made available. They should not conflict with the SC Society bylaws.

       C. Choose a chapter logo, if desired. The SCV will not allow use of its logo; so do not incorporate it into yours.

       D. Optionally, plan for a Membership Certificate to be presented to the chartering members. They may include the name of the SC Society President, but a society signature is not required. 

5.    These steps are for the benefit and protection of your chapter and its members. There is no firm rule that you must do this unless you intend to solicit funds from the public (including accepting donations, selling tickets, and furnishing your services for a donation).

       A. As soon as the name of the chapter is chosen (you may wish to check with the Society to see if another chapter is already using that name), you should request a Federal Employer Identification Number (EIN). Form SS-4 is available from the IRS website.  You can get the EIN number on the same day if you telephone using the phone/fax method, or a long time if using snail-mail.

       B. Start a checking account (using the EIN). Order checks.

       C. File for an exempt status with the Public Charities Division of the Secretary of State’s office. There is no charge for this filing, but it must be renewed every year on July 1 (they will send you a notification each year).

       D  File as a non-profit corporation with the Secretary of State’s office. A blank form and sample are available from the Society. The cost is currently a one-time fee of $25.00. This should be done after the non-profit exemption filing is received so that the Revenue Dept. won’t ask you to submit a tax report.

       E. Please note that I am not an attorney. Most of the SC Codes & Laws are available on the web and those addresses are listed. 

6.    A. Have your chartering meeting. You may wish to invite a Society officer and the SCV Camp commander to attend this special meeting, or this may be at the SCV Camps meeting. Spouses can be invited to this or any other meeting, as your chapter wishes. Your OCR Charter can be presented (a Society officer or representative or SCV commander can do this). Optionally, present members with membership certificates. Take pictures and write an article to submit to the Society and your local newsletters, the local and state division newsletters, or your local newspaper, and our websites.

       B. Send your representative to the Society Executive Council meetings. The Council will meet several times a year.  Many of these meetings take place via email, so it is helpful if the Rep has access to the internet. All members of chapters and members-at-large are invited to register for and attend the SC Division Meeting held each spring. New members and chapters may be formally introduced at that time. 

Andrea Wolfe, President SC Society OCR
 130 Upper Loop Way, Columbia, SC  29212 
 803-360-3745  
  ocr@15thregtscvols.org 

It is up to each OCR Chapter and their SCV Camp to determine if they will meet at the same time or separately. This will help determine the membership eligibility rules to put in your new chapter’s bylaws. For example, will you want only SCV spouses/relatives or will you allow others to join? Will your chapter be adults only, or allow junior members? If so, what membership benefits and what dues for the children? Will you allow both men and women?