Writing a Constitution

Why is a Constitution Important?

A constitution is the founding document of your organization and provides a basic governing structure. It outlines your mission, goals, officer responsibilities, meeting rules, and membership requirements. A constitution is also important to provide consistent leadership, as it will be passed on to future officers.

Constitution Writing Tips

• Bring all stakeholders together, including your advisor and founding members, to write the Constitution.
• Start by writing your mission, which is a statement that explains your group's purpose.
• Write your constitution in a broad manner, so that future leaders can use it.
• Write your constitution with the future in mind. Do not use proper names, dates, locations, and exact meeting times.
• Keep your constitution in an editable digital format (Microsoft Word document), a permanent digital format (pdf) for web use, and a hard copy in print.
• Distribute your constitution (or have available on the web) each year so that all members are familiar with the rules of the organization.

Sample Constitutions

General Constitution

Culture-Specific

Issue-Oriented

Pre-Professional

Academic Competition

Performance

Recreational