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the club

The Downers Grove Bicycle Club offers terrific bike riding opportunities throughout the year as well as social gatherings and friendships through our common interest in cycling. With about 95 members, we are small enough to get to know one another through rides and social activities. Our members include all levels of cyclists. Whatever your level of experience, we welcome you to join us.

Our Mission

  • To promote interest in the sport of bicycle riding at all levels;
  • To share information on bicycle safety, responsibility, bike maintenance and riding equipment;
  • To work with government officials and other groups to improve the rights of cyclists;
  • To provide fellowship among members by offering a variety of participation opportunities in scheduled club rides and social gatherings; and
  • To unite riders with similar riding levels and interests.

Membership Meetings

Membership meetings provide club business updates, open discussion on club activities and policies, and feature speakers on subjects of interest. Our meetings are held on the second Tuesday of the month throughout the year at Emmett's Brewing Company in the heart of downtown Downers Grove.

Administrative Functions

We are an all-volunteer organization with four elected officers and a host of appointed coordinators to administer club functions. Please let us know if you would like to help with any of these tasks or have any skills that may be useful to the club.

President 

  • Preside at club and Board meetings;
  • Create agenda for each Board meeting and send to Board several days prior to meeting;
  • Serve as ex-officio member of all committees;
  • Signatory on DGBC bank account;
  • Has general knowledge of all facets of club;
  • Direct individual Board members;
  • Attempt to attend all Board meetings, club meetings, and special events, such as Ride of Silence, Working Bikes Collection, Summer Picnic, and Holiday Party;
  • Additional duties as needed:
    • Support each Board member
    • Draft/send emails about upcoming events
    • Draft/send follow-up recaps of events to keep non-attending members informed
    • Work to establish and maintain relationships with area businesses
    • Create ad-hoc committees
    • Be an overall positive force within the club, promoting participation and social/advocacy involvement
Average Time Commitment: 1-2 hours per week, with the expectation that special events will cause a slight increase.

Vice President

  • Preside in absence of the president at Board meetings, club meetings, special events, or as otherwise agreed;
  • Serve as secretary in their absence at Board meetings;
  • Contribute to club leadership and direction;
  • Perform other duties as assigned by the president or Board;
  • Signatory on DGBC bank account.

Average Monthly Time Commitment: 2-4 hours, depending on availability of president, secretary and other ad-hoc assignments.

Secretary

  • Take minutes at Board meetings;
  • Submit written minutes to Board.
Average Monthly Time Commitment: 1-2 hours.

Treasurer

  • Per Club Bylaws: “The Treasurer will be the custodian of club funds.” The Club maintains a single bank account at Community Bank of Downers Grove (CBDG), and Treasurer is the primary contact at the bank and maintains records of bank documents. Account access information, including passwords, are maintained by the treasurer.
  • Per Club Bylaws: “The treasurer may make expenditures of club funds for regular and budgeted expenses within the expense approval guidelines. The Treasurer must approve any club expenditure less than $100. The Board must approve any expenditure greater than $100. Paid receipts, invoice or other written evidence of the expenditure, shall support all expenditures.” Treasurer maintains the check register and support for all club expenditures, along with required approvals.
  • Prepare an Annual Budget (approved by Board) for projected revenues and expenditures. Revenues, primarily member dues and fees/reimbursements for Club activities should be consistent with Membership rolls. As most revenues are collected through the memberplanet (MP) platform, the Treasurer should reconcile collected amounts to the membership counts in MP. Generally, memberplanet electronically transfers monies (reduced by their fees) into the CBDG account weekly, or when amounts are available in “slow season months”. The Treasurer has access to MP files including the transfer information which is used to reconcile bank deposits. Other miscellaneous collections, not thru MP, should be given to the Treasurer, who will prepare and make deposits at CBDG.
  • Prepare a monthly financial report for the Board. This generally will include all cash transaction detail (listing each check or other disbursement), for both current month and Year-to-Date. The report will include a reconciliation to the bank balance.
  • Responsible for the liability Insurance policy for the Club. The policy premium is paid in January each year to American Special, based on the expected member counts (usually the prior year-end counts).
  • Responsible for filing the Illinois Secretary of State Annual Report, due May 1. This includes updating officers and directors and requires a payment to the State. The Treasurer may also serve as Resident Agent for state purposes.
  • Manage payment forms for club functions aside from dues (holiday party, etc.)
  • Some charges in prior year have been set up through Paypal. There is a modest amount maintained in this account, which will debit the CBDG account as payments are made. Activity in this account is minor.
  • Signatory on DGBC bank account.
Average Monthly Time Commitment: 2-4 hours, including Board meetings

Advocacy Chair  

The Advocacy Chair’s role is to work to improve bicycling in Downers Grove to enhance cycling’s impact on transportation, recreation and health.

  • Chairs Advocacy committees:
    • Passport to Safety: early April, hosted by DG Fire Department and DG Park District
    • Cub Scout Troop 57 Bike Rodeo: Friday evening pack meeting, April
    • Founders Day Family Bicycle Ride: First Saturday in May. Work with DG Historical Society, obtain permits from the Village and Park District for starting at Fishel Park.  Invite local Village leaders.
    • Ride of Silence: Work with Village for permit, route approval and police escort.  Invite local Village leaders.
  • Advocacy Issues: Work on implementing bike/pedestrian plan, Bicycle Friendly Community
  • Optional: Attend National Bike Summit, Illinois Bike Summit, Active Trans meetings, Village council meetings

work with:

  • Ride Illinois: Ed Barsoti
  • Active Transportation Alliance: Maggie Melin
  • Forward DuPage: Anne Marchetti
  • DG Village Council: Mayor, Commissioners, Village Staff
  • DG Public Works Director: Naniel Newlon

Average Monthly Time Commitment: 5+ hours including Board meeting and club meeting. 

Digital Services Coordinator

  • Maintain club’s non-Facebook digital resources, including public and administrative web sites, Google Group and shared documents;
  • Recommend and develop new resources to support administrative objectives.
Average Monthly Time Commitment:
  • prepare & present Board and ad hoc status reports: 0 - 2.5 hours;
  • respond to administrator IT inquiries: 0 - 1 hours;
  • document, monitor, maintain and update digital resources: 0.5 - 4 hours;
  • recommend and develop new resources: 0+ hours.

Marketing Coordinator  (formerly Social Media)

  • Post club meeting notices/invitations to club website (Google calendar), Google email group and Facebook (public and members-only) groups;
  • Administer public and members-only Facebook groups;
  • Develop social media and other marketing materials for all events in coordination with special event committee chairs;
  • Act as press contact for all events.
Average Monthly Time Commitment: 2 hours

Membership Coordinator

  • Manage and track members in membership management system (currently memberplanet);
  • Send membership related emails, e.g. reminders to pay dues, etc.;
  • Propose best ways to use memberplanet for other club functions;
  • Administrator for memberplanet;
  • Lead efforts to attract and retain members, e.g., year-end member awards;
  • Monitor and report on membership data, including membership types, member profiles, referrals, and unpaid memberships.

Average Time Commitment:

  • 1-2 hours per week;
  • additional time in Q4 preparing memberplanet for the next season: 4 hours;
  • additional time processing new memberships in January: 1 hour/week.

Ride Coordinator

  • Develop and maintain a selection of weekly scheduled rides for different abilities (distance and pace);
  • Coordinate scheduled and ad hoc rides;
  • Post initial ride details and updates to Facebook, Google group and website calendar;
  • Recruit ride leaders for regularly scheduled rides;
  • Provide ongoing education for ride leaders as needed;
  • Collect and archive ride sign-in (release of liability) sheets;
  • Chair beginning of year Ride Leader Steering Committee to solicit input and direction on club rides.

Average Time Commitment: 1-2 hours per week, mostly to send out emails soliciting ride leader commitments and then publishing scheduled rides, posting to Facebook, Google distribution group and the club calendar.

Social Chair

The Social Chair’s role is to improve the value of club membership by providing social activities which allow members to know each other better thus developing stronger ties to the club.

  • Chair Social Committee;
  • Organize monthly social activities;
  • Plan and manage optional weekend away cycling trip;
  • Oversee planning and execution of Annual Club Picnic: Obtain Permit from DG Park District or Forest Preserve District and arrange for catering;
  • Oversee planning and execution of annual Holiday Party.

Average Monthly Time Commitment: 3+ hours, including Board and club meetings.