National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization Board of Directors Campaign Guidelines

Revised 2009

1. Information about candidates will be disseminated to NHPCO voting members via NHPCO publications including the NHPCO Web site, www.nhpco.org.
2. Information provided by the candidates in their nomination packages will be shared with the membership.  Staff will draw from the biographical profile, campaign statement and the nominee survey and questionnaire in preparing candidate profiles for the membership.  These profiles may appear in any of NHPCO’s publications and or communications, including but not limited to the NHPCO Website, NewsLine, NewsBriefs, and broadcase e-mails.
3. With the candidate’s approval, NHPCO will provide mechanisms to help voting members contact candidates.  In the past this has been done via an e-mail link on the NHPCO Web site.
4. Candidates may engage in additional campaign activities subject to the following limits set by the NHPCO Governance Committee:
   1. Candidates are limited to $500 in campaign expenditures
   2. During NHPCO Conferences and Meetings candidates are prohibited from distributing literature or active campaigning during, immediately prior to, or after any NHPCO educational session (plenary, concurrent, preconference seminar).  In addition, NHPCO staff may not be called on or offer to support a campaign in anyway.
   3. Limits on the display of signs or posters during NHPCO conferences and events will be determined by the rules of the facility as well as NHPCO staff judgment regarding safety and integrity of the event.  These limits will be unique to each location.
   4. Candidates shall not use NHPCO e-mail distribution lists for campaign purposes.
5. Campaign literature is defined to include but is not limited to flyers, brochures, posters, buttons, stickers, t-shirts, and other give-away items bearing the candidate’s name, slogan, picture, etc.
6. Use of My.NHPCO Social Networking site
   1. Candidates may send messages to people who are listed in their personal My.NHPCO contacts list.
   2. Candidates may not send messages using My.NHPCO Networks, Communities, or e-groups.  This includes any reference to the candidacy such as modifying the My.NHPCO signature block to include “Candidate for NHPCO Board” or similar language.
   3. NHPCO staff will set up e-groups candidates may use for campaigning via My.NHPCO.
7. Candidates for a Geographic Area seat are encouraged to address the attendees of the Geographic Area meetings held during NHPCO conferences.

Failure to follow these guidelines may result in the candidate being removed from the ballot.