The Board of Directors (the Board) may endorse, on an annual review basis, any product or service provided those endorsed products or services meet the following qualifications:
Requests
Requests from product or service vendors for contracts to become licensed to sell logo fund raising products to member Clubs shall be submitted to the Senior Director of Finance for processing and review. Product or service must be national or international in scope.
Organization must provide evidence of corporate stability through submission of bank, customer, and trade references together with certified financial reports for the previous three (3) years.
Organizations shall be of character, ability and have a proven minimum 12-month record of success that could provide value to OI. No alcohol, tobacco, medical, multi-level marketing (products for companies where primarily emphasis or financial return to OI is in securing additional sales through the use of Optimist members or Clubs as sales agents) or products or services of questionable public acceptance shall be endorsed.
A proposed agreement will be prepared and submitted at the vendor's expense which may include, but not be limited to, a provision for royalties to OI, provision for indemnification and protection of OI and its member Clubs, and provision for early termination on 30, 60, or 90 days’ notice to either party, an option to renew, exercisable by OI, marketing provisions including advertising in the Optimist magazine, provision for measuring progress, and provision for protection of OI trademarks, trade names, and service marks.
Proposed agreements will be reviewed by the OI Audit and Finance Chair of OI for recommendation to the Board. All proposed agreements recommended for approval by the OI Audit and Finance Committee shall be reviewed by OI legal counsel before submittal to the Board.
The Board shall determine whether the proposed vendor agreement is within the purposes and objective of OI and its member Clubs, and whether it will be in the mutual benefit of all parties to approve said contract.
Exclusivity
Exclusive contracts for fund-raising product lines or services will be given to vendors in circumstances that are unique and determined by the Board to be in the best interest of OI. In those cases where an exclusive contract is granted, no competing vendor will be accepted as an exhibitor at the annual OI convention.
Promotion
It will be the responsibility of the vendor to promote and produce the product or service.