A new member asked me to explain who a BNI seat belongs to and a couple of associated questions. Thought it might be helpful to share the answer:
The owner of the seat in BNI is whoever signs the cheque. If it’s a company cheque or credit card it’s the company that owns the seat. If the individual pays and reclaims from the company, it’s the individual. This is only relevant if the individual leaves the company but wishes to retain the seat.
In either case the individual named on the application form is the member and if that person leaves and the company wish to appoint a replacement the Membership Committee has to approve that replacement. If the member needs a substitute, that can be a colleague from the same company but doesn’t need to be. Indeed it’s often best if a substitute is from a different company. Then the substitute could give referrals in his or her own right to members and might even want to join.
An individual can only be a member of a single Chapter but other individuals from the same business can join other Chapters. When considering an application from an individual whose company has a seat in another Chapter the Membership Committee may consider whether the company in question is capable of giving referrals to two or more Chapters.
Hope this is clear, if you need more clarification please ask.
