Hey Larry,
It is good to hear from you! Thanks for the accolades! 
If we look at our organization from a political viewpoint, republic would be probably as close of a description as possible. Actually, we are an Iowa nonprofit corporation, made up of members. The memberships are renewable expiring term, which means a member pays dues for a set term, once these dues run out, without renewal, the membership will expire. Citizenship in a republic is non expiring. Another difference is we have no provision that would prevent concurrent membership, any member if they wished could pay for more than one membership, an example would be if you wanted to have 1,000 memberships, you could send in $30,000, the corporation would be required to issue you 1,000 member numbers, send you 1,000 membership cards, and provide you with the same benefits each member recieves, 1,000 times over. I have never known this to occur, but it is a possibility. Consecutive memberships might be a touchy area, a motion was passed in a board meeting shortly after the dues were raised which limited consecutive dues to 2 terms. since the board has no authority to amend bylaws, and there is nothing concerning this policy in print, this issue could be brought into question, if a member wanted to do it. The board authority is to set the dues amount. In the case of our dues increase, I believe this was not legal. Our bylaws gives  specific authority for this, the annual dues must be set forth in the bylaws, or determined by the BOD. Since the annual dues amount is not set forth in the bylaws, it must be determined by the BOD. This was not done, but rather a motion was accepted at that membership meeting to raise the dues, and it passed. there is no authority for this action, thus, I would contend it to be an illegal action. Had I been a little better versed in bylaws at that time, I would have raised a point of order, drawing the action into question. I reminds me of our state legislature here in dealing with the no smoking issue, they turned it over to the county health departments to regulate, because they didn't even want to deal with the 'hot potato', specifically in tobacco growing counties.
 I would agree that members should be more active in providing input to the board members. I have often felt that major issues addressed by the BOD should be postponed until they could be brought up at a membership meeting, and membership opinion is addressed. This is rarely done. Rather, those who present these issues often will give the impression that if immediate positive action is not taken, the deal will go away forever! What a crock!!! One of my first jobs was selling Electrolux vacuum cleaners, that was exactly what they told us to do in sales classes. If you don't take this deal right now, it will go away, never to return! You know what? If one of our calls had come back at any later date and offered to buy at the proposed price, any of us would have 'extended' the deal because they were such a good customer, and were deserving of that favor!!!! LOL I believe it would be beneficial for the BOD to use the postponement provisions a little more often, thus getting a better handle on the will of the members.
 It is an honorable endeavor to serve your fellow members, no doubt I am in agreement with this. On numerous occasions in the past I have had BOD member, some, not all of them, make the point that since they attend meetings on their own nickle, they feel they deserve some sort of special treatment, and I have even been asked to make this point to the members. I sort of see where they are coming from, as it is costly as well as time consuming. I can also see on the directory page in our magazine where 'special treatment' is rendered. Our officers, and directors have their names listed at the top of the page, in a prominent location in the magazine. Is that not sufficient? A good member, whenever possible, will contribute as much as one would feel comfortable doing so. If it becomes uncomfortable, one should reassess, and do differently! Sometimes I think, and I might be thinking incorrectly, that some of our BOD, not all of them, could reevaluate their position, and it could be enormously beneficial to them as well as the members. As you note, it is an honor to serve, the members have bestowed upon you the great honor of representing their interest, I wish all would have that viewpoint!!!!

Have a great day!!!

Andy