Organizational Membership – Alliance of Digital Humanities Organizations

Individual Members | Organizational Members

Types of Membership

Organizations may become part of ADHO as Constituent Organizations (COs) or Affiliated Organizations (AfOs). A Constituent Organization is a core association within ADHO that represents a large-scale, recognized, and coordinated digital humanities community. COs are full members of ADHO, sharing income from membership fees and having a representative on the Constituent Organizations Board (COB), the main governing body of ADHO.

There are organizations that do not meet this definition, or that wish to have a less formal relationship with ADHO. These organizations may wish to join as Affiliated Organizations, a status that allows associations with a more specific scope or goal (region, subject, discipline, method) to join the ADHO community. This is a mutual recognition; it has no financial consequences and does not give access to representation in ADHO’s bodies.

Become a Constituent Organization of ADHO:

Why become a Constituent Organization of ADHO?

The Alliance of Digital Humanities Organizations (ADHO) promotes digital research and teaching across the humanities, serving as an umbrella organization for Constituent Organizations (COs). We are dedicated to becoming a truly international alliance and welcome regional and international digital humanities organizations. Benefits of becoming a Constituent Organization (CO) of ADHO include:

Providing all of these benefits to your individual members;
Full and equal representation on ADHO’s Constituent Organizations Board;
Opportunities to nominate members from your organization to serve on ADHO’s Executive Board and other standing and ad hoc committees;
In-name sponsorship opportunities for your organization’s events and conferences;
Broadcasting your events, projects, and research to a wider audience with assistance from ADHO’s Communications Team;
Opportunities for your members to bid to host the annual Digital Humanities conference;
Opportunities to apply for one-time project-based funding from ADHO;
Discounted registration fees for your members at conferences sponsored by ADHO;
Your members can become involved with ADHO Special Interest Groups;
Your members support open access publications;
Your organization may optionally register members through a subscription to DSH: Digital Scholarship in the Humanities.

Whom do I contact with questions about my organization applying to become a Constituent Organization?

For inquiries and guidance through the process of becoming a CO, please send an inquiry to adho@adho.org.

What are the eligibility requirements for becoming a Constituent Organization?

Your organization needs to comply with the Admissions Protocol requirements, including sharing ADHO’s values, aims, and objectives, and be democratically and fairly organized.

Also, you need to consider the nature and selection of ADHO constituents, as described in ADHO’s 2022 Governance Protocol and 2023 Admissions Protocol:

ADHO is an alliance of Constituent Organizations (COs).
New COs will be admitted by a ¾ majority vote of the ADHO Constituent Organizations Board (COB).
COs represent a digital humanities community that has a significant and definable scope at regional, national, linguistic, or other large-scale level and takes responsibility for advocacy in that context.
COs share ADHO’s aims and objectives, with the commitment to support and promote the application of computational approaches and digital technologies in humanistic research and teaching.
COs are organized democratically and fairly, and have a formally written and adopted constitution or equivalent, with an elected representative governance structure providing for regular elections and committee renewal.
COs have a legally and financially valid basis for receiving and disbursing the organization’s funds.
COs have a formalized and documented membership requiring regular payment of individual and/or institutional membership fees.
COs are legitimate in their areas, by various measures including the number of individual (typically at least 40) and/or institutional members (typically at least 20), record of activities, and length of time established.
COs are willing to provide, on a reciprocal basis, benefits to individual and institutional members of other COs.
Special Interest Groups (SIGs) may be affiliated either with ADHO or with a particular Constituent Organization, as appropriate and as negotiated at the time of each SIG’s approval.

How long does it take to become a Constituent Organization?

There is no set timeline to be admitted as a Constituent Organization of ADHO. However, the steps for admittance (if approved by the COB) have usually taken 2 to 3 years.

Adapted from the Admissions Protocol, the admittance steps are:

The interested organization submits an expression of interest to the Admissions Committee or adho@adho.org.
One or more persons nominated from the interested organization meet with one or more members of the Admissions Committee for a preliminary discussion.
The interested organization prepares an initial application letter in collaboration with the Admissions Committee. The requirements are available in the Admissions Protocol (section 6).
The Admissions Committee responds to the initial application, raising questions or proposing changes.
Once an agreed draft is produced, the Admissions Committee submits the proposal to the ADHO Executive Board (EB), which then prepares one or more financial models showing the projected consequences if the applicant association were admitted on the basis proposed in the draft application.
The previous steps are repeated as many times as each party feels will be useful, for example if any elements of the applicant association’s pre-existing constitution or by-laws are standing in the way of compliance with ADHO protocols, or if financial modeling suggests alternative options or scenarios.
The ADHO Admissions Committee prepares and submits a formal response to the initial application, raising questions or proposing changes.
During any of the above steps, a representative of the prospective CO may request, or may be invited, to attend meetings of the COB or EB in a non-voting, observer capacity.
At the point of being finalized, the proposal is submitted to the ADHO COB for its consideration.
The COB meets and makes a decision on whether to admit the new CO, which requires a ¾ majority vote as specified in the Governance Protocol.
If the ADHO COB determines to admit the new CO, the CO will be invited to nominate a member to the ADHO Constituent Organization Board (COB), and to the various ADHO standing committees.

Does ADHO have legal standing?

Yes, ADHO has legal standing as the Stichting ADHO Foundation, a charitable organization established in the Netherlands in 2013.

How is my organization represented in ADHO?

The Constituent Organizations Board (COB) is ADHO’s governing body, and it votes to enact policies to the benefit of the Alliance and of all of ADHO’s Constituent Organizations (CO). The COB is composed of one representative from each of ADHO’s COs and is led by a president who is elected by the COB from among its representatives. The COB conducts its business throughout the year over email, and meets in person (when possible) at least once a year, usually during the annual Digital Humanities conference.

More details on ADHO governance, including an organigram, are available here.

Become an Affiliated Organization of ADHO:

Why become an Affiliated Organization of ADHO?

The Alliance of Digital Humanities Organizations (ADHO) promotes digital research and teaching across the humanities, and we welcome Affiliated Organizations (AfO) in our community.

Benefits of becoming an Affiliated Organization (AfO) of ADHO include:

Recognition as part of the ADHO community;
Being mentioned on ADHO’s website and communications;
Your members can become involved with ADHO Special Interest Groups;
Opportunities for collaboration or joint sponsorship of various activities, e.g. bursaries, projects, workshops, or training courses.

Whom do I contact with questions about my organization applying to become an Affiliated Organization of ADHO?

For inquiries and guidance through the process of becoming an AfO, please send an inquiry to adho@adho.org.

What are the eligibility requirements for becoming an Affiliated Organization?

Your organization may be considered for admission to ADHO as an Affiliated Organization provided:

Your organization’s values, aims and objectives are consistent or complementary to those of ADHO.
Your organization represents an independent entity and is not part of a larger institution such as a university or other institutions. If an entity is part of another institution it can join ADHO as an institutional member of a CO.
Your organization has a more specific scope or goal (region, subject, discipline, method) in comparison to a CO.

How long does it take to become an Affiliated Organization?

There is no set timeline to be admitted as an Affiliated Organization (AfO) of ADHO.

Adapted from the 2023 Admissions Protocol, the admission steps are:

The interested organization submits an expression of interest to become part of ADHO to the Admissions Committee or adho@adho.org.
One or more persons nominated from the interested organization meet with one or more members of the ADHO Admissions Committee for a preliminary discussion.
The interested organization prepares an initial application letter in collaboration with the ADHO Admissions Committee. The requirements are available in the Admissions Protocol (section 8).
The Admissions Committee responds to the initial application, raising questions or proposing changes.
Iteration of previous steps as many times as each party feels will be useful.
The final application of the interested organization is submitted by the Admissions committee to the ADHO EB, and then the COB.
The ADHO COB meets and makes a decision on whether to admit the new AfO, which requires approval at the level specified in the 2022 Governance Protocol.

How is my organization represented in ADHO?

While AfOs are a valued part of the ADHO community, their status is different from that of the Constituent Organizations (COs) of ADHO. The individual or institutional members of an AfO are not eligible for benefits offered to members of COs. There is no financial relationship between ADHO and an AfO, and it does not have representation on the ADHO COB or ADHO standing committees. More details on ADHO governance, including an organigram, are available here.