The purpose of the organization shall be to develop, through membership, an interest in and appreciation of the West Tennessee Area as related to the use of its natural and wild greenspace, parks, and recreation areas for outdoor recreation and activities pertaining and related to geocaching, benchmarking, and GPS usage, and to cooperate with other organizations that are working toward the conservation, preservation, and development of wilderness areas and recreational parks and greenspace.

Membership shall be open to all persons age 5 and above, interested in geocaching, regardless of race, creed, color, or gender. Membership may be individual or as a geocaching “team,” provided however that each member shall be entitled to one vote, thus a “team” would constitute one membership, regardless of the number of members of the “team.”

Types of memberships shall include: Founding Member - Persons who acquired membership by joining on or before the Founders Meeting held 29 January 2005 in Mason, Tennessee shall pay $10 for the first year and receive the designation “Founding Member.” Charter Member - Members joining on or before 31 July 2005 shall be designated “Charter” members. Standard Member - Members joining after 31 July 2005 shall be designated "Standard" members. Junior Member - Members age 5-12 must have written permission from a parent or legal guardian, and will be considered “Junior” members, with no dues or voting privileges. Junior members will become Standard members upon attaining age 13 and paying the appropriate dues at that time. Archived Member - The designation of "Archived" member shall be given to any GOWT member who has died. Honorary Member - The designation of "Honorary" member shall be awarded to persons showing extraordinary support for the cause of geocaching. Members may suggest appropriate recipients to the Leadership Committee at any time. Honorary memberships will be determined by a majority vote of the Leadership Committee.

Dues shall be $5 per year, payable on the first day of each calendar year for Founding, Charter, and Standard Memberships. Dues shall not be prorated for a partial year, except in that anyone joining on or after 1 October shall be considered paid in full for the remainder of the calendar year as well as the following calendar year. Renewals shall be $5 payable on the first day of each calendar year. Renewal of all memberships shall follow the same rules regardless of any designations given. The Leadership Committee shall have authority to set the amount of annual dues, and shall announce the amount of annual dues for the following calendar year no later than 1 December of each year. Members shall receive a membership card. Replacement cards are available to members in good standing for a fee of $2 each. All dues paid are non-refundable.

Members are expected to maintain standards of common courtesy in interacting with other geocachers and members of the general public. Members who post to the website forums or geocaching logs should refrain from rude, abusive, or lewd comments. Members who violate these guidelines are subject to disciplinary action up to and including revocation of membership.

Geocachers of West Tennessee has undergone a reorganization to better serve the West Tennessee geocaching community. The former governing structure of an executive committee was replaced with two committees; the Leadership Committee and the Advisory Committee. Members of each committee were appointed by the 12-member reorganization committee, and make up an experienced and diverse cross-section of our membership.

Each Member of the Leadership Committee is chosen by a simple majority vote of the Advisory Committee. All members of the Leadership Committee are of equal rank. Prospective Members of the Leadership Committee must first be members of the Advisory Committee. New Members of the Advisory Committee shall be chosen by simple majority of the then serving Advisory Committee. A two thirds majority of the Advisory Committee is required to remove a member of the Leadership Committee. A two thirds majority of the Leadership Committee is required to remove a member of the Advisory Committee. Members of the Leadership Committee shall serve for one calendar year. Each member must be actively reappointed by majority vote of the Advisory Committee each December, else their position will automatically vacate. Two members of the Leadership Committee, chosen by agreement of the Leadership Committee, shall have joint authority over club finances. One member shall be responsible for maintaining accurate financial records and shall provide a quarterly report of such to the membership within 30 days of the end of each calendar quarter. Routine recurring expenses may be paid at the discretion of the Leadership Committee. Non-recurring expenses must be approved by majority vote of the Advisory Committee.

We hope that these changes will have a positive impact on geocaching in West Tennessee. Plans for the GOWT Anniversary event in January and a GOWT CITO are in the making. Suggestions may be sent to membership@gowt.org