How are the three presenting charities chosen?

Members nominate charities on joining, and again in the weeks before each quarterly meeting. All those nominated charities go into a database, which is then weeded of ineligible organizations. The remaining eligible charities are put into a hat and three organizations are drawn at random three weeks before a quarterly meeting. The three organizations are invited to give a short five-minute presentation at the meeting. If a charity declines, or is unable to present, another charity is chosen from the database. The identity of the three presenting charities is not revealed until the meeting is underway.