Creating an Effective Board Meeting Agenda

A well-organized board meeting begins with an agenda that gives the context and sparks discussion for the whole effective board meeting agenda group. A well-crafted agenda for the board meeting also results in effective minutes that are precise and concise, but also convey the full range of discussions, even when those minutes alter or expand the original agenda items.

The agenda for the board meeting should begin with a brief introduction noting that this is an extremely important meeting for the organization. This will help establish the tone for the remainder of the meeting, and ensure that everyone knows their roles and responsibilities in this context.

After the introduction and reminder, it’s time to go through any previous minutes and move on to report presentations, for example executive director or committee reports. In time, you’ll get a sense for how long it takes to go through these types of reports and can alter the time allotted to your agenda according to the report’s length.

Now is the time to discuss any new projects and initiatives, or anything else that will help your nonprofit increase awareness, increase members and donors, offer more opportunities for volunteers, and reach its huge, bold, and ambitious goal. It is also good to leave a little room at the end of the meeting for any unplanned topics that might occur or for brief questions that the board wants to address before the meeting closes. This will allow the board to be strategic about how it approaches these issues, and will reduce the time spent on routine tasks like reporting and “have to” items (like approvals of minutes of meetings or financial reviews). ).