You may be meeting more often, but you’ll probably find the meeting length will be less.Īssign someone to be a time monitor and have them signal any time constraints to the group. If you’re getting together quarterly, but you’ve noticed that your meetings are close to two-hours long and board members are complaining about the length, consider meeting monthly. Make sure the frequency of your meetings works for you and the board. It’s tempting to want to be conscious of people’s time and set a meeting for 45 minutes, but if you know your meeting’s goals will require an hour, an hour and a half, or a half-day off-site, be realistic about that and make the time commitment clear. Other ways to make sure that your board meeting starts and ends on time and makes every minute count include:īe realistic about the time frame of your meeting. Having an agenda will definitely avoid the long-lasting meeting. Nothing is worse than a meeting that drags on forever. Rick Lent, meeting expert, puts the benefits of a strong meeting agenda by saying, “if the task is clear, you can galvanize the group to accomplish it.” 2. A consent agenda can be one item that can include, for example, your meeting minutes, the financial or other reports that the group was tasked with reviewing before the meeting – all of which simply require approval.ĭr. Include links to relevant reports and financial statements you will review during the meeting or board members should have reviewed prior to the meeting.ĭiscuss your most important agenda items early in the meeting when members are most engaged.ĭana Mordecai, former Vice President of the Texas Association of Graduate Admissions Professionals, noted that aside from the agenda for their monthly meeting, her board sets actual meeting goals ahead of time and then they refer back to those periodically to see if they are on track.Ĭonsider implementing a “consent agenda” which members have used to cut down on wasted time and boredom that happens when “bored” members spend precious meeting time reviewing reports and documents that could have been reviewed beforehand. Here are other things to keep in mind when building an agenda prior to your board meeting: This is especially important for board meetings where you may go for a while, sometimes a month or even quarterly, between meetings, so there are a lot of items to cover. But setting an agenda ensures that any meeting runs smoothly and business moves forward. While it seems like common practice to set an agenda before a board meeting, it’s an element that can sometimes fall to the wayside. Ready to conquer your next nonprofit board meeting? Read on! 1. We’ve put together these eight tips to help take you from board-dom (see what we did there?) to board success based on advice from our customers (which you’ll see throughout this piece) as well as our own experience - and some common board meeting FAQs for team members who are just getting started. If any of those situations sound familiar, don’t worry: you’re not alone. You’re not even sure if she knows the other board members’ names. Vivian, on the other hand, hasn’t spoken in three meetings. Joe shows up late and derails the whole conversation. Maria always wants to rehash the success of your latest fundraising campaign even if it’s not on the agenda. We’ve worked with a lot of small, volunteer-led organizations over the years, and one thing we’ve consistently heard is that it can be hard to keep your board on track. However, your experience with board meetings might be quite different… and a little less effective. They steer the organization towards meeting its mission, ensure its financial stability, and are the public face of your organization. Your board of directors are the standard bearers… foundation builders… strategic plan developers and managers… chief cheerleaders and fundraisers. It’s really no secret that your non-profit’s or association’s board of directors is pivotal to your organization’s success.
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