A board meeting for nonprofits must be a lively and informative affair. This can be achieved by focusing on the organization’s goals and mission through clear communication. Too many meetings are dominating by updates from the organization that take up time, or by impassioned discussions on particular topics by one or two participants (we all know the person). By adding a little something more to the meeting can also keep it interesting and help board members remain connected to your organization’s purpose. Showing a video of client reviews can be a good way to connect your board members to your mission.
Ensure your board meeting agenda is planned well in advance. If needed an event facilitator could be employed to help with this or a group of board members should be responsible for the preparation of the agenda and ensuring that all important documents are prepared and sent out ahead of the board meeting. Nothing can sabotage a productive board meeting more quickly than board members trying to read important documents at the same time they are being discussed or worse do not have the necessary documents available at all.
Boards should limit their time to no more than 25 percent of their meeting to updates and “have-to’s.” A lot of time is wasted by board members getting lost in the details of the officers’ report, committee chair reports, and other items that are routine. Many of these board-room.info/how-to-recruit-board-members-remotely tasks could be reduced to 5-10 minutes and easily included in a packet for meetings or periodic e-mail updates to the board.
Tell us about your thoughtsWrite message