Form with which the board of directors of a corporation records the contents of its first meeting.
Form with which the board of directors of a corporation records the contents of its first meeting.
In short, the answer is yes – and no. If the non-profit is considered a governmental entity, then it must make its board meeting minutes public. If it is not, then it is at liberty to keep those minutes private.
Personal observations or judgmental comments should not be included in meeting minutes. All statements should be as neutral as possible. Avoid writing down everything everyone said. Minutes should be concise and summarize the major points of what happened at the meeting.
What to include Meeting date, time and location. Names of the committee or other group holding the meeting, the Chair and Secretary. List of those present, including guests in attendance, and any recorded regrets/absences. A record of formal motions and outcomes.
At a minimum, minutes should include: Name and kind of meeting. Date, place, and time that the meeting began and ended. Names of the chair and secretary or their substitute. Names of voting members attending and whether a quorum was present. Names of guests and their subject matter.
To take effective meeting minutes, the secretary should include: Date of the meeting. Time the meeting was called to order. Names of the meeting participants and absentees. Corrections and amendments to previous meeting minutes. Additions to the current agenda. Whether a quorum is present. Motions taken or rejected.
Robert's Rules (Section -16) state that “the minutes should contain mainly a record of what was done at the meeting, not what was said by the members.” Minutes are not transcripts of meetings; rather, the document contains a record of actions taken by the body, organized by the meeting's order of business (agenda).
The critical role of minute-taking in board meetings Meeting notes serve as an official record of the meeting's talking points, capturing all key decisions and discussions, as well as ensuring that everything complies with legal requirements.
Robert's Rules (Section -16) state that “the minutes should contain mainly a record of what was done at the meeting, not what was said by the members.” Minutes are not transcripts of meetings; rather, the document contains a record of actions taken by the body, organized by the meeting's order of business (agenda).
Minutes are not supposed to be verbatim and including too much detail may only provide ammunition that may be used against the board in a lawsuit. However, with too little detail the minutes may be useless and may leave an impression that the board did not adequately consider one or more matters.
The minutes should follow the order of the agenda, with a basic, almost vague, summary sentence or two for each item, along with the name of the person who presented it. Votes taken should appear in their place of order in the agenda. Generally, don't include names.