Board meetings are crucial to the success of a nonprofit organization. However, it can be difficult to get productive discussions started. There are a few methods that can help you improve your organization’s efficiency.
Start with a Success Stories
Board members want to know that they are a part of a positive change, so begin your meeting with a positive update. It can be as simple a highlighting an employee’s or board member’s accomplishment. It can be as important as the creation of a new source of funding or the introduction of an innovative program.
Make use of a digital solution
A board portal with document-management helps you prepare and distribute documents for the board. Searchable references allow participants to locate information during a discussion. Moreover, it’s less expensive to distribute and store the board documents digitally rather than print them out and then mail them out physically.
Manage Time
Discussions over the board can take up quite a long time so it’s important to organize the agenda and keep meetings on schedule. You should consider adding estimated discussion times to each item on the agenda so that you can be sure to cover all subjects.
Also, remember that the rules of conduct will determine how many members are required to be the quorum for a meeting. This will allow you to avoid debating trivial issues when there isn’t enough people to continue the discussion.
