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Templates / School, community and family

Committee meeting

Committee meeting minutes template

Use this template for any committee that reports to a board or parent body: a finance, fundraising, nominating or building committee, a church, school or PTA committee, or a task force with a deadline. Committee minutes should show progress against the committee's charge: what the board or parent body asked it to do, by when, and how far it got this meeting. Record decisions the committee can make on its own separately from recommendations it is sending up for approval, then list action items with one owner and a date. The minutes double as the committee's report to the board.

Best forStanding and ad hoc committees of boards, nonprofits, associations and schools

Meeting length45 to 75 minutes, monthly or until the charge is done

SectionsCharge and deadline, progress on the charge, decisions, recommendations to the board, questions for the board, action items

FormatsGoogle Docs, Word, Notion, Markdown

Word Markdown

[Committee name] meeting minutes.docx

[Committee name] meeting minutes

Date and time Location Chair Minutes taken by

Charge and deadline

Charge, as given by [board or parent body] on [date]. Report due: [date].

Attendance

Members present: Members absent: Staff or guests: Quorum present (if required): Yes / No

Approval of previous minutes

Approved as written / approved as corrected

Progress on the charge

Work item	Lead	Status	Next step
		Not started / In progress / Done / Stuck

Decisions within the committee's authority

Decision, one line

Recommendations to the board

Recommendation	Cost	Committee vote	Presented by, when
Written as a motion the board can pass

Questions for the board or staff

Question, who will ask, by when

Action items

Item	Owner	Due	Done looks like

Next meeting and adjournment

Next meeting: [date, time, place]. Adjourned at [time].

Word MarkdownPastes into Google Docs, Word or Notion with headings and tables intact.

Word Markdown

Committee meeting agenda.docx

Committee meeting agenda

Committee Date and time Chair Reports toBoard or parent body

Item	Owner	Time	What we need to leave with
Call to order, attendance, quorum if required	Chair	3 min	Who's here and whether the committee can vote
Approve previous minutes	Recorder	2 min	Approved or corrected
Review last meeting's action items	Chair	10 min	Each one done, rescheduled or needs confirming
Progress on the charge	Work item leads	20 min	Updated status for each work item
Topic for decision:		10 min	A committee decision, or a recommendation for the board
Recommendations and questions for the board	Chair	10 min	Wording agreed and who presents it
Action items and next meeting	Recorder	5 min	Owners, dates, next meeting set

Word MarkdownPastes into Google Docs, Word or Notion with headings and tables intact.

Harmon Valley Land Trust, Trails Committee minutes

Filled-in example

Harmon Valley Land Trust, Trails Committee minutes

Date and timeWednesday, October 21, 2026, 6:00 pmLocationLand trust office and video callChairNora FeldMinutes taken byEllis Grant

Charge and deadline

Charge, as given by the board on June 9, 2026: recommend a 2027 trail maintenance plan and budget for the Pine Ridge and Creekside preserves. Report due: January 15, 2027.

Attendance

Members present: Nora Feld, Ellis Grant, Tomás Rivera, June Albright, Kofi Mensah Members absent: Sarah Lund Staff or guests: Beth Coleman, stewardship manager Quorum present (if required): Yes

Approval of previous minutes

September 16 minutes approved as written.

Progress on the charge

Work item	Lead	Status	Next step
Trail condition survey, 14 miles	Tomás Rivera	In progress. 9 of 14 miles walked and logged.	Finish Creekside loop by Nov 7
Volunteer hours from 2026 workdays	June Albright	Done. 412 hours across 11 workdays.	None
Contractor quotes for the Pine Ridge bridge	Kofi Mensah	Stuck. One quote of $14,800. Second contractor hasn't replied.	Ask Beth for another contractor name
Draft plan document	Nora Feld	Not started	Outline to the committee by Nov 13

Decisions within the committee's authority

The plan will rank work by safety first, then erosion, then trail access.
The committee will meet every two weeks for now, on Nov 18 and Dec 2, to make the January deadline.

Recommendations to the board

Recommendation	Cost	Committee vote	Presented by, when
Close the Pine Ridge bridge to foot traffic until it is repaired or replaced	About $300 for signs and a barrier	5 for, 0 against	Nora Feld, board meeting Nov 10
Buy a second set of trail tools for volunteer workdays	$1,150	Not voted. Kofi wants to check what's in the barn first.	Deferred

Questions for the board or staff

Can the 2027 plan include paid contractor work, or only volunteer work? Nora will ask the board chair by Oct 28.
Does the land trust's insurance cover volunteers using chainsaws? Beth will check with the insurer. No date yet.

Action items

Item	Owner	Due	Done looks like
Finish the Creekside survey	Tomás Rivera	Nov 7	All 14 miles logged in the shared sheet
Second bridge quote	Kofi Mensah	Nov 4	A second quote, or a named contractor who declined
Ask board chair about paid contractor work	Nora Feld	Oct 28	Answer in writing, shared with the committee
Check volunteer chainsaw coverage with insurer	Beth Coleman	Needs a date	Yes or no from the insurer
Inventory tools in the barn	Kofi Mensah	Nov 14	List shared before the Nov 18 meeting

Next meeting and adjournment

Next meeting: Wednesday, November 18, 2026, 6:00 pm, land trust office. Adjourned at 7:12 pm.

Harmon Valley Land Trust and everyone on its Trails Committee are a fictional sample.

Best forStanding and ad hoc committees of boards, nonprofits, associations and schools

Meeting length45 to 75 minutes, monthly or until the charge is done

SectionsCharge and deadline, progress on the charge, decisions, recommendations to the board, questions for the board, action items

FormatsGoogle Docs, Word, Notion, Markdown

What to write in each section

Charge and deadline

Copy the charge from the board resolution or committee description at the top of every set of minutes, with the date the report is due. It keeps the meeting on what the committee was asked to do.

Progress on the charge

Break the charge into work items and give each one a status. This table is what the board reads first.

"Trail condition survey: 9 of 14 miles walked" tells the board something. "Survey is going well" doesn't.

Decisions within the committee's authority

Only what the committee is allowed to decide on its own, like scheduling, who drafts what or how to split the work. If you're not sure the committee has the authority, treat it as a recommendation.

Recommendations to the board

Write each recommendation as a motion the board could pass as written, with any cost. Record the committee's vote on it if you took one.

Questions for the board or staff

Anything blocking the committee that only the board or staff can answer. Name who will carry the question and when.

Action items

One owner and a date each. Committees often meet monthly, so a due date "before next meeting" is too loose. Use a real date, and carry open items forward in an action items tracker.

When to use this template

Your committee meets every month but the board can't tell what it has actually produced.
The committee keeps deciding things that turn out to need board approval.
You chair a task force with a deadline and need each meeting to move the work forward.

Questions people ask

Do committees need formal minutes?: Committees that report to a board usually keep short minutes, and many bylaws expect it. They don't need the full formality of board minutes: the charge, progress, decisions, recommendations and action items cover what the board needs, and the basics of how to write meeting minutes still apply. Public bodies may have open meeting rules on top of that, and your bylaws decide what's required. This page isn't legal advice.
Can a committee make decisions on its own?: Only the ones the board delegated to it. Most committees research and recommend, and the board decides. When in doubt, write it up as a recommendation so nobody later finds the committee spent money or set policy it wasn't allowed to.
What's the difference between committee minutes and a committee report?: Minutes record each meeting. The report is what the committee hands the board when the charge is done or at set points. If your minutes keep the progress table and recommendations current, writing the final report is mostly copying them over.

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