Nonprofit Board Meeting Minutes Template (Free + Example)

Nonprofit board meeting minutes template

Nonprofit board meeting minutes record attendance and quorum, conflict of interest disclosures, the executive director's and treasurer's reports, each motion with who moved it and the result, and the action items. The treasurer's section should separate restricted from unrestricted money, and any vote a director sat out because of a conflict should show the recusal. Minutes are approved at the next board meeting and kept with the organization's permanent records.

Measure

Year to date

Budget year to date

Note

Revenue

Expenses

Cash on hand

n/a

Of which restricted

n/a

Which grant or gift

Motion	Moved / seconded	Result
		Carried / Failed / Tabled, with count

Motion

Moved / seconded

Result

Carried / Failed / Tabled, with count

Item

Owner

Due

Done looks like

Item	Owner	Time	What we need to leave with
Call to order, quorum, mission moment (a short story from a program)	Chair, ED	5 min	Quorum confirmed
Conflict of interest check	Chair	2 min	Disclosures recorded, recusals noted by item
Consent agenda: last minutes, committee reports in the packet	Chair	3 min	One vote, or items pulled for discussion
Executive director's report	ED	15 min	Questions answered, the help the ED needs from the board
Treasurer's report: budget vs actual, cash, restricted funds	Treasurer	15 min	Report accepted, any concerns sent to the finance committee
Committee items that need a vote	Committee chairs	20 min	A vote on each written motion, or a date it comes back
Fundraising and board giving	Development chair	10 min	Each director knows their next ask or task
Executive session (without staff)	Chair	10 min	Any action recorded separately
Action items, next meeting, adjournment	Secretary	5 min	One owner and a date for each item

Measure	Year to date	Budget year to date	Note
Revenue	$96,400	$104,000	Gala sponsorships are behind, see fundraising
Expenses	$88,900	$92,500	Under budget, mostly a tutor coordinator vacancy in July
Cash on hand	$61,200	n/a	About 2.5 months of operating costs
Of which restricted	$24,000	n/a	Hartwell Foundation family literacy grant, for spring classes only

Measure

Year to date

Budget year to date

Note

Revenue

$96,400

$104,000

Gala sponsorships are behind, see fundraising

Expenses

$88,900

$92,500

Under budget, mostly a tutor coordinator vacancy in July

Cash on hand

$61,200

n/a

About 2.5 months of operating costs

Of which restricted

$24,000

n/a

Hartwell Foundation family literacy grant, for spring classes only

Motion	Moved / seconded	Result
1. Approve the FY2026 Form 990 for filing by November 15	Raj Patel / Tom Kowalski	Carried 7 to 0
2. Authorize the executive director to sign a two-year lease renewal for Elm Street at $2,150 a month	Tom Kowalski / Michael Owens	Carried 7 to 0
3. Hire Reyes Print Shop for gala printing at $1,850, the lower of two quotes	Grace Adeyemi / Raj Patel	Carried 6 to 0, Sofia Reyes recused
4. Adopt the revised volunteer background check policy	Grace Adeyemi / Lauren Kim	Tabled to November 17, pending insurer comments

Motion

Moved / seconded

Result

1. Approve the FY2026 Form 990 for filing by November 15

Raj Patel / Tom Kowalski

Carried 7 to 0

2. Authorize the executive director to sign a two-year lease renewal for Elm Street at $2,150 a month

Tom Kowalski / Michael Owens

Carried 7 to 0

3. Hire Reyes Print Shop for gala printing at $1,850, the lower of two quotes

Grace Adeyemi / Raj Patel

Carried 6 to 0, Sofia Reyes recused

4. Adopt the revised volunteer background check policy

Grace Adeyemi / Lauren Kim

Tabled to November 17, pending insurer comments

Item	Owner	Due	Done looks like
File the FY2026 Form 990	Raj Patel	Nov 13	Filing confirmation emailed to the board
Sign the Elm Street lease renewal	Carla Mendes	Nov 30	Signed copy in the shared drive
Return the annual conflict of interest statement	Kevin Moore	Nov 6	Statement received by Lauren Kim
Bring board nominations and the background check policy to November	Grace Adeyemi	Nov 10	Both in the November packet
Send the ED review form and timeline to all directors	Denise Carter	Nov 3	Form sent, due date set
Find a lead for the gala silent auction	No owner yet	Nov 3	Denise to ask at the development committee if nobody volunteers

Item

Owner

Due

Done looks like

File the FY2026 Form 990

Raj Patel

Nov 13

Filing confirmation emailed to the board

Sign the Elm Street lease renewal

Carla Mendes

Nov 30

Signed copy in the shared drive

Return the annual conflict of interest statement

Kevin Moore

Nov 6

Statement received by Lauren Kim

Bring board nominations and the background check policy to November

Grace Adeyemi

Nov 10

Both in the November packet

Send the ED review form and timeline to all directors

Denise Carter

Nov 3

Form sent, due date set

Find a lead for the gala silent auction

No owner yet

Nov 3

Denise to ask at the development committee if nobody volunteers

Real examples

Minutes that real organizations have published, with what each one does well. Open the original to read it in full.

First page of the Compton College Foundation board minutes for June 25, 2026, with the roll call, quorum and roll-call votes

Foundation for the Compton Community College District

Regular board meeting, including the annual election of officers · June 25, 2026

What it does well

The roll call separates members present in person, late arrivals with the time they came in, remote, absent and guests, then states that a quorum was established.
Every vote is by name: ayes, nays, abstentions and absent, including the one director who abstained on the meeting schedule.
The financial report keeps the $23,000 general fund, the only unrestricted cash, apart from the $1.18 million scholarship fund.
Records that conflict of interest forms go to every director each year for signature.

Worth doing differently

The roll call has 12 people present and 4 absent, but each vote counts 9 or fewer voters and 3 absent, and the minutes don't say who doesn't vote. Mark ex officio and non-voting members in the roll call so the numbers add up.

Motion carried. Vote: 8 Ayes (Dennis Masias, Sheri Berger, Tandiwe Mushanga, Eddie Magee, Joshua Jackson, Dayshawn Louden, Sonia Lopez, Isabelle Saber), 0 Nays, 1 Abstention (Dan Chenault), 3 Absent (Don Mason, Elizabeth Martinez, Robert Garcia)

View the originalPublished on the college district's website; short excerpt quoted with a link.

The Apache Software Foundation

Board of directors meeting (a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that runs open source software projects) · August 19, 2026

What it does well

Opens with the time the chair recognized a quorum, then lists directors and officers present and absent, separately from guests.
Each resolution is written out in full and followed by its result.
Open action items from earlier meetings carry the director responsible, the meeting they came from and a status line, so nothing drops off between meetings.

Worth doing differently

The July 15 minutes are recorded only as "Tabled." Say why and when they come back.
At about 7,000 lines, most of it reports from each project, the decisions are hard to find. A smaller board can attach the reports and keep the minutes to what was decided.

Special Order 7A, Change the Apache Druid Project Chair, was approved by Unanimous Vote of the directors present.

View the originalPublished by the ASF; short excerpt quoted with a link. Guest names covered in the image.

Questions people ask

Who takes the minutes at a nonprofit board meeting?

Usually the board secretary, who is an elected officer. Some boards let a staff member take the notes while the secretary reviews and signs them, because it's hard to take minutes and take part as a voting director at the same time. Either way, the board approves them at the next meeting.

Do nonprofits have to keep board meeting minutes?

Your bylaws and your state's nonprofit law decide what is required, and almost all boards keep them. The full IRS Form 990 also asks whether the organization documented its board and committee meetings at the time they happened. This page isn't legal advice, so check your bylaws and state rules.

Should the executive director be in the room for the whole board meeting?

For most of it, yes, usually as a non-voting participant unless the bylaws make the ED a director. Hold a short executive session without the ED at the end of every meeting, so that the one time it is about the ED's review or pay, it doesn't look unusual.

Sources

Instructions for Form 1023 (IRS), Appendix A: Sample Conflict of Interest PolicyArticle IV: minutes record who disclosed an interest, its nature, the board's decision on whether a conflict existed, who was present for the discussion and votes, and the vote.

Instructions for Form 990, Part VI, line 8 (IRS)What counts as contemporaneous documentation of board and committee meetings: by the later of the next meeting or 60 days.

Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised, 12th ed. (2020), §48:4(5) and §48:15Corrections go into the minutes being approved; the next minutes only say they were approved "as corrected".

Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised, 12th ed. (2020), §9:24 to §9:27Votes can be taken in executive session; what happens there is kept confidential.

Nonprofit board meeting minutes template

Attendance and quorum

Call to order

Conflict of interest

Consent agenda

Executive director's report

Treasurer's report

Committee reports

Motions and votes

Fundraising and board giving

Executive session

Action items

Next meeting and adjournment

Attendance and quorum

Call to order

Conflict of interest

Consent agenda

Executive director's report

Treasurer's report

Committee reports

Motions and votes

Fundraising and board giving

Executive session

Action items

Next meeting and adjournment

When to use this template

Real examples

Foundation for the Compton Community College District

The Apache Software Foundation

Questions people ask

Sources

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