13 Meeting Minutes Templates for More Productive Nonprofit Board Meetings

It’s not surprising that nonprofit board meeting minutes are often either overlooked or under-utilized.

After all, whether you’re working at or serving as a board member for a small NGO or a large-scale international organization, there are dozens (millions?) of tasks on your plate.

However, meeting minutes aren’t just a nonprofit best practice; they’re essential and often mandated by your local and federal taxing authorities. Plus, maintaining accurate records of your board minutes keeps all board members and staff on the same page and allows for written documentation for future reference, such as an audit.

While there are many nonprofit board meeting minute templates available online, the right one for you depends on many factors such as the information you want to capture, and your aesthetic preferences.

To help you navigate the waters, we’ve found 13 meeting minute templates that you can use immediately for your next nonprofit board meeting.

What To Look for in a Meeting Minute Template

While the content of your minutes will change from one meeting to the next, there’s a standard meeting minute template that most organizations follow. This includes:

Heading

• Organization name
• Date of meeting
• Time the meeting was called to order
• Board members present
• Name of the presiding officer
• Absent board members
• Note whether the session meets quorum
• Guests and organizational staff present

Orders of Business

*Note name of all persons reporting, motioning, dissenting  and all voting results

• Old Business
  • Approval of minutes from prior board meeting
  • Follow up from any unresolved business from the previous meeting
• New Business
  • Reports from the Executive Director/CEO, finance department, and program staff leads
  • Committee reports
• Additional business or supplements to the agenda

Conclusion

• Future action steps
• Date and time of the next board meeting
• Time the meeting adjourns
• Signature (digital or physical) from secretary or designated minute note taker

Read More: Top 10 Tips for Uber-Efficient Meetings (How to Make Every Minute Count!)

13 Free Meeting Minute Templates

If you’re not interested in creating your own template, there are dozens of quality nonprofit meeting minute templates at your fingertips. Here are 13 of our favorites!

Meeting Minute Templates in Google Docs

People, nonprofit organizations, and businesses are turning to Google Docs for its user-friendly interface and document sharing features. Because multiple people can access a Google Doc at one time, this software is helpful for those compiling, approving, distributing, and receiving meeting minutes. Plus, Google Docs is free for Google users.

Thankfully, Google Docs offers variations of their meeting minute template. While these aren’t designed specifically for nonprofits, each template features the correct sequence and basic fields necessary for a regular board meeting.

1. Google Docs Tropic

Google Doc’s Tropic template is clean and functional but bare bones compared to most of the other template available online. This template has subheads including Attendees, Agenda, Notes, and Action Items, but you can always add more as needed, including meeting start time, quorum notes, etc. Like other Google Doc templates, Tropic is easy to access and modify and features a pleasing universal color scheme.

2. Google Docs Modern Writer

Modern Writer models Tropic’s structure but appears slightly less formal with a grey and bright pink palette. It also has a more detailed heading that includes meeting time and location.

3. Google Docs Coral

Coral is also less formal than Tropic, but it has stronger heading and subdued font and color scheme. Again, these Google Doc meeting minute templates are beautiful and utilitarian, and Coral is a strong addition to the lineup.

Meeting Minute Templates in Microsoft Office 365

Office subscribers are loyal to the software, which boasts robust capabilities one-stop-shop solutions for word and data processing. Because the platform is a virtual powerhouse, it’s evident that Microsoft heavily invested in their templates.

Keep in mind, though: Office 365 is costly compared to the free word processing programs out there, averaging between $70 to $150 + per year.

4. Office Formal

When it comes to straightforward templates, Office’s Formal is the way to go. You can either download the template or load it straight from Office and then customize as needed.

5. Office Minutes for Organization Meeting

Minutes for Organization Meeting offers a similar layout to Formal and has key subheads including Approval of Minutes, Open Issues, and New Business. If your nonprofit follows up on many topics from one meeting to the next, then this template is ideal.

6. Office Classic Meeting Minutes

Classic Meeting Minutes from Office is jazzier and less formal than Office’s other options, but the information you need to capture is still appropriately outlined, and it’s an all-around beautiful template example.

Meeting Minute Templates in Pages/iWork Community

Mac users often use Apple’s Pages software for word processing. Fans of Pages love the system’s collaboration features and specialty templates, including resources for nonprofits. However, one issue users face with Pages is an incompatibility with some Windows programs, meaning that it’s best to use Pages only if you know the majority of your team or board also uses Mac products. iWork Community offers a robust lineup of Pages templates.

7. iWork Committee Meeting Minutes

A member of the iWork Community shared Version 1 of the Committee Meeting Minutes template, and it’s exactly what you need as a starting point for a quality record. Although it looks basic on the surface, this version includes action items and motions, ensuring even the most novice minute-taker doesn’t miss a step. In a nutshell, this template outlines virtually every note-point needed.

Meeting Minute Templates from Propel Nonprofits

To better serve nonprofits throughout the North Central region of the United States, the Nonprofits Assistance Fund and MAP for Nonprofits merged to form Propel Nonprofits. This organization provides essential resources for nonprofits, particularly governance and strategy. Aside from being an information powerhouse, Propel also offers a great template for regular board of directors meetings.

8. Propel Board Directors Meeting Template

Hands down one of our favorite templates is the Board of Directors Meeting Template from Propel. This one has everything you need, and more. Although it downloads to a Word document, this template reads like a spreadsheet. It’s great for larger nonprofits with multiple agenda items and required follow-ups.

It’s also personalizable, with a designated area to add your logo or other brand-specifics.

This is one of the most well-planned and thorough templates available online.

Meeting Minute Templates from Rocket Lawyer

Rocket Lawyer provides online legal support. Since board meeting minutes fall under this category, Rocket Lawyer created a quality meeting minute template with legal matters in mind.

9. Rocket Lawyer Nonprofit Minutes

Rocket Lawyer Nonprofit Minutes template definitely reads like a legal document, and for many nonprofits, that’s a good thing because it stresses the importance of the meeting minute task.

Users can navigate through the document creation process, personalizing the meeting minutes to include the location, legal status of the organization, the type of meeting, and more.

Meeting Minute Templates from Panda Doc

PandaDoc is a paid document service that helps individuals, businesses, and nonprofits create, manage, and sign contracts and other official documents. Nonprofits can either pay for the service, and fill out the information on the template in real time, or download a PDF of it for free.

10. PandaDoc Meeting Minutes Template

This PandaDoc template is clean, and it’s a great one to use if you’re already a subscriber to the PandaDoc service. However, it doesn’t translate well when downloaded compared to the other templates on this list.

Meeting Minute Templates in Evernote

Organizers rejoice! Evernote is a superb application for list-making, note-taking, and everything else to help keep your personal and business life tidy. Naturally, templates are a big part of the Evernote service.

11. Evernote Meeting Notes Template

There’s a lot to love about the Evernote Meeting Notes Template. After signing into your account with a Google account or email address, save the template directly to your dashboard. From here, you can access the template and make notes directly on it during the next board meeting. Evernote even includes Pro Tips to help guide you through the note-taking process!

Meeting Minute Templates in Smartsheet

The Smartsheet Platform facilitates workplace collaboration through shared management documents such as calendars and checklists. They offer multiple templates to choose from that meet the needs of almost any nonprofit organization.

12. Smartsheet Formal Meeting Minutes Template for Microsoft Word

Scroll down the list of templates to Formal Meeting Minutes; one of the most thorough examples on this list. Smartsheet aced the execution of this template, which offers a complete overview for the entire meeting.

13. Board Meeting Minutes Template for Microsoft Word

Smartsheet’s Board Meeting Minutes is another high-quality template, also compatible with Microsoft Word. This one features a clear section for attendance and an in-depth header. Simply download, and you’re on your way to an organized board meeting.

After you find the best nonprofit board meeting minute template for your organization, don’t hesitate to alter it to fit your needs directly. Thankfully, virtually all of the templates outlined above are completely customizable for nonprofits.  Whether it’s adjusting the colors and font, adding your nonprofit’s logo, or rearranging the headings, having a quality document allows you to run your meetings seamlessly and ensure accurate records year after year.

Do you have a favorite minute meeting template, or did you create your own? Let us know your strategy for streamlining your board meeting minutes in the comments!