The Annual General Meeting (AGM) is an important event for any organisation but often it is not used or managed in the best possible way.  The formal role of the AGM is to comply with certain legal requirements such as approving the financial reports, electing office bearers, appointing an auditor and dealing with any general business.  What is often overlooked is that it is also a great opportunity to promote and get support for your not for profit organisation.

For example, the Board should consider having a speaker attend the AGM who might attract people to attend the meeting.  If you run a sporting club you could invite a sporting identity or if you are a community based organisation you may be able to get an advocate or a leader from that sector.

Once you can promote that you will have a speaker who is well known it makes it easier to attract people to attend the meeting.  The more people who attend then the more the opportunities you have to get the most out of AGM.  For example:

With any community based organisation, be it a sporting club, community group or a kindergarten, then any opportunity to promote yourself is important, as without this support your organisation may not grow and in some circumstances, may not remain viable.  The AGM is just one event that can be used to help maintain and gain support for your not for profit organisation.