You know why the agenda is important, so let’s look at how you go about preparing the agenda for the next meeting of your not for profit.

The agenda should never be exclusively prepared by the chair, the CEO or one person alone.  It is important that the chair consults with the CEO to identify any issues as well as the board members.

I know this isn’t the way Robin Hood managed his meetings, but he was an outlaw with no time for niceties.  You, on the other hand, should dot the i’s and cross the t’s for your preparation.

Here are some points to consider when preparing the agenda for the meeting:

  • Be clear about the objectives of the meeting and ensure the agenda reflects how these objectives will be addressed.
  • Review the previous meeting and list any items that need further discussion or decision at this meeting.  These should have been identified at the previous meeting.
  • Are there any issues that impact on the operations of the organisation that require the board to discuss and make a decision on?
  • If your organisation has sub committees, are there any recommendations or decisions that the board need to review, discuss or endorse?
  • At the end of the meeting identify any issues that, for example, may still be unresolved, need to be deferred to a later meeting or require additional information.  These will become future agenda items.
  • Have all board members had an opportunity to include any relevant issues that they believe should be addressed?
  • Do the agenda items relate to the achievement of the vision, mission and values of the organisation that are reflected in the strategic plan?

When preparing the agenda be conscious of the time that may be required.  Try to estimate how long each item may take to discuss as this can provide a guide as to the length of the meeting.  If your meetings are usually 2 hours then try and keep to that, and if you find you have too many agenda items then consider holding less important items over to a future meeting.   If there are critical issues that require discussions which may take the meeting past the usual time then let the rest of the board members know well in advance.

As a final check, when preparing the agenda, simply ask whether the items on the agenda are actually relevant, of value and will benefit the organisation.  If not, then take them out or modify them.

Next we will look at the key elements of an agenda.