No one ever wants to take down the minutes of meeting.  If the secretary is away, finding a volunteer is as hard as pulling the arrows out of a Sherwood Forest oak.

That can be a real problem because the person who ends up being volunteered for the job is actually taking on quite a responsibility.

The minutes of meeting are the legal record of the decisions and actions agreed to by the Board at the meeting.

They are, in effect, a legal document as they provide the basis for the discussions as well as record the actual decision that has been made in the form of the resolution that was agreed to.

In the event of disputes, whether there may be a minor difference of opinion, a misunderstanding between board members or legal disputes,  the minutes of the meeting provide the legal and binding evidence behind the decision.

It is for this reason that each board member must review the minutes prior to approving them at the next meeting as they are legally enforceable.  Irrespective of whether you voted in favour of or against a resolution, the decision of the board is binding on the whole board.

This also highlights the need for minutes of meeting to be accurately taken.  Minutes should always be taken during the meeting and never written afterwards from memory.  In addition, it is also important that any resolutions that have been agreed to are also accurately recorded.  Often a board may agree on a resolution and leave the final wording to the CEO or the minute taker and in some cases the final wording may not accurately reflect what was agreed to.

Therefore, any resolution that has been agreed to should be actually written down with the exact wording.  Once this has occurred then the final resolution is recorded in the minutes.  As a board member it is good practice that you also write down the actual final resolution was that was passed and ensure that, when the minutes of the meeting are approved at the next meeting, the same motion has been recorded.

You should be able to see that the role of volunteer treasurer, or indeed any committee position, extends beyond your specific focus.  Monitoring the minutes is an important responsibility no matter what your title.

In our next post we will look at what information should be recorded in the minutes.