It’s usually the last job anyone wants in most organizations, and it’s probably even more true of your local association: Often, nobody wants to be the secretary. That’s too bad, because an effective secretary can make your entire association better and more effective.
In virtually every association, secretary is a board position, as well it should be. Although your association secretary performs many vital responsibilities, let’s focus for now on the most fundamental of those responsibilities: meeting minutes.
Thorough minutes can assist your board in tracking everything from attendance to finances to progress on important issues. In addition, good minutes provide a record of discussions and important votes. Minutes also can provide a detailed road map of how certain events — like clinics, for example, progress. Have you seen your minutes lately?
Who’s There?
Tracking meeting attendance is both basic and important. Sometimes state associations require a record of meetings and which officers and members were present. In some states, for example, it is a requirement for officials to attend a certain minimum number of meetings relating to their sports. Lackadaisical record keeping could prevent proper tournament assignments from being made.
Beyond state-mandated record keeping, attendance tracking is an important bit of information for your members. Most members are interested in knowing if their elected board members are attending regularly and functioning effectively. Attendance tracking is the key. Make sure your meeting minutes are accurate in that area.
Show Me the Money!
Whenever a group of people are responsible in any way for the collection and administration of funds, there must be accountability. When those funds come from your friends and colleagues, it is even more important. Trust and transparency are key elements to keeping your organization functioning effectively, so your meeting minutes should contain important elements of your treasurer’s report: account balances and significant income and expenditures along with any unusual disbursement approval to name a few.
Every member of your association is entitled to know how their money is being spent, and who voted to spend it that way. Make sure that your minutes contain the most pertinent financial information every month — no matter how controversial it may be.
That’s a Good Idea!
The regular business of the association is typically the bulk of your minutes. But what about the fresh ideas or new ways of doing things? Good minutes thoroughly document brainstorming sessions to help leadership keep track of future directions. That section of your minutes also helps serve as something of a diary or historical record so that you can go back and see how long something has been considered or tabled. Regular review of that area of your minutes will assure that no good idea gets left behind.
Do you want to see who was responsible for the first clinic your association put on? Review the minutes! Can’t remember who volunteered to get the refreshments for the next social function? It should be in there, too.
Good minutes give you an accurate record of all the business that was discussed so that nobody has to depend on their memory.
Go Public
Every month, more associations are putting copies of their minutes on their web pages for members to review. Those forward-thinking boards are taking effective steps to remain accountable to their members while making sure that everyone who wants to know what the board is doing has that opportunity.
In the interest of privacy, you may want to post minutes in areas that are accessible to members only or that are password protected. Obviously, secure information like addresses, phone and account numbers should be left off even the most secured websites.
Keep your members informed while keeping your board accountable. Good minutes make good reading.
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