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Nonprofit board meeting minutes are the official notes of a board meeting. Our free nonprofit board meeting minutes template lists attendance, motions, votes and action items under ready headings. Board secretaries and notetakers use it at every meeting, especially meetings with votes.
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Nonprofit board meeting minutes are the board's own account of a meeting: who attended, what the directors discussed, which motions they voted on and what happens next. A meeting minutes template gives that account the same shape every time.
Minutes do three jobs for a nonprofit:
State nonprofit corporation law can itself require minutes, and the rules vary by state. In Minnesota, Minn. Stat. § 317A.461, subd. 1 says a corporation shall keep at its registered office minutes of meetings of members, the board of directors and committees having any of the authority of the board, for the last six years. Your bylaws add to the state rule and usually say who takes the minutes. Some bylaws also cover other committees and meetings held by video call.
A template keeps the format steady from meeting to meeting. The same headings in the same order make old minutes easy to search when someone asks when a decision was made.
Nonprofit board meeting minutes include the meeting's basic details, the people present, each motion with its result, and the tasks assigned before the next meeting. Use this checklist:
Note when a director steps out for a conflict of interest and when the board goes into a closed session. Write down when each closed session started and ended.
For a video meeting, take a roll call at the start and write each name in full. It is much easier than a sign-up sheet.
The template follows the order of the meeting itself, so each section below matches one part of a typical board agenda and fills in as the meeting moves along.
| Section | What to write | Tip |
|---|---|---|
| Heading and call to order | Organization name, meeting type (regular, special, annual or committee), date, start time, place or link, who chaired | Use the same name format at every meeting |
| Attendance | Directors present and absent, staff and guests, whether a quorum was present | Take a roll call on video meetings |
| Approval of prior minutes | The motion to approve and any corrections | Name the meeting the minutes cover |
| Reports | Treasurer, executive director and committee reports, each in a short summary | Attach the report instead of copying it |
| Old and new business | Each motion, the mover, the seconder and the result | Write the motion exactly as the board voted on it |
| Action items | Each task, the person in charge and the due date | Repeat them at the end so nobody misses one |
| Adjournment | The end time and the date of the next meeting | Leave a signature line for the secretary |
To take minutes for a nonprofit board meeting, set up the template from the agenda beforehand, note decisions rather than every word during the meeting, and send a clean draft to the chair soon after.
Use the meeting agenda as your outline. The agenda already lists what the board plans to cover and in what order, so copying it into the template gives you most of the headings.
The notetaker should have these items before the meeting starts:
Follow these steps as the meeting runs:
Type up the draft while the meeting is fresh. Send it to the board chair or another officer, fix any mistakes, and send the corrected draft to the whole board with the next meeting's papers.
This sample shows the minutes of a short regular board meeting, written with the same headings as the template. The names and figures are made up.
Riverside Food Pantry, Inc.: Minutes of the Regular Board Meeting
March 12, 2026, Community Room, 410 Elm Street, and by video link
Call to order: Chair Anna Baker called the meeting to order at 6:02 p.m.
Present: Anna Baker (Chair), Tom Lee (Treasurer), Maria Gomez (Secretary), David Chen, Priya Patel, Sam Ortiz. Absent: Laura Kim. Guest: Joe Rivera, Executive Director. A quorum was present.
Prior minutes: Sam Ortiz moved to approve the February 13 minutes as distributed. Priya Patel seconded. The motion passed 6 to 0.
Treasurer's report: Tom Lee presented the February financial statements (attached). The board discussed rising food costs.
New business: Tom Lee moved to approve the spring program budget of $48,000. Priya Patel seconded. The motion passed 5 to 1.
David Chen disclosed that his company bid on the van repair contract and left the room at 6:51 p.m. Sam Ortiz moved to award the contract to Elm Auto. Maria Gomez seconded. The motion passed 5 to 0. David Chen returned at 6:58 p.m.
Action items: Joe Rivera will send the signed repair contract by March 20. Priya Patel will draft the volunteer policy for the April meeting.
Adjournment: The meeting ended at 7:42 p.m. The next meeting is April 9, 2026.
Maria Gomez, Secretary. Approved by the board on ____________.
Board minutes leave out word-for-word debate, personal opinions and side conversations, because minutes report what the board decided, not everything that was said in the room.
Write in a neutral voice and the past tense. "The board discussed the lease renewal" works; "Tom was upset about the lease" does not.
The IRS Instructions for Form 990, Part VI, line 8 ask each organization that files Form 990 whether it contemporaneously documented every meeting held and written action taken by its governing body and by committees with authority to act on its behalf.
Under the IRS Instructions for Form 990, Part VI, line 8, documentation can include approved minutes, email, or similar writings that explain the action taken, when it was taken, and who made the decision.
The IRS Instructions for Form 990, Part VI, line 8 define contemporaneous as by the later of the next meeting of the governing body or committee, or 60 days after the date of the meeting or written action.
The IRS Instructions for Form 990, Part VI, line 8 accept documentation by any means permitted by state law, so the accepted formats depend on your state.
If the answer is "No", the IRS Instructions for Form 990, Part VI, line 8 ask the organization to explain its practices or policies on Schedule O.
A template with an approval line fits this routine: the board approves each set of minutes at its next meeting, and the approval date sits on the page.
Board minutes become the board's approved version once the directors vote to accept them, usually as one of the first items at the next meeting.
A director moves to approve the minutes as sent or with corrections. The secretary writes the corrections into the final copy, then signs and dates it. Your bylaws may name a different officer to sign.
Keep the approved minutes with the organization's lasting papers, such as the articles of incorporation and the bylaws. A simple storage system could include:
Keep them in one place the whole board can reach, such as a shared folder, and give each meeting's minutes a consistent name.
Board minutes are not on the list in IRS, Documents Subject to Public Disclosure, which names the exemption application and the annual return. Under IRS, Documents Subject to Public Disclosure, the exemption application is open to inspection together with its supporting documents, so minutes sent in with it are open too. State law can give members and directors a right to inspect the minutes, and the rule varies by state. In Minnesota, under Minn. Stat. § 317A.461, subd. 2, a member or a director may inspect them for any proper purpose at any reasonable time. Your bylaws may add to that right.
Pick one notetaker for each meeting. Many boards ask the secretary, and some name a backup in case that person is away.
Keep them short. Write down the key points, motions, votes and action items, not every word that was said. If you need an exact quote, use a recording device and add a short note about it in the minutes.
An agenda is the plan for the meeting, and it is written before the meeting starts. Minutes are the account of what happened. Many notetakers start with the agenda and add notes under each item.
The IRS Instructions for Form 990, Part VI, line 8 ask about committees with authority to act on behalf of the governing body as well as the board, and note that these ordinarily don't include advisory boards. Your bylaws may ask for minutes of other committees too.
Yes. Select Create My Document at the top of this page and answer a few simple questions. You can save your progress, finish on any device, and download or print the finished minutes.
General information, not legal or tax advice.
