The Minutes Handbook:

A Complete Guide for Not-for-profit Boards


If the Board can be considered the mind of a community group, the meetings are the heart. This is where all major decisions are made and the Board comes together as a group to steer the organisation towards its mission.

When it comes to recording these meetings though, what's what? What must be recorded and how? Who should manage the minutes and how should they go about it? The Minutes Handbook will guide you from minutes-madness to a better way of minuting in no time at all.

What's inside?


  • Standing orders
  • What goes on the agenda?
  • Dull but important agenda items
  • Who sets the agenda?
  • Strategy-based agenda planning
  • Agenda building timetable
  • What makes a good agenda?
  • Agenda template
  • During the meeting
  • What you absolutely have to record
  • What you can record if you want to
  • Special business
  • Dealing with confidential issues
  • Dealing with defamatory comments
  • After the meeting
  • Drafting the minutes
  • Follow-up tasks
  • Who can vote on the minutes?
  • What's a minute book?
  • How long do I have to keep the minutes on file?
  • Who is allowed to see the minutes?
  • Ten things the secretary should know about the board
  • Appendix 1: Sample meetings policy
  • Appendix 2: Sample standing orders
  • Appendix 3: Decision-making tool
  • Appendix 4: What the law says about minutes
  • Appendix 5: What the law says about special business


Download a sample

$36 (inc GST)

Includes FREE postage within Australia
(Shipped Tuesdays and Thursdays)

Format: Paperback
Pages: 87
ISBN: 9781876976590

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