Board meeting minutes template: free to copy, with a nonprofit example
In short
Board meeting minutes are the record of who was there, what was voted on and by how much, and who is in charge of what. The template below is free to copy into Word or Google Docs, for a nonprofit board, a company's board of directors, or the board of a school or a club. Your bylaws decide three things: the quorum, who signs and how the minutes are approved. If the board meets by video call, Loro can take the notes and draft the minutes for you.
Template to copy
Fill in or delete whatever is in brackets.
BOARD MEETING MINUTES
Organization:
Minutes no.: Meeting: [regular / special]
Notice sent: [date], by [email / letter]
Date: Called to order at:
Place: [address, or video call and which]
Presiding: Minutes by:
1. ATTENDANCE AND QUORUM
Directors present:
Directors absent: [name, with or without notice]
Also present, no vote:
Quorum: [__ of __ directors present. Quorum under the bylaws: yes / no.]
2. CONFLICTS OF INTEREST
[Who declared a personal or financial interest, on which item, and
whether they left the room or abstained. If no one did: "None."]
3. AGENDA
1.
2.
3.
[Approved as presented / with these changes: ]
4. LAST MINUTES
Minutes no. __, of __: [approved as presented / with these corrections: ]
5. REPORTS
Chair or executive director:
Treasurer (period: ):
Opening balance:
Income:
Expenses:
Closing balance:
6. ITEMS AND RESOLUTIONS
Item 1: [topic]
Discussion:
Motion: [as worded when it was voted, with amounts and dates]
Moved by: Seconded by:
For: Against: Abstained:
Result: [carried / failed]
Resolution:
For the record: [anyone who asked to have their vote or a statement recorded, by name]
Item 2: [topic]
Discussion:
Motion:
Moved by: Seconded by:
For: Against: Abstained:
Result:
Resolution:
For the record:
7. ACTION ITEMS
- What: Who: By:
- What: Who: By:
8. CLOSE
Next meeting: Adjourned at:
SIGNATURES
________________________ ________________________
Secretary Chair
Minutes approved on: A full example
A nonprofit's board, with three votes and one conflict of interest.
BOARD MEETING MINUTES
Organization: Riverbend Literacy Project
Minutes no.: 42 Meeting: regular
Notice sent: October 1, 2026, by email
Date: Thursday, October 8, 2026 Called to order at: 6:30 pm
Place: video call (Zoom)
Presiding: Elena Sáez (chair) Minutes by: Andrew Moore (secretary)
1. ATTENDANCE AND QUORUM
Directors present: Elena Sáez, Andrew Moore, Rosa Ibarra (treasurer),
Julian Price, Paula Bennett
Directors absent: Mark Gill and Teresa Long, with notice
Also present, no vote: Clara Ortiz (executive director)
Quorum: 5 of 7 directors present. Quorum under the bylaws: yes.
2. CONFLICTS OF INTEREST
Julian Price declared that Price & Sons Printing, his brother's company,
submitted one of the quotes for the catalog (item 2 on the agenda). He
left the call for that item and did not vote.
3. AGENDA
1. 2027 reading workshops
2. Printing the 2027 catalog
3. Membership dues
Approved as presented.
4. LAST MINUTES
Minutes no. 41, of September 10: approved as presented.
5. REPORTS
Executive director: the city renewed our free use of the reading room
through December 2027. September's used-book sale raised $1,840.
Treasurer (September):
Balance on August 31 $6,320
Income $2,690
Membership dues $850
Used-book sale $1,840
Expenses $1,415
Utilities and internet $215
New books $900
Workshop supplies $300
Balance on September 30 $7,595
6. ITEMS AND RESOLUTIONS
Item 1: 2027 reading workshops
Discussion: Clara Ortiz proposed 3 workshops per quarter, 15 seats
each, for about $4,800 a year, paid from dues and book sales.
Motion: approve the 2027 workshop plan with a cap of $4,800.
Moved by: Paula Bennett Seconded by: Rosa Ibarra
For: 5 Against: 0 Abstained: 0
Result: carried
Resolution: the 2027 workshop plan is approved, up to $4,800.
For the record: none.
Item 2: printing the 2027 catalog
Discussion: three quotes for 500 catalogs: North Graphics $1,150,
Price & Sons $980, Delta Print $1,240.
Motion: hire Price & Sons for $980, the lowest quote.
Moved by: Rosa Ibarra Seconded by: Andrew Moore
For: 3 Against: 0 Abstained: 1
Result: carried. 4 of the 5 directors present voted: Julian Price did
not vote because of his conflict of interest.
Resolution: Price & Sons prints the catalog for $980.
For the record: none.
Item 3: membership dues
Discussion: dues have been $5 a month since 2023. Andrew Moore proposed
asking the members to raise them at the March annual meeting.
Motion: propose to the March annual meeting that dues go from $5 to $6
a month starting in April 2027.
Moved by: Andrew Moore Seconded by: Elena Sáez
For: 4 Against: 1 Abstained: 0
Result: carried
Resolution: the dues proposal goes on the annual meeting agenda.
For the record: Paula Bennett asked that her vote against be recorded;
she would rather wait for the year-end numbers.
7. ACTION ITEMS
- What: sign the contract with Price & Sons
Who: Rosa Ibarra By: October 15
- What: publish the 2027 workshop calendar
Who: Clara Ortiz By: October 30
- What: write up the dues proposal for the annual meeting
Who: Andrew Moore By: February 15
8. CLOSE
Next meeting: Thursday, November 12, 6:30 pm Adjourned at: 8:05 pm
SIGNATURES
________________________ ________________________
Andrew Moore, secretary Elena Sáez, chair
Minutes approved on: November 12, 2026Tips for minutes that get used
- Write down a conflict of interest even when it seems small: who declared it, on which item, and that they didn't vote. If someone asks later why the board picked that printer, the minutes answer it.
- Votes in numbers. "The motion passed" isn't enough; "3 for, 0 against, 1 abstained" is. The count has to match the number of directors who voted.
- Keep what was reported apart from what was decided. That the city renewed the reading room is a report. That Price & Sons prints the catalog for $980 is a resolution, and someone has to carry it out.
- Write the motion as it was voted, with the amounts and the dates. If a year from now someone argues the cap was $5,000 and not $4,800, the minutes settle it.
- Number the minutes and keep them together, in a minute book or a shared folder, so anyone can find what was decided and when.
- Send the draft the same week, while everyone still remembers what was said.
What goes in board meeting minutes
The parts of the template, and what people tend to forget in each:
- Meeting details: besides the date and time, the minutes number, whether it was a regular or a special meeting, and when and how notice went out. If someone later challenges a decision, the first thing anyone checks is whether the meeting was properly called.
- Attendance and quorum: who was absent and whether they gave notice, and how many directors were there, so anyone can tell whether the board could act.
- Conflicts of interest: who had a personal or financial interest in an item (a relative's business, a company they own) and whether they left the room or abstained.
- Agenda and last minutes, both approved at the start, as presented or with changes.
- Reports: from the chair or executive director and from the treasurer. The treasurer's report ends with a balance anyone can check: the opening balance, plus income, minus expenses.
- Items and resolutions: for each one, the motion, who moved and seconded it, the vote count and the resolution. If a director asked to have a vote against recorded, it goes in with their name.
- Action items: each with a name and a date. Without them, no one owns the task.
- Close and signatures: the next meeting, already with a date and time, and the approval line, filled in when the board approves the minutes.
Do you have to keep board minutes?
It depends on your state and on the kind of organization. Three rules you may run into:
- Nonprofits that file IRS Form 990. Part VI, lines 8a and 8b, asks whether the organization documented at the time the meetings held and the written actions taken by its board and by each committee with authority to act for the board. Under the IRS instructions, you answer "Yes" only if they were documented contemporaneously, which means by the later of the next meeting of that board or committee or 60 days after the meeting or written action. Finishing the minutes within 60 days always meets that rule.
- Delaware corporations. Under §142(a) of the Delaware General Corporation Law, one of the officers has the duty to record the proceedings of stockholder and director meetings in a book kept for that purpose.
- California nonprofit public benefit corporations. Under California Corporations Code §6320, they must keep written minutes of the proceedings of their members, their board and the board's committees.
If the minutes will go to a bank, an auditor, a regulator or a court, ask a lawyer what they need to show.
How to draft them with Loro
- Download Loro for free for Windows or Mac.
- If the board meets by video call (Zoom, Meet, Teams or WhatsApp), click Take notes when Loro asks. Loro listens from your computer and doesn't join the call as another participant. Tell everyone at the start that a program is transcribing the meeting. The audio isn't stored.
- Ask the chair to say each result out loud: "four for, none against, one abstaining." Loro writes down what's said, not what it sees, so a raised hand doesn't make it into the note.
- When you hang up, Loro writes the note with the topics and what each person has to do. In the note's question bar, ask:
Write the board minutes with attendance and quorum, conflicts of interest, reports, each motion with its vote and resolution, and action items.Copy the minutes Loro gives you into your document and check every vote count.
If the board met in person, dictate the minutes afterwards: open the document, hold Ctrl + Win (fn on a Mac) and go through the meeting item by item. Loro types it with punctuation and without the "um"s.
Approving and signing the minutes is up to the people your bylaws or the law name.
Try Loro for free
Dictate in any app and get notes from your meetings, with no bot. For Windows and Mac, no card needed.
Frequently asked questions
What should be included in board meeting minutes?
The date and how notice was given, attendance and quorum, the agenda, the last minutes, the chair's and treasurer's reports, each motion with its vote and resolution, the action items and the signatures. And any conflict of interest someone declared.
Is there a free board meeting minutes template for Word or Google Docs?
Yes, the one on this page. Click "Copy" and paste it into Word or Google Docs. It's free and you don't need an account.
Who signs board meeting minutes?
Whoever your bylaws say. Usually the secretary, and on some boards the chair too.
What happens if there's no quorum?
Without a quorum, the board can't take valid action. The directors who came can talk, but not vote. The usual practice is to record who attended and that there was no quorum, and to call another meeting.
How do you record a vote against in the minutes?
A director who votes against can ask for it to be recorded. The secretary writes it under that item, with the director's name and, if they want, their reason. That way it's clear they didn't support the resolution.
How detailed should board minutes be?
Detailed enough that someone who wasn't there knows what was decided, how the vote went and why, in a few lines per item. Leave out the back and forth and keep the motion, the count and the resolution.
When are board minutes approved?
Usually at the start of the next meeting, after the secretary sends the draft ahead. The board approves them as presented or with corrections. Some boards approve them at the end of the same meeting, for example when a resolution has to go out before the next one.
Sources
- Internal Revenue Service, Instructions for Form 990, Part VI, lines 8a and 8b, checked October 15, 2026.
- State of Delaware, Delaware Code, Title 8, Chapter 1, Subchapter IV, §142, checked October 15, 2026.
- Public.Law, California Corporations Code §6320, checked October 15, 2026.
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