Board meeting agenda template
A ready-to-use board meeting agenda template for an ordinary board meeting. Procedural items come first, then reports, decisions, discussion, any other business and the next meeting. Delete what doesn’t apply and add this meeting’s business.
Use the agenda to tell board members what to prepare and to give the chair a clear running order. The minutes can then follow the same outline. This template uses a practical sequence of procedural items, reports, decisions, discussion and any other business.
For each substantive item, say whether the board needs to decide, to discuss or simply to note it. Add an estimated time where it helps the chair. Attach each document in the board pack to the agenda item it supports. Our guide to the board pack covers what to send with the agenda and when.
You can schedule many items months ahead, such as the budget, the annual accounts and the board evaluation. Start from the board’s annual plan and add this meeting’s business to it.
In Hippoly you build the agenda in the agenda builder. Start with a template for an ordinary board meeting, an annual general meeting or the first board meeting after the AGM. You can also copy a previous agenda. Attach the materials to each item, and the agenda and its attachments together form the board pack. When you write the minutes, the items are already in place. To record the meeting in a document of your own, use the board meeting minutes template, which follows the same order.
Important: this template is a starting point. Rules on notice, quorum and conflicts of interest vary by jurisdiction and type of organisation. Check the law that applies to your organisation, and its articles or governing document, before you send the agenda. The template is general guidance, not legal advice.
Board meeting agenda
[Organisation name] ([company or charity number, if it has one])
Location: [venue, or video link]
Date: [date, e.g. 22 April 2027]
Time: [start time] to [finish time]
To: [board members and anyone invited for specific items]
Board pack: [where the materials can be found]
1. Welcome and apologies
The board chair normally opens the meeting. If they’re absent, follow the articles or governing document. If neither covers it, check any default rule that applies and agree who will chair before you go on. Record the apologies received.
2. Notice and quorum
Confirm that the meeting was properly called and is quorate. Check the articles or governing document, and any default rules that apply, before the board takes decisions.
3. Declarations of interest
Ask board members to declare any interest in the items on the agenda. Record what was declared and how it’s managed under your rules, including whether the person leaves the meeting for that item.
4. Minutes of the previous meeting
The board approves the minutes of the last meeting as a correct record, and the chair usually signs them. Note any corrections.
5. Matters arising and actions
Go through the actions from earlier meetings that are still open. Note the owner, the status and a new due date for anything that’s slipping.
Purpose: [discussion / information]
Time: [minutes]
6. Chief executive’s report (for information)
The chief executive reports on day-to-day operations. If there are no paid staff, the board members responsible for each area report instead.
Time: [minutes]
7. Finance report (for information)
Results against budget, cash position and any variances that need action. List the documents in the board pack that belong to this item.
Time: [minutes]
8. Items for decision
[Item 1: short description]
Purpose: decision
Materials: [documents]
Proposed decision: [the proposal]
Time: [minutes]
[Item 2: short description]
Purpose: decision
Materials: [documents]
Proposed decision: [the proposal]
Time: [minutes]
If a board member made a declaration under item 3, record how it’s managed for the item concerned.
9. Items for discussion
Matters the board needs to discuss without deciding at this meeting. Say what the discussion should lead to and when the item comes back.
Time: [minutes]
10. Items from the annual plan
Items due at this meeting under the board’s annual plan, for example the budget, the annual accounts, the risk review or the board evaluation.
Purpose: [decision / discussion / information]
Time: [minutes]
11. Any other business
Items board members raised with the chair before the meeting. Avoid substantive decisions on matters that weren’t sent out with enough information. Put them on a later agenda, or use a decision between meetings if your rules allow it.
12. Date of next meeting
Date, time and place. Note the items already planned for that meeting.
13. Close
The chair closes the meeting.
Agenda and board pack sent on [date, e.g. 15 April 2027] by [name].