Join the Board Support Program

Board Meetings > People aren’t coming to our meetings! > Expectations

Do your board members understand your attendance expectations?

Have you shared your attendance expectations?

It can be tempting to downplay the time commitment required for board service, but a better practice is to be upfront about your attendance expectations with prospective members during the board recruitment process.

Ask your recruits to sign a board member agreement that includes an attendance policy and revisit it annually.

Do you need a sample board member agreement with an attendance policy?

Sample Board Member Agreement

  • Board members are legally responsible for ensuring that the nonprofit is well managed. They can’t do this unless they come to meetings.
  • Have board members review the meeting attendance policy, making sure that it includes a clause indicating the number of meetings that can be missed before board resignation is requested.

Download Resource: Sample board member agreement

Does your board understand why board meeting attendance is important?

Why missing meetings is a problem…

  • It’s hard for board members to make educated decisions if they don’t participate in the discussions.
  • It may result in decisions being made by a select few.
  • Absent board members lose the opportunity to influence the future direction of the organization, and the organization loses out on their insights and perspectives.
  • It places board members in a precarious position of personal liability, and they could be sued for negligence.

Try This:
Case Study Discussion
Try facilitating a discussion with your board about this case study to help them understand the importance of attending board meetings.

Back to Board Meeting