Advancement · School Operations

A board agenda built
around decisions.

Board meetings drift when reports are read aloud and decisions arrive without paper. Put routine approvals on a consent agenda, give every action item its packet document and a written motion, and time the whole meeting from the gavel. The builder flags votes with nothing to read, a packet sent late and a meeting that will run long. It serves foundation and grant-funded boards as a Board Meeting Agenda Generator too.

Build an agendaWhat you get
$12one-time · every device you sign in on
Buy · $12

Included with Caveat Classroom and Whole-school licenses. Or get it in the School operations toolkit, $49 for 32 items.

Board agendas

The worked example is made up: a school foundation board’s regular meeting with a grant authorization, a budget amendment without a packet document, and a packet sent five days ahead. Saved on this device only.

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What you get

Advancement · School OperationsAlso for Advancement · Grants & Funding$12 · included with Classroom and Whole-school licenses

What you finish with
An agenda per meeting with board, date, start time, length, place, kind, members, quorum and packet date; a consent agenda; items with presenter, minutes, purpose, packet document and proposed motion; executive session; eight preparation steps. Times the agenda; flags overruns, action items without a motion or document, a short packet window and steps not done; prints the timed agenda.
Who it is for
Board chairs, board secretaries, executive directors, heads of school and foundation staff who prepare board meetings.
Format
Browser agenda builder with a saved record per meeting. Prints the timed agenda for the board packet, the full record, every agenda as a table or a blank agenda; downloads a spreadsheet (.csv); exports and imports a file.
Access
$12 one-time, yours on every device you sign in on; the tool opens once you are signed in with it. Included with Caveat Classroom and Whole-school licenses. Also in the School operations toolkit ($49) and the Advancement Suite pass ($99), and 1 more bundle. Everything you type stays in this browser; nothing is sent to Caveat.
Where it lives
The School Operations space in Caveat Advancement; also listed in the Grants & Funding space (as the Board Meeting Agenda Generator for foundations and grant-funded boards).
Support
Questions about access, an order or a correction: team@caveatacademic.com.

How to use it

  1. Enter the meeting details and quorum from the bylaws.
  2. Move routine approvals to the consent agenda.
  3. Add each item with its presenter, minutes and packet tab; write every proposed motion.
  4. Work the preparation steps and send the packet a week ahead.
  5. Print the timed agenda as the packet’s first page.

Build an agenda

Time on decisions

Where the board’s time goesDecisions35 minStrategy20 minReports15 minPublic, close10 minOpening: 5 min · Consent: 5 minA consent agenda moves routine approvals into one vote, so most of the meeting goes todecisions and strategy rather than reports.Where the board’s time goesConsent: 5 minOpening: 5 minDecisions: 35 minStrategy: 20 minReports: 15 minPublic, close: 10 minA consent agenda moves routine approvalsinto one vote, so most of the meetinggoes to decisions and strategy ratherthan reports.
The example meeting’s time. Reports read in the packet do not need to be read aloud.

Conflicts of interest

The IRS Form 990 asks whether a nonprofit has a written conflict of interest policy, whether members disclose conflicts each year and how the policy is monitored. Asking at the start of each meeting whether anyone has a conflict with an item, and recording the answer, is a simple way to follow the policy.

Open meetings

Public school boards and some other public bodies fall under state open meetings laws, which set notice, public comment and closed-session rules that vary by state. Private nonprofit boards usually follow their bylaws. Check which rules apply to your board before you post the notice.

Sources

  1. Internal Revenue Service. Form 990, Part VI: governance, management and disclosure, and its instructions (irs.gov).
  2. BoardSource. Resources on consent agendas and effective board meetings (boardsource.org).
  3. Robert, H. M., et al. Robert’s Rules of Order Newly Revised, 12th edition: the consent calendar and the order of business.
  4. National Council of Nonprofits. Board roles and responsibilities and conflict of interest resources (councilofnonprofits.org).

The worked example is made up. This is a planning tool, not legal advice; your bylaws and any law that applies to your board come first. Nothing you type is sent to Caveat. Support: team@caveatacademic.com.