Why board members don't read the board packet
Directors skip the packet when it is long, late, hard to open, or unclear about what they are being asked. Six changes that get it read.
When directors don't read the packet, I look at the packet first. Say it lands two days before the meeting, runs 60 pages, sits behind a login directors use four times a year, and never says what they are being asked to do.
Directors are volunteers with jobs and families. Fix the packet before you decide they don't care.
It is too long
Reports grow. Every committee adds a page and nobody takes one away. Set a limit: one page for a committee report, two for the executive director's, with the detail in an appendix for anyone who wants it. Move the routine items into a consent agenda so they don't need reading aloud or discussing.
It arrives too late
A packet that lands on Tuesday night for a Thursday meeting gets skimmed in the parking lot. Send it a week ahead, so there is a weekend in between. If one report is late, send the packet without it and send that report on its own.
Our six-week timeline shows how to back up from that date.
It is hard to open
Seven attachments spread over three emails is hard. So is a portal with a password the director last typed in June. Send one link or one PDF, and make sure it opens on a phone.
Customers have told us how glad they are that directors don't have to log in to Compass, because everything reaches them by email.
It doesn't say what you want from them
Put the decisions on the first page. For example: "We are asking the board to approve the 2027 budget (page 4) and to choose between two lease options (page 9)."
Each report should open the same way, with what it asks of the board. Our executive director's report template is built around that.
Reading it makes no difference
If the meeting walks through every report aloud, the directors who read ahead wasted their evening, and they will remember that next time. Stop presenting what was in the packet. Open each item with "Any questions on the report?" and go straight to the discussion.
It feels abrupt the first time, so tell directors in advance that you are going to run the meeting this way.
Nobody asked them anything
In the email that carries the packet, ask one question you want answered at the meeting. "Come ready to say which lease option you prefer, and why." A director who knows they will be asked reads that section properly.
How Karma Compass helps
In Karma Compass you send the board packet as one link in an email. Directors open it with no account or password, and that is part of the Free plan.
On the Pro plan, Compass drafts the agenda for you, with a consent section for the routine items.
See how the board packet works in Karma Compass
Questions this post answers
How do you get board members to read the board packet?
Make it shorter, send it a week ahead as a single link, say on the first page what decisions you need, and stop repeating its contents at the meeting.
How long should a board packet be?
There is no rule. Aim for something a director can read in one sitting. I'd cap committee reports at a page and move the detail to an appendix.
When should the board packet be sent?
About a week before the meeting, so directors have a weekend to read it.
Should the board packet be sent as email attachments?
One link or one PDF is easier to find and open than several attachments spread across a few emails.
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