Is a board portal worth it for a quarterly board?
For a board that meets four times a year, a paid portal may not be worth it yet. What it costs per meeting, and the four signs that change the answer.
For a board that meets four times a year, I wouldn't pay for a board portal until something is going wrong between meetings. A shared folder and a careful secretary can carry four meetings.
The cost per meeting
Take the published prices. BoardPro starts at $1,650 a year. Ten users on Boardable's starting rate come to $2,518.80. Spread over four meetings, that is roughly $410 to $630 a meeting. Our own Pro plan is $99 a month, or about $250 to $300 a meeting for a quarterly board.
That is a lot to pay for uploading a packet and taking attendance four times a year.
What you are paying for
Follow-up. One executive director told us that tracking every action item after the meeting is "such a pain." With a quarterly board, an item that slips is twelve weeks old before anyone notices.
Finding things. A customer described their documents as "all over the place," some on board members' laptops, in several versions, with nobody able to find everything in one place. That gets worse every time a director leaves.
Decisions that can't wait. A quarterly board gets asked to approve things by email. Whether that vote counts depends on your bylaws and state law, and on keeping a record. Our guide to email votes covers the rules.
Preparation. If your executive director loses most of a week to each packet, four meetings is a month of their year.
Four signs it is worth paying
- The same action items come back unfinished meeting after meeting.
- The board has voted by email more than once this year.
- A director or a staff member left and took the only copy of something.
- Preparing each meeting takes your executive director more than a couple of days.
If none of those is true, stay on Google Drive or Microsoft 365.
The middle option
Karma Compass Free includes four meetings a year, which covers a quarterly board. It has unlimited board members and document uploads, voting, RSVPs with quorum tracking, and one list of open action items across meetings. Directors use it from links in their email.
Move to Pro when you want the agenda drafted, minutes drafted from your notes or a transcript, and the reminders sent for you. Customers tell us that takes about half the staff time out of managing the board.
Questions this post answers
Is board management software worth it for a small nonprofit?
Paid software is worth it when work between meetings is going wrong: action items slip, the board votes by email, or documents can't be found. If meetings are the only issue, shared folders or a free plan are enough.
How much does a board portal cost per meeting?
At published prices, a quarterly board pays roughly $410 a meeting on BoardPro's starting plan and about $630 a meeting for ten users on Boardable's. Karma Compass Pro works out to about $250 to $300, and its Free plan covers four meetings a year at no cost.
Can a board that meets four times a year use a free plan?
Yes. Karma Compass Free includes four meetings a year, unlimited board members, voting, and RSVPs with quorum tracking.
Get posts like this by email
New posts and product updates.