Board meeting minutes drafted by AI, approved by your secretary
Minutes are the board's legal record of what it decided. Karma Compass drafts them from your notes or a transcript, and the secretary adopts them. Here is what minutes must contain, who approves them, and how the drafting works.
What board meeting minutes are for
Minutes are the official record that a nonprofit board met, had quorum, and made the decisions it made. Funders, auditors, the IRS and, occasionally, a court read them to establish what the board knew and decided. They are not a transcript: good minutes record motions, votes, decisions and assignments, and leave out the discussion.
The secretary drafts them, the board approves them at its next meeting, and once approved they are kept with the organization’s permanent records. Every state’s nonprofit statute requires minutes to be kept; what they must contain beyond the basics is set by your bylaws.
The minimum a set of minutes should carry
Need the shape on paper? The free minutes template fills it in from three answers.
How Karma Compass drafts your minutes
After the meeting, the Minutes Agent drafts the minutes from what you have: typed notes or a transcript. It writes up who attended, records each motion and how the vote went, lists action items with an owner and any due date that was set, and leaves the draft for the secretary to review.
The secretary edits and adopts the minutes; until then they stay a draft. Once adopted, the decisions are added to the board’s record and each action item is tracked, with reminders to its owner if your board turns on the check that sends them. Adoption is saved with who adopted the minutes and when, and a changed email vote is added as a new entry rather than replacing the first, so the history stays intact.
On the Free plan, Karma Compass drafts minutes from the meeting record itself when you mark a meeting held. Minutes drafted from your notes or transcripts are part of Karma Compass Pro. See the plans.
Nothing becomes official until someone on your board with the authority to approve it does. The agents prepare the work; your board makes the decisions. See who approves what.
Questions boards ask
Who approves board meeting minutes?
The board does, usually by a motion at the next meeting after the secretary circulates a draft. Until then the minutes are a draft. In Karma Compass the Minutes Agent writes the draft and the secretary edits and adopts it; nothing is recorded as the official minutes until a person with that authority approves it.
What must nonprofit board minutes contain?
At minimum: the name of the organization, the date, time and place, who attended and whether there was quorum, each motion with who made it and how the vote went, decisions reached, action items with owners, and the time of adjournment. Minutes record what was decided, not everything that was said. Your bylaws and state law may require more; check them.
Can AI write our board minutes?
It can draft them. Karma Compass drafts minutes from your notes or a transcript, listing who attended, each motion and vote, and action items with an owner and, when one was set, a due date. The secretary reviews, edits and adopts the draft; the AI never adopts minutes on its own.
Do minutes need to record how each director voted?
Usually minutes record the outcome and the count, and any director who asks to have their dissent or abstention noted. Some bylaws and some states require roll-call votes on certain matters. Karma Compass records each vote with who cast it and when, so the secretary can include as much or as little as your rules require.
Is drafting minutes included in the Free plan?
Yes, from the meeting record: when you mark a meeting held, Karma Compass drafts its minutes from the attendance, quorum and agenda. Minutes drafted from your own notes or a transcript are part of Karma Compass Pro.