Governance
Quarterly board reports framed as impact
Enter the quarter's membership, revenue, events, wins and shortfalls. Civitas writes a report under two pages that opens with a four-sentence summary and names the problems before a board member does.
Start freeThe problem
Board reports tend to list everything the staff did. Boards want to know what it produced and what went wrong. The director who raises the shortfall first keeps the room.
What you answer
- Which period does this cover?
- Where does membership stand?
- How did revenue look?
- Which events ran and how many attended?
- What went well, and what did not?
- What is the focus next quarter?
- Is the board asking about anything in particular?
What you get
- A four-sentence summary a board member can read on its own
- Retention alongside growth, when your numbers allow
- Revenue against budget
- A plain paragraph on what did not work and what is being done
- The questions the board is most likely to ask, with short answers
Fair Haven, Georgia is a fictional town used for examples.
Q3 summary
Who it is for
Executive directors who report to a volunteer board each quarter.
Questions
Will it make up numbers I did not give it?
Any figure you did not supply is marked [confirm]. It never estimates membership or revenue.
Why does it insist on including shortfalls?
A report with no problems reads as evasive, and board members usually know the bad news already.
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