Non-profit Board Secretary

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The role of the Secretary is to support the Chair in ensuring the smooth functioning of the Management Committee.

Requirements/ Skills:

• Microsoft Proficient - Excel, Word, PowerPoint
• GoogleDocs - Knowledgeable
• Time Management
• Detail Oriented

Responsibilities:
1. Ensuring meetings are effectively organized and minute

• Liaising with the Chair to plan meetings
• Receiving agenda items from committee members
• Circulating agendas and reports
• Taking minutes
• Circulating approved minutes
• Checking that agreed actions are carried out.

2. Maintaining effective records and administration

• Keeping up-to-date contact details (i.e. names, addresses and telephone numbers) for the management committee and (where relevant) ordinary members of the organization.
• Filing minutes and reports
• Compiling lists of names and addresses that are useful to the organization, including those of appropriate officials or officers of voluntary organizations.
• Keeping a record of the organization’s activities

3. Upholding legal requirements

• Acting as custodian of the organization’s governing documents
• Checking quorum is present at meetings
• Ensuring elections are in line with stipulated procedures.

4. Communication and correspondence

• Responding to all committee correspondence
• filing all committee correspondence received and copies of replies sent
• Reporting the activities of the organization and future programs to members.
• Preparing a report of the organization’s activities for the year, for the Annual General Meeting.

Given these responsibilities, the Secretary often acts as an information and reference point for the Chair and other committee members: clarifying past practice and decisions; confirming legal requirements; and retrieving relevant documentation.
It is important to note that although the Secretary ensures that these responsibilities are met, much of the work may be delegated to volunteers.