Good minutes are short. They say who was there, what was decided, and who does what next. Each example below follows that, and they all use the meeting minutes template.
Example 1: Nonprofit board
Riverside Food Bank, Board of Directors Regular meeting, Tuesday, March 4, 7:00 to 8:10 p.m., Community Room
Present: Dana Reyes (chair), Luis Ortega (treasurer), Priya Shah (secretary), Tom Becker, Aisha Khan. Absent: Joe Lindqvist. Quorum: yes, 5 of 6.
- Call to order. Dana called the meeting to order at 7:02 p.m.
- Minutes. The February minutes were approved as written (Tom, Aisha; all in favor).
- Treasurer's report. Luis reported a balance of $42,300. Winter donations were 12% above last year.
- Truck replacement. The board discussed the cost of a used refrigerated van against repairing the old truck.
- Motion: Buy a used refrigerated van for up to $28,000. Moved by Tom, seconded by Aisha.
- Vote: 4 for, 1 against (Priya), 0 abstaining. Carried.
- Spring drive. Aisha will lead the volunteer drive in April.
Action items: Luis to get two insurance quotes for the van by March 18. Aisha to post volunteer sign-ups by March 11. Next meeting: April 1, 7:00 p.m. Adjourned at 8:10 p.m. Minutes taken by Priya Shah.
Example 2: HOA
Maple Court Homeowners Association, Board Meeting Thursday, June 12, 6:30 p.m., Clubhouse. Notice posted June 2.
Board present: M. Alvarez (president), K. O'Neill (treasurer), R. Singh (secretary). Owners present: 11. Quorum: yes.
- Call to order at 6:34 p.m. May minutes approved as corrected (the pool opening date).
- Owner forum. Unit 14 asked about the broken gate. Unit 22 asked about guest parking. Both were added to the agenda.
- Financial report. Operating account $18,950. Reserve fund $61,200. Two owners are over 60 days late on dues.
- Gate repair.
- Motion: Approve $3,480 from the operating account to repair the front gate. Moved by K. O'Neill, seconded by R. Singh.
- Vote: 3 for, 0 against. Carried.
- Guest parking. Tabled to July so the board can review the rules.
Action items: M. Alvarez to book the gate contractor by June 20. R. Singh to send the late-dues notices by June 16. Next meeting: July 10, 6:30 p.m. Adjourned at 7:41 p.m.
Example 3: PTA
Lincoln Elementary PTA, General Meeting Wednesday, October 8, 6:00 p.m., school library
Present: 14 members, including president Jen Park, treasurer Omar Ali and secretary Beth Cole. Quorum: yes.
- Call to order at 6:03 p.m. September minutes approved.
- Principal's report. Ms. Torres thanked the PTA for the new reading corner and announced a book fair in November.
- Treasurer's report. Balance $6,415. The fall fundraiser raised $2,180.
- Fall carnival.
- Motion: Spend up to $900 on the October 25 carnival. Moved by Omar, seconded by a member.
- Vote: Passed by voice vote, none opposed.
- Volunteers. Beth will send the sign-up link for carnival booths.
Action items: Jen to confirm the gym booking by October 10. Omar to pay the inflatable rental deposit by October 15. Next meeting: November 12, 6:00 p.m. Adjourned at 6:52 p.m.
What these have in common
- The header says who was there and whether there was a quorum.
- Each decision has the exact motion, who moved and seconded it, and the result.
- Discussion is one or two lines, not a transcript.
- Action items name an owner and a date.
Get your own minutes the same way
Record the meeting in My notes and you get a transcript with speaker labels and times. Ask AI can draft minutes like these from it. Then you check the draft against the transcript, especially names, numbers and votes. Nothing is for sale right now: every account that signs in has Pro free until January.
More: meeting minutes hub, board meeting minutes, HOA meeting minutes, PTA meeting minutes.