Successful Board Members have this Information

Every year, successful Chambers of Commerce and business associations provide each board member with a notebook featuring most of the following information:

- The vision and mission statement of the organization.
- The bylaws and the administrative policies and procedures.
- The most recent Program of Work or Action Plan including the long range plan.
- The latest budget and financial audit summary.
- An Organization Flow Chart
- A copy of all recent positions taken by the organization
- A 12-month schedule of organization meeting dates, times and places.
- Minutes of the last 3-12 board meetings.
- Biographies of all current board members and executive.
- A brief history of the organization featuring past chairs and executives
- A brief list of major successes achieved over the last few years
- A written agreement to serve on the board of directors.

These are the key ingredients to a successful board member notebook.

Understand that most of it will not be read and at least 1/3 of your board members will lose it or forget it most of the time. (You might ask those board members you feel will not keep track of their notebook simply to keep it in the trunk of their car for the next meeting.)

Ref. ChamberMentor.com