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Just a minute-I'm the secretary?

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By Lion Kathy D.
OK, club secretaries!  As promised, here's the first informational and enlightening blog post just for you!  (Anyone can read it, though!)

I'm already finding more things I should be doing as a club secretary.  At the first board meeting, I totally forgot that I was supposed to take minutes!  Fortunately, I was able to remember everything long enough to get it down on paper!

But what is supposed to be in the minutes anyway?

Minutes are just a record of the action taken at a meeting.  According to "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Robert's Rules" they are "minutes, not hours-make them short and accurate." Most minutes for Lions Clubs will include:
  • the name of the organization and type of meeting
  • the date, time and place
  • the person presiding at the meeting and the name of the person who took the minutes 
  • how many members were present (optional, but useful to establish a quorum)
  • the motions made, who made them and the result
  • committee reports attached or included in brief
Minutes don't include discussion, the person who seconded a motion, withdrawn motions, or opinions.


After the minutes are approved, the secretary should mark them "approved", sign them,  and keep a copy along with any written reports.

Pretty easy, huh?  Just don't forget to take notes and you'll be fine!

Have an "addition to the minutes"?  Use the comments link below.

Comments

  1. Lion Kathy D.July 22, 2011 at 11:59 AM

    Lion Bev, the secretary of Emmett Gem Lions club, says that she uses a template modified from the one provided by Lions International. A template is a good way to make sure you don't forget something, and it keeps the minutes in the same format each time. The Lions club template is pretty bare bones: http://www.lionsclubs.org/EN/common/pdfs/m33c.pdf, but you could add to it, as Bev did, to include other aspects of your meeting.

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