Board Annual Work Plan

Posted on Wednesday, July 11, 2018

Does your board have an annual work plan?

An annual work plan helps an organization meet key deadlines and provides a guide for board meeting agendas.  By setting up the work plan at the beginning of the year and revisiting it throughout the year, the board can spend less time on determining what needs to be done at each board meeting.  A work plan is key during leadership turnovers to make sure no deadlines are missed.  It is also helpful for new board members being onboarded during the year to get caught up on what they’ve missed.

The work plan can be organized in various ways.  In its simplest form, it could list the following items and when they need to be addressed throughout the year.  Some of the items noted below are not necessarily the responsibility of the board or a board committee but it is beneficial that the board be aware of the items.  For example, the annual report is not the board’s responsibility but the members should be aware of when it was issued to the public.

• Signing of conflict of interest statements, code of conduct and job description
• Review board matrix
• Review committee goals
• Grant deadlines
• Audit and tax deadlines
• Other reporting deadlines (Form E-1, annual business entity report, etc.)
• Annual Executive Director evaluation
• Board retreat
• Review of mission
• Strategic plan goals
• Issuance of annual report
• Annual fundraiser
• Budget review
• Election of officers
• Annual board self-evaluation
• Employee evaluations
• Key programming events that the board should attend

The easiest format is by month, with the respective items for that month listed with a responsible party (board, finance committee, Executive Director, etc.).  Items that do not necessary have a set due date can be distributed throughout the year in order to allocate the appropriate amount of time to each. 

A work plan demonstrates that the board has intentionally thought about what it wants to accomplish in the next 12 months.  By putting a plan in place before the fiscal year starts, the board’s work will flow more smoothly and allow them to be more efficient and effective during the year.

Posted by: Carrie Minnich, CPA

Posted in Mission Minded Nonprofits

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