Holding an AGM
An Annual General Meeting (commonly abbreviated to AGM) is a formal meeting held once a year. AGM’s are open to anyone directly involved with your club and usually report on your club’s aims, activities and finances. If you are an Incorporated Society you must hold an AGM every year so your members can approve your annual financial statement. For more information on writing a Financial Statement please visit the Ministry of Economic Development website.
Before the AGM
An AGM is usually based around a set agenda and points to discuss. Before the AGM is held, your club’s Secretary and Treasurer should prepare and send an agenda or ‘notice of meeting’ to everyone attending the meeting. CommunityNet Aotearoa has a Guide called ‘10 Meetings’ that you can download to get information on running an AGM. A link to the guide is right here.
The guide shows you what a typical agenda may look like, as well as gives you a checklist of what you should do before the meeting. At your AGM you will need someone to chair the meeting, usually the chairperson, and someone to write down the minutes, usually the secretary. On pages two and three of the ‘10 Meetings’ guide you will find a checklist of duties for the chairperson and minute-taker.
AGM Procedure
The procedure for an AGM will be different for every club. The ‘10 Meetings’ guide covers procedure items such as: ·
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Voting rights — who's entitled to vote
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Quorums — the minimum number of people required to make a decision
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Motions and resolutions — moving and seconding motions etc
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Points of order
It also has flowcharts on motions and amendments to show how decisions could be made.
Running the AGM
The Order of Business at your AGM should follow the same outline as the agenda. Remember to stick to the Agenda and don’t get side-tracked by other issues. Also keep an eye on the time and make sure it lasts no more than the time allocated. The above guide ‘10 Meetings’ has some really valuable tips on resolving conflict in a meeting.
Example of AGM Report
The ‘Friends of the Dunedin Botanic Gardens’ have a great example of an AGM report. You can check it out here. The report includes the agenda, president’s report, minutes and financial statements.
After the AGM
If you are an Incorporated Society, you will need to file certain documents with the Registrar of Incorporated Societies after your AGM. The Ministry of Economic Development have set up a website for Societies and Trusts Online - just click here to see that website. Here you can file these required documents online:
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Annual financial statements
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Changes to officers (if any)
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Changes to rules (if any)
The Non-Profit Marketing Guide
The Non-Profit Marketing Guide also has a great section on Annual Reports, covering issues from why you need an Annual Report, to how to write the executive summary. The Non-Profit Marketing Guide is a USA based website that provides advice and tips to non-profit marketers. Many of its services are subscription based, but it does have a great Free Tips page which we think is worth checking out. Have a look at the Free Tips and the Annual Report section here.