This page offers guidance on organising board meetings and events for associations, covering preparation, agendas, minutes, and legal requirements. It also provides practical tools like templates and venue lists.
Table of contents
How does the association’s board meet and make decisions?
The Board of Directors plays a central role in the Association's activities, as it is the executive body of the Association. The Board is also the body prescribed by the Associations Act. According to the Associations Act, every association must have a board of at least three members (Yhd L § 35) and the board must have a chairman and a possible vice-chairman.
How are board meetings prepared?
Board meetings play a crucial role in ensuring effective decision-making, accountability, and transparency within an association.
Proper preparation is key to running effective board meetings:
- A well-structured agenda guides discussions, keeps the meeting focused, and ensures all important topics are covered. The list of items on the agenda must comply with the rules of the association and be approved by the board of directors at the meeting.
- Recording accurate minutes is essential, as they serve as an official record of discussions and decisions. Well-documented minutes help track progress, provide a reference for future meetings, and may also be required for audits or legal purposes.
Practical tools
To help associations organise their board meetings efficiently, you can find here meeting agenda and minutes templates.
For technical meeting terms, see the glossary on the Kokoustekniikka osana kokoustaitoa page, in Finnish (University of Jyväskylä Language Centre): 🔗Glossary link.
The webinars will discuss how associations can organise successful annual meetings remotely or in a hybrid model. The webinars will cover topics such as preparation, practical arrangements, voting practices and participant feedback. The webinars will also provide information on legal issues and how to support associations with legal challenges.
Take control of remote meetings with a free video series (Osana.fi, in Finnish)
Remote annual meetings can be a challenge for many associations and members, especially for less experienced remote users. Clear videos will guide you through the use of remote participation software such as Microsoft Teams, Zoom and Google Meet. The series includes ten videos in Finnish.
Meetings of the association in an emergency
When meetings cannot be held, it is a good idea to hold them online. Board meetings can be organised in any way the board chooses, but it is important to think in advance about how to make online meetings run smoothly. General (annual) meetings cannot be held entirely online, and participation (voting) online is only possible if the organisation's rules allow it. Here you will find a recording of a webinar on how to organise general meetings in exceptional circumstances, as well as a lawyer's answers to questions on the subject.
How to organise voting or elections online?
If you organise a general assembly online, you must make sure that the participants can vote safely and anonymously, if needed. You can find at the links below different tools to organise this kind of votes or elections.
Systems enabling electronic voting (Sivis, in Finnish)
This page explains how electronic voting works in remote meetings. It outlines the steps and systems needed to organise a secure vote and provides examples of different options from which associations can choose the solution that suits them best.
Voting and elections in a remote meeting (Osana, in Finnish)
This page offers advice on organizing remote voting for meetings, focusing on different methods for secure and effective voting. It discusses the importance of ensuring voter anonymity, preventing double voting, and selecting the right tools based on technical needs and ease of use. Legal requirements for remote voting and examples of platforms like Google Forms and SurveyMonkey are also covered.
What needs to be done when organising an event?
Finding venues for meetings and events can be time-consuming, so we have compiled a list of rental venues where you can hold events, meetings and other functions throughout Finland. If your association has facilities available for meetings or other events, please email the association's assistant so we can update the list.
Below you will find various lists of participants for individual events, courses and recurring meetings with the same group. These lists can be edited or translated according to your needs, for example by adding additional information such as contact details, language or other important details.
