What to put in a quarterly board packet
The five numbers elders actually need each quarter, how to explain them in plain sentences, and what to leave out.
A board packet has one job: to let your elders make good decisions in the time they have. Forty pages of exports don’t do that. Five honest numbers and a few plain sentences do.
The five numbers
- Weekend attendance, with the change from a year ago.
- Giving, as a monthly average against the plan.
- Participation: how many active households gave in the last 30 days.
- Serving: the share of adults on a team, against your own goal.
- Reserve, in months of spending.
Explain participation, because someone will ask
Participation measures breadth, not amount. If 301 of 640 active households gave at least once in the last 30 days, participation is 47%. A giving total can rise because a few households gave more. Participation rises only when more households join in.
Write three sentences they can repeat
For example: “Giving averaged $108,000 a month against a plan of $100,000, with 47% of households giving in the last 30 days. Reserves hold at the full six months, and the Next Gen line is the one to watch.”
Name the one line to watch
Every quarter has one. Say which it is and why, before a board member finds it.
Where Ora fits
In MissionPulse, Ora assembles the packet from the quarter’s financials, attendance, serving and guest return, and stages it for your review before it goes to the board chair. Your elders can ask her what any number means.