Board Governance Calendar Template for Nonprofits
Board meetings and business, annual cycle of declarations, audit, Form 990 and Charity Commission filings, minutes timing, evaluation, policy reviews
Cara menggunakan: Use it when a board secretary plans the year's governance business. Set the financial year end first and place each item in the meeting before it is due. The main pitfall is filing the annual return without giving the board the final version first.
Pratinjau
Board Governance Calendar [YYYY]: [Organisation name]
A one-year calendar of the board's recurring business: meetings, budget and strategy, accounts and audit, regulatory filings, policy reviews, conflict of interest declarations and board evaluation. It includes dated examples for a US tax-exempt organisation (IRS Form 990 Part VI, 2025 instructions) and a charity in England and Wales (Charity Commission annual return). The example uses a financial year from 1 January to 31 December. Replace every
[bracketed]value and every row marked Example. This is a planning format, not legal or tax advice: check each deadline on the official page every year.
Document control
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Document ID | [GOV-CAL-YYYY] |
| Financial year end | [YYYY-12-31] |
| Owner | [@board-secretary] |
| Approved by | [Board, minute reference] |
| Last updated | YYYY-MM-DD |
Revision history
| Version | Date | Author | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1.0 | YYYY-MM-DD | [@board-secretary] | Calendar for the year |
1. Meetings
| Meeting | Month | Main business |
|---|---|---|
| Board 1 (Example) | February | Annual conflict of interest declarations, register of interests, risk register review |
| Finance and audit committee (Example) | April | Draft accounts, auditor findings, reserves calculation |
| Board 2 (Example) | May | Approve accounts and trustees' or annual report, review final Form 990 before filing |
| Board 3 (Example) | September | Strategy review, policy reviews due this year, board evaluation results |
| Board 4 (Example) | November | Approve next year's budget and reserves target, set next year's calendar |
2. Annual cycle
| Month | Item | Who | Basis |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | Send annual declarations of interest | [@board-secretary] | Conflict of interest policy; Form 990 Part VI line 12b |
| February | Board reviews register of interests | Board | Conflict of interest policy |
| March to April | Year-end audit or independent examination | [@finance-lead], auditor | Governing document, funder and regulator rules |
| May | Board receives the complete final Form 990 before it is filed | Board | Form 990 Part VI line 11a |
| May 15 (US example) | Form 990 due (15th day of the 5th month after year end), or file Form 8868 for an automatic 6-month extension to November 15 | [@finance-lead] | IRS Instructions for Form 990 (2025); About Form 8868 |
| Every meeting | Minutes approved by the later of the next meeting or 60 days | [@board-secretary] | Form 990 Part VI line 8 |
| September | Board self-evaluation and skills review | Chair | Board practice |
| October 31 (England and Wales example) | Annual return to the Charity Commission, within 10 months of year end, with accounts and reports where required | [@finance-lead] | Charity Commission "Prepare a charity annual return" |
| November | Budget, reserves policy review, insurance renewal | Board | Reserves policy |
| [Month] | [State registration, funder report, policy review] | [@owner] | [Source] |
3. Policy review schedule
| Policy | Last approved | Next review |
|---|---|---|
| Conflict of interest policy | YYYY-MM-DD | YYYY-MM-DD |
| Reserves policy | YYYY-MM-DD | YYYY-MM-DD (annual) |
| Gift acceptance policy | YYYY-MM-DD | YYYY-MM-DD |
| Safeguarding policy | YYYY-MM-DD | YYYY-MM-DD (annual) |
| Whistleblower and document retention policies | YYYY-MM-DD | YYYY-MM-DD |
4. Related templates
- Board minutes for each meeting in section 1
- Conflict of interest policy for the annual declarations
- Reserves policy for the November review
- Strategic plan for the September strategy review
- Annual budget for the November budget
Standard and licence note
Based on the IRS Instructions for Form 990 (2025), Part VI lines 8, 11a and 12b and the filing due date (https://www.irs.gov/instructions/i990), IRS "About Form 8868" (https://www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/about-form-8868), and the Charity Commission guidance "Prepare a charity annual return" (last updated 2026-09-16, https://www.gov.uk/guidance/prepare-a-charity-annual-return), all checked 2026-10-30. Accounting and audit thresholds for charities in England and Wales changed for financial years ending on or after 2026-09-30; check them on the official page. The text and examples are original. Template licence: MIT.
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