Embracing Virtual Meetings for Nonprofits and Religious Institutions

When the COVID-19 virus spread across the globe, social gatherings were suddenly prohibited and people were required to stay at home. Regularly busy fast-food restaurants slowed down their operations. The once lively hotels turned into ghost towns. The ever-crowded airports seemed larger than usual.

Although we have been using technology on a daily basis, no one expected that the world would be pushed further into the digital sphere in just a snap. Both giant business corporations and nonprofits and religious institutions struggled to adapt to the change. Thanks to all the resources available, religious institutions started holding their activities online like live streaming of the holy mass or conducting Zoom prayer meetings. Since then, religious organizations have relied heavily on online platforms to ensure the continuity of religious services and keep their members spiritually engaged.

Are virtual religious board meetings compliant?

Before the pandemic disrupted the usual routine of nonprofits and religious institutions, boards gathered in person to hold meetings and discuss major decisions or activities in the organization. As online meetings and engagements remain to be the safest and most convenient option nowadays, you may be wondering whether religious board meetings are observing compliance or not. Here are some considerations to ensure your virtual meetings are compliant:

Legality

Religious boards must first check if the laws governing your organization recognize virtual meetings as valid. In the United States, there are a lot of states allowing nonprofit and religious institutions to conduct online meetings. Specific laws and regulations are set in place, which vary from state to state, to ensure board meetings are legally conducted. Last November 2021, New York started permanently allowing nonprofits to conduct virtual meetings. This provides nonprofits and religious institutions the flexibility to set online meetings in compliance with the law while prioritizing the health and safety of the members with the threat of the COVID-19 virus still lingering around.

Engagement

It should go without saying that online meetings should run as smoothly as in-person meetings, perhaps even better. Members should be able to effortlessly collaborate with one another online. Think of ways on how you can maintain order during the actual session or what you can do to assist your board in using the digital platform. Explain the necessity of muting when a board member is presenting and unmuting only when they’re about to speak. Require them to use the raise hand feature whenever members wish to speak or if they wish to ask any questions. You can also set a timer for each member to ensure that they will not take too much time.

In the US, virtual meetings require real-time participation as stated in most laws. Ensure that board members can efficiently do so. With enough planning and proper tools, you can achieve engaging virtual meetings.

Documentation

Virtual meetings provide so much ease to religious boards during these times so proper documentation is highly important in tracking meeting discussions easily. Nonprofit and religious institutions should document virtual meetings appropriately for safe record-keeping. This way, your organization will not have any trouble tracing previous records as needed. This can be done by drafting the minutes of the meeting, recording the meeting session, as well as taking the attendance of board members. Religious meeting records may also come in handy down the line, especially when your board is entirely composed of new members.

Benefits of Transitioning to Virtual Meetings for Religious Institutions

In the past years, virtual meetings have been proven to be reliable with online or hybrid setups being recognized by more organizations. However, the benefits of online meetings were not as prominent as before until the COVID-19’s impacts on society, especially those in nonprofit and religious institutions.

Business Continuity

Keeping a nonprofit or religious institution afloat during the pandemic isn’t an easy feat. With no assurance when everything will return to normal, nonprofits must strive in serving the people while promoting awareness of their social cause in spite of the health crisis. Virtual meetings aid religious institutions to continuously work on their advocacies even when you’re still restricted from attending meetings or conducting activities in person.

Upskilling Board Members for Digitalization

Upskilling board members is crucial in this digital era. Now that virtual meetings are a common sight, the abundance of newer and innovative technological platforms should be utilized wisely in order to keep up with market trends. Learning how to navigate a meeting platform can streamline your overall meeting process and provide a better religious board meeting experience.

Increased Board Attendance and Member Diversity

Meeting platforms help eliminate geographical barriers by letting religious board members collaborate online. If one or two of your members cannot physically attend the meeting, they’ll have the option to join virtually and not miss anything important. Through virtual meeting platforms, you can also be more inclusive and capable of expanding your participant pool by giving opportunities to people with disabilities to become members of the religious board and participate in decision-making.

Reduced Preparation Time and Costs

Eradicating the use of paper in religious board meetings can save both time and money by opting for online meeting platforms instead. Going virtual often results in going paperless. Meeting packs can be as thick as hundred pages and they can go beyond that. Multiply that to the number of attendees, just for one meeting. What if there are some last-minute changes? You’ll then have to redo the whole preparation. Fortunately, you can skip this tedious process through an online meeting platform designed to manage meeting schedules and meeting packs efficiently and sustainably. In addition, you can reallocate the money you saved to a more significant cause like additional funding for ongoing projects.

Enhanced Board Governance

Online meetings allow religious boards to quickly facilitate meetings whenever and wherever you may be. For critical matters that may probably take hours to decide on, meeting platforms can support you in keeping the board focused on the discussion. Virtual meetings become more effective as you utilize built-in tools for creating action items, reviewing documents, or conducting polls. You’ll no longer need to switch between applications and avoid distractions.

Tips to Embrace Virtual Meetings

Virtual meetings can sound really promising, but before transitioning to this for the long run, you must evaluate whether the setup suits your organization.

Weighing Pros and Cons of Virtual Meetings

There are a lot of factors that can influence the effectiveness of online meetings. Identifying specific goals per online meeting will help you assess which factor will be beneficial or deterrent to your meetings. Understanding its pros and cons for nonprofit and religious institutions can help you assess if it can address your organization’s actual needs. Factors such as internet connection, availability, and preparedness are some things to consider to weigh its pros and cons.

Seeking Feedback of Board

Seek the feedback of your board members regarding virtual meetings. Are they satisfied with employing this kind of setup? Are there any concerns they want to bring up? As they are responsible for the overall direction and activities of the organization, virtual meetings must meet their demands similar to in-person meetings and avoid any major issues.

Adopting the Right Digital Tools

Now that you know the benefits of online meetings and your board’s feedback on them, you can take a step further and decide if the tools you currently have will suffice for longer use. There are various meeting platforms available nowadays that can aid your religious board in this digitalization. Research on the features they offer to see what fits your preference and/or budget.

Embrace virtual meetings in nonprofit and religious institutions with board management software, such as Convene, to help streamline your meeting workflows and expedite decision-making. Learn more about our solution and make the switch today.