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Annual General Meeting (AGM)

Contents

The purpose of an Annual General Meeting (AGM)

  • to allow your members to hear reports from the Committee on the achievements and work of your group over the year 
  • to elect the Committee (either new or for the next year) 
  • to adopt or make any changes to the constitution 
  • to thank committee members for their work over the previous year 
  • to present the group's annual accounts.

Organising your AGM 

Check your constitution for any regulations about your AGM.  This may include for example: 

  • how often do you have to hold AGMs? 
  • how much notice are you required to give of the meeting? 
  • who do you have to notify about the meeting? 
  • how many people have to be at the meeting to make it official? 
  • do nominations for new committee members have to be taken in advance or can you take them at the meeting? (It is usual to have a proposer and seconder for each nomination) 

Agenda 

Your AGM agenda should include certain items. For example, you might now want to have separate reports from the Chair and Secretary, and you might want to add in a guest speaker or performance. 

Holding an AGM works best when held as part of a committee meeting. Participants should have the opportunity to attend the AGM without charge. 

Minutes 

Organise someone to take minutes of any decisions made at the AGM. It is particularly important to have clear records of the elections and any changes to the constitution. 

Take down the names and contact details of people attending the meeting so you can contact them afterwards, for example you could get people to sign in as they turn up to the AGM. 

Election of committee 

Decide on your voting system in advance and make sure it is explained clearly at the meeting. For example: Do you want to have a show of hands or a private ballot? 

Will it be a 'first past the post' election? 

You may want to arrange a neutral person to count the votes. Think about the materials that you might need to prepare in advance, for instance, ballot paper/pens, depending on how you organise your elections. 

Make sure the minutes show who was nominated, the proposer and seconder for each candidate, the number of votes each person received, and who was elected for each post. 

If there are fewer candidates than committee spaces available, all nominees can be elected without challenge. 

Conducting the AGM 

The Chair should conduct the meeting and will usually talk through all the items apart from the Treasurer's report. All attendees should be asked to sign in at the beginning of the meeting.

  1. at the start the Chair should announce that the official business of the AGM has started
  2. once official business has begun, all information should be recorded in the AGM minutes
  3. all apologies received in advance of the meeting should be recorded. These can either be read out in full at the meeting or committee members simply by name
  4. minutes of the previous AGM should be circulated in advance the meeting  and those present should be asked whether the minutes are a 'true and correct record of the previous AGM' and should be asked to accept them. This should be recorded
  5.  the Chair should give a brief report on the previous year's activities and highlights for the forthcoming year. This report is an opportunity to thank colleagues for their service.  Any committee members standing down should be announced and those committee members wishing to remain on the committee should be identified as such.  Any questions can be taken at the end of the session or deferred to 'Any Other Business'. A brief report of all aspects of the Chair's report should be recorded
  6. the Treasurer should circulate an outline of the Group's finances and briefly talk through the figures. The attendees should be invited to ask questions. A brief report of all aspects of the Treasurer's report should be recorded
  7.  if there are fewer candidates than committee spaces available all nominees should be elected without challenge. Their names should be read out and recorded as elected. If there are more candidates than spaces then a vote should be taken at the meeting and the results of any vote recorded
  8. the Chair should announce that the formal part of the meeting is over and ask for 'any other business' and any questions. When this is completed the AGM should be declared closed
  9. the Secretary or one of the other committee members should write up the minutes of the meeting ensuring that the salient points and number of attendees is recorded.