It’s not too early to begin planning for 2026 – and not just your organization’s projects and programs but your board’s work as well.
Here are five key insights as you build a board calendar.
- Schedule your annual board retreat. Pick a date now and review our prior column on what makes a good board retreat. Of course, we are biased on the importance of a trained facilitator but whether you hire a consultant or facilitate yourself, getting a date on the books and planning the themes/content to be covered is time well spent.
- Plan when evaluations will happen. Determine which month will be “evaluation month” and build that into your operations to create an annual cadence. The board evaluates itself first, then evaluates the chief executive prior to the chief evaluating staff. Doing so sets the tone that everyone should engage in thoughtful reflection on performance. Working with a consultant to facilitate or using a tool like the BoardSource BSA will create new levels of insight. We walk through the BSA in these former columns: part one, part two, part three, and part four.
- Map out when cyclical topics occur. Understand how major activities like budget and audit approvals or gala planning fall in the rhythm of the board’s work. Design a visual graphic as illustrated here so that everyone on the board knows what to expect when. We recommend six board meetings a year, which this graphic shows.
- Identify strategic topics for discussion. Re-thinking board agendas to include more substantive dialogue around strategic issues is a powerful way to build board engagement and improve decision making. Once the cyclical matters are mapped as noted, then layer strategic topics on top of the graphic. For instance, every March is gala planning but in March 2026 the strategic topic will be succession planning. Review our prior article board operations to improve how your board agendas are designed.
- Choose one or two dates for social gatherings. The work of the board is not just strategy, finance, and oversight, it’s also relationship building. Getting to know one another, outside of the board room, is a highly effective way to improve governance. Everyone is busy, which means social connections need to be intentional and planned. We suggest at least one gathering a year that is not at the nonprofit’s facility (because then it’s work for the staff) but at some event in the community like a baseball game. Having fun and learning about one another matters, especially when so many meetings are virtual.
We hope these insights help you plan a meaningful 2026 for your board. Let us know what might be new on your calendar for next year.
