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Record Executive Committee Meeting Minutes

Record, approve, and file the minutes for your club's Executive Committee (board) meetings using the official Toastmasters Executive Committee template. Each set of minutes is saved as a polished PDF and filed automatically into Club Files.

Overview

Executive Meeting Minutes are separate from your regular business-meeting minutes. They use the official Toastmasters Executive Committee template, which captures committee reports, motions, and board business in the format your club's officers expect.

Regular and executive minutes never mix. They each have their own list, their own "New" button, and their own folders in Club Files.

The lifecycle of a set of minutes:

  1. Any officer creates a Draft and fills in the meeting details.
  2. Saving the draft generates a PDF (stamped with a DRAFT watermark) in an officers-only folder.
  3. The President or Secretary reviews the draft and clicks Approve.
  4. Approval regenerates the PDF without the watermark and files it in its final folder.
  5. Approved minutes are locked and become read-only.

Before You Begin

  • You must be an officer of the club, and your club must have an active subscription.
  • Any officer can create, edit, and delete draft minutes.
  • Only the President or Secretary can approve minutes.
  • The signature lines on the PDF fill in automatically from your club's current President and Secretary — you don't need to type them in.

Open Executive Meeting Minutes

  1. In the sidebar, open Meeting Minutes.
  2. On the Meeting Minutes page, click the Exec Meeting Minutes button.
  3. You'll land on the Executive Meeting Minutes list, which shows only your club's executive minutes.

To start a new set, click New Exec Minutes on that list.

Create a Set of Executive Minutes

  1. From the Executive Meeting Minutes list, click New Exec Minutes.

  2. Fill in the form sections (all fields are optional, so you can save a partial draft and finish it later):

  3. Meeting details — the meeting date, location, the time the meeting was called to order, and the time it adjourned.

  4. Attendance — use the searchable pickers to mark Officers Present and Officers Absent, and choose the Presiding Officer.
  5. Minutes of Previous Meeting — note whether the previous Executive Committee minutes were reviewed and approved, tabled, or amended. A starter sentence is pre-filled for you to edit.
  6. Committee Reports — record reports from VP Education, VP Membership, VP Public Relations, and the Sergeant at Arms, plus any Additional committee reports.
  7. Motions — add a row for each motion: choose the mover, type the motion text, and pick the outcome (Adopted, Lost, or Tabled).
  8. Unfinished & New Business — record items carried over and any new business.
  9. Notes — anything else worth recording.
  10. Click Save.

When you save, the minutes are stored as a Draft and a PDF is generated in the officers-only Draft Exec Meeting Minutes folder in Club Files. The PDF carries a DRAFT watermark until the minutes are approved.

Tip: You don't have to finish in one sitting. Save the draft, then reopen it later from the Executive Meeting Minutes list to keep editing.

Edit a Draft

  1. From the Executive Meeting Minutes list, open the draft you want to change.
  2. Click Edit.
  3. Make your changes and click Save.

Each save regenerates the draft PDF so it always matches the latest content.

Note: Only drafts can be edited. Once minutes are approved, they're locked.

Approve a Set of Minutes

Approval is the final step that turns a working draft into the official record.

  1. Open the draft from the Executive Meeting Minutes list.
  2. Review the contents carefully.
  3. Click Approve.

When you approve:

  • The PDF is regenerated without the DRAFT watermark.
  • The PDF is filed into its final folder, based on your club's visibility setting (see below).
  • The minutes become read-only and can no longer be edited.

Note: The Approve button only appears for the President and Secretary. Other officers will see who the current President and Secretary are so they know who to ask.

If a set of minutes has no PDF yet (for example, if PDF generation failed when it was saved), open it and click Save first, then approve.

Choose Where Approved Minutes Are Filed

Executive minutes can contain sensitive board discussion, so you control who can see the approved PDFs. This is set per club in Schedule Options under Executive Meeting Minutes Visibility.

Setting Where approved PDFs are filed Who can see them
Officers only (default) The officers-only Exec Meeting Minutes folder Officers only
All members The member-visible Meeting Minutes ▸ Exec Meeting Minutes folder All members

A few important details:

  • Drafts are always officers-only, regardless of this setting.
  • Changing this setting only affects future approvals. It does not move minutes you've already approved.
  • You can move any filed PDF yourself at any time in Club Files — drag or move it between folders just like any other file.

Tip: If your board keeps minutes internal but later decides to share a particular set, just move that PDF to a member-visible folder in Club Files.

Delete a Set of Minutes

  1. Open the minutes from the Executive Meeting Minutes list.
  2. Click Delete and confirm.

Deleting a set of executive minutes also removes its generated PDF from Club Files. This cannot be undone.

Frequently Asked Questions

How are these different from regular Meeting Minutes?

Regular Meeting Minutes are for your club's general business meetings. Executive Meeting Minutes use the official Toastmasters Executive Committee template and are intended for board meetings. The two are kept completely separate — separate lists, separate "New" buttons, and separate folders in Club Files.

Who can create executive minutes?

Any officer of a club with an active subscription can create, edit, and delete drafts. Only the President or Secretary can approve them.

Do I have to type in the President and Secretary signatures?

No. The signature lines on the PDF fill in automatically from your club's current President and Secretary. There's nothing to enter.

Can I edit minutes after they're approved?

No. Approved minutes are locked and read-only. If you need to make a correction, you'll need to delete the approved set and create a new one.

I changed the visibility setting — why didn't my old minutes move?

The visibility setting only applies to minutes approved after you change it. Minutes that were already approved stay where they were filed. To relocate them, move the PDFs manually in Club Files.

What does the DRAFT watermark mean?

A DRAFT watermark means the minutes haven't been approved yet. Once the President or Secretary approves them, the PDF is regenerated without the watermark.

Tips

  • Capture motions precisely. In the motion text, record the exact wording after "I move that…" so the official record is unambiguous.
  • Save early, finish later. A partial draft is fine — you can return to it anytime before approving.
  • Confirm your officers are current. Because signatures and the approval permission come from your club's current President and Secretary, keep those roles assigned correctly in member profiles.
  • Decide visibility up front. Set Executive Meeting Minutes Visibility before you start approving, so each set is filed where you want it the first time.

Troubleshooting

The Approve button isn't showing for me. Only the President and Secretary can approve. Ask one of them to approve, or check that the President/Secretary roles are assigned in member profiles.

I saved a draft but there's no PDF. Occasionally a PDF can't be generated on the first try. Open the record and click Save again to retry. If you're trying to approve a set with no PDF, save it first, then approve.

An approved set's PDF didn't get filed. If the PDF couldn't be filed during approval, the minutes are still approved — use the Retry PDF button on the record to file it.

I can't find the approved PDF. Check your Executive Meeting Minutes Visibility setting. With "Officers only," look in the officers-only Exec Meeting Minutes folder. With "All members," look in Meeting Minutes ▸ Exec Meeting Minutes. Drafts always live in the Draft Exec Meeting Minutes folder.

Last updated: June 14, 2026