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Guidelines for annual meetings

Are you a board member and in charge of arranging the annual meeting? Or a member solely wanting to attend but uncertain on what an annual meeting really is? Either way, here you will find both a tutorial for preparing as well as a guide for attending an annual meeting. 

Tutorial: Annual meeting 

Tips on what to think of when planning for an annual meeting as well as reminders of what not to forget once you’ve had the meeting.

During the financial year:

• Please decide in plenty of time when you plan to hold your annual meeting, so that
you have time to prepare properly. Information about when you need to call the
annual meeting by can be found in your statutes. Hint! An annual wheel can facilitate the
planning of the business and make it easier to remember important dates, such as the date of
the annual meeting. On our website you will find a suggestion of what an annual wheel might
look likea.

• Write minutes at your board meetings. Prior to the annual meeting, you must submit
both board minutes and your financial statements to the association's auditors. Hint!
By continuously submitting reports to the auditors during the year, you facilitate their work and
give them better insight into your business. It allows them to raise the alarm if something is
not right.

• Inform the nominating committee which persons within the current board have
assignments that end at the upcoming annual meeting. Find out if they want to run
again or if the nominating committee must work on finding other candidates for the
various board assignments. The nominating committee presents its proposal for new
and re-elected ordinary members at the annual meeting. Hint! If the board and the
nominating committee have a close and ongoing dialogue, it is usually easier for the
nominating committee to get an idea of which competences and assignments need to be
appointed at the next annual meeting. The more accurate the descriptions of assignments
are, the easier it is to find candidates.

• Discuss any motions that arrive for the annual meeting and write an opinion from the
board for each received motion. Send out motions and opinions to your members in
plenty of time (according to your statutes) before the annual meeting. Hint! Please
emphasise that members can submit motions at any time during the year, and not only in
connection with the annual meeting.

• Discuss and prepare any suggestions for changes from you as the board. Write down
these as propositions and present them to the members in plenty of time (according
to your statutes) before the annual meeting.

• You will also need to prepare other presentations for the annual meeting. In the next
section, you can read about what information and documents are involved.

Ahead of the annual meeting:

• Determine the time and place of the annual meeting: Should it be done in person,
digitally or both? Does the venue need to be booked? What digital video service
should you use if the meeting is to take place digitally?

• When the time and place for the annual meeting is determined: Send out the
invitations. Be sure to send out the notice in a timely and correct manner (how and
when is in your statutes).

• Prior to the annual meeting, members need to be able to access these documents in
advance (how far in advance are described in your statutes):
1. Agenda or list of topics.
2. Annual report.
3. Financial statements.
4. Auditor’s report.
5. Draft business plan.
6. Draft budget.
7. Opinions on motions and proposals from the board.
8. Proposals from the nominating committee.
Hint! Remember that the agenda of your association or your confederation is specified in your
statutes. This means that the agenda you send out for the annual meeting needs to be in line with the
items your statutes state that the agenda should contain.

• Decide together with the nominating committee who will hold the annual meeting (be
chairperson of the meeting) and who will take notes during the annual meeting (be
the meeting secretary).

• Hand over your financial statements and board minutes to the auditors.

• Review your membership register to make sure it is up to date; it is necessary to
know who has the right to vote at the annual meeting

• Do you need to prepare anything else for the meeting? For example, do you need to
serve coffee?

During the annual meeting:

Here you will find a step-by-step guide for conducting an annual meeting.

How is an annual meeting carried out? Step-by-step guide:

1. Starting the meeting: The person elected by the board will open the meeting and
welcome everyone.

2. Establish the voting list for the meeting: That is, how many of the members attending
the meeting have reached the voting age (if there is one, it should be described in the
statutes) and also paid their membership fee on time? (When the membership fee
must be paid by in order for a member to have the right to vote at the annual
meeting, it should be in the statutes). These members have the right to vote at the
meeting. Double check this with the participants at the meeting and count the number
of persons entitled to vote. Once you have done so, you can determine the voting list.

3. Establish the agenda or list of topics: I.e., are the questions and items listed in
accordance with what is to be addressed at the meeting? Which items should be
included in your agenda are written in the association's statutes. Double check that
the items are listed in the correct order? If they are, you can establish the agenda or
list of topics. If the agenda is not in accordance with what is set out in your statutes,
all members with voting rights need to take a position on any changes that need to
be made to the current agenda for the annual meeting. Then you can establish the
agenda. NB! This guide is written based on what an agenda for an annual meeting
normally looks like, i.e. the agenda for your association's annual meeting is not
necessarily exactly the same.

4. Appoint a chairperson and a secretary for the meeting: The chairperson and
secretary for the meeting are often not those on the board. The board usually
proposes two people and if everyone at the meeting agrees with the proposals, these
two will be elected, one as chairperson and the other as secretary for the meeting.

5. Choose who will be protocol adjusters and count votes: The person or those who are
protocol adjusters take their own notes during the annual meeting, and after the
meeting, they check that what the secretary of the meeting has written is what
happened during the meeting. The vote counter or vote counters count the votes
during the voting, announce the results and write it down.

6. Determine whether the meeting has been correctly called: Has the invitation to the
annual meeting and all the information that members should receive before the
annual meeting been sent out correctly and in a timely manner? How, when and
where the invitation and other information should be sent out is stated in your
statutes. If this has been done correctly, you can establish that the meeting has been
correctly called.

7. Review of the annual report: The annual report is a document that contains a
description of what the association has done in the last financial year. Here, for
example, it should be stated what the association has carried out of various activities
and competitions, how many members the association has had and who has been on
the board.

8. Review of annual closure or annual accounts: Here, the board presents the income
statement for the year, i.e. what revenues and expenses the association had in the
past year and what the result of all costs was. Here the board also presents the
balance sheet, which means that you present what assets, liabilities and any equity
the association has. The management report is also presented under this item.
Unlike the income statements and balance sheets, the management report describes
in words how the association's finances are and have been during the last financial
year. Often the costs and revenues of things that have taken place in the business,
such as various activities, are presented. When all presentations have been made
and members have had the opportunity to ask questions, those with voting rights
decide whether they approve the statements, in which case the income statements
and balance sheets are established.

9. Review of the auditor's report: The association's auditors have reviewed and checked
the board's work and the revenue and expenses that the association had during the
financial year. The auditors present the results of their audit in a report called the
auditor's report.

10. Decision on waivers for the board: In their auditor's report, the auditors conclude by
proposing to the members at the annual meeting to either waive responsibility for the
board for the past year or to not waive responsibility. Almost always, the members at
the annual meeting choose to vote as the auditors propose.

11. Review of the business plan and budget: The board presents their plan for the
association's activities in the coming financial year. In that plan, the board also
presents a budget that describes how they think the money should be distributed.

12. Review and vote of proposals: Propositions are the board's proposal for ideas or
changes to the association's activities. If the board has any proposals, they present
these under this item. The members of the annual meeting can both comment on the
proposals, propose changes or additions to the proposals and if you wish, you as a
member can also state how you intend to vote: For (yes) or against (no). Then voting
about the proposals will take place.

13. Review and vote of motions: The members' suggestions for ideas or changes to the
association's activities are called motions. If one or more members have submitted
motions to the annual meeting, this member or those members present these
proposals under this item. Your statutes state when a motion must be submitted by to
be included at the annual meeting. If there are motions from members, the board
should state their opinion on these proposals. Members may also comment on the
motions and make suggestions for changes or additions. It is then up to the members
with the right to vote for (yes) or against (no) each motion.

14. Establishment of membership fee: During this item, a vote and establishment of the
membership fee takes place. Some associations may have different fees for
membership, such as a fee for juniors and another fee for seniors. Each such
membership fee should be voted upon. Should it be the same as for previous years
or change? If the fee should be changed, it may be a good idea to explain why it
should be changed, so that everyone knows why the fee is raised or lowered. The
members with voting rights can vote. Please note that the membership fee and
training fee are two different fees. Membership fees should not be confused with fees
for participating in the sporting activities. Fees for participating in the activities may,
for example, be tuition fees, training fees or business fees and these are not
necessarily determined at the annual meeting. The membership fee only applies to
membership.

15. Election of representatives to the board, the nominating committee and election of
auditor or auditors: The nominating committee presents the persons they propose to
be members of the board. How many people will be elected to the board at each
annual meeting, and how many ordinary members the board shall consist of, may
differ in different associations. What applies to your association or your confederation
is in your statutes. Often half of the board positions are appointed at the annual
meeting, and the other half are appointed at the next annual meeting. In this way,
there will be both old and new ordinary members on the board, and knowledge can
be passed on in the association and from board to board. Not only the nominating
committee, but also members can propose persons to the board. It is always
important that the people proposed have been asked and accepted to be nominated.
A new nominating committee will also be elected. Both members and the board may
propose persons to the nominating committee. The election of an auditor or several
auditors must also be made. The person or people chosen as auditors at the meeting
do not have to be members of the association. All elections are held by vote and only
members with an established right to vote may participate.

16. Other questions: Here, those who are at the meeting can raise other questions or
comments. It is important that questions or comments are not about a very important
topic that concerns the whole association, and which would therefore require a vote
and a decision. Such questions need to be submitted in advance as a motion, or as a
preposition from the board. For this item, other comments and questions may instead
be asked, perhaps you want to congratulate those who have been elected to the
board or voice other things. Remember to be nice, kind and constructive.

17. The meeting ends: The chairperson of the meeting will end the annual meeting.

18. Adjust and sign the minutes: The minutes of the meeting are adjusted, i.e. reviewed,
by the person or persons selected as the protocol adjuster for the meeting. Those
people double-check the minutes to match the notes they themselves took during the
meeting. The adjusters also check that the number of votes in the voting is correct.
The meeting secretary corrects any adjustments made by the protocol adjusters.
When everyone agrees that the meeting minutes are correct, the chairperson of the
annual meeting, secretary and protocol adjuster sign them.

19. Save the protocol: It is important to save the meeting minutes, so that you know
where they are if you ever have to go back and look into it. The association itself is
responsible for its meeting minutes.

After the annual meeting

▪ Sign the minutes from the annual meeting and save them. It is the chairman,
secretary and adjuster of the annual meeting who must sign the minutes. Remember
that it is your own organisation (the association or confederation) that is responsible
for the annual meeting minutes.

▪ Update contact and information on names, for example, on the association's website,
in IdrottOnline and with the Swedish Tax Agency. This applies, for example, if you
have decided at the annual meeting to change the name of the association. It is
important that the data is correct in all places. Hint! Remember to change information
about the board, the nominating committee and other positions of trust. Also communicate the
new information to all members after the annual meeting.

▪ Determine the date and time of the inaugural meeting of the newly elected board
(unless you hold this right after the conclusion of the annual meeting). Hint! It will be
easier for the new board to get on with the assignment if you have routines for competence
transfer from the old board to the new one. It also reduces the risk of ongoing work being lost.
Finding common rules and working routines for the newly elected board can also facilitate the
work on both individual and joint assignments.

Step-by-step guide: Annual meeting 

Unsure on how to arrange or participate in an annual meeting? Don’t worry, we have put together a guide to help you through it.

Step-by-step guide

1. Starting the meeting: The person elected by the board will open the meeting and
welcome everyone.

2. Establish the voting list for the meeting: That is, how many of the members attending
the meeting have reached the voting age (if there is one, it should be described in the
statutes) and also paid their membership fee on time? (When the membership fee
must be paid by in order for a member to have the right to vote at the annual
meeting, it should be in the statutes). These members have the right to vote at the
meeting. Double check this with the participants at the meeting and count the number
of persons entitled to vote. Once you have done so, you can determine the voting list.

3. Establish the agenda or list of topics: I.e., are the questions and items listed in
accordance with what is to be addressed at the meeting? Which items should be
included in your agenda are written in the association's statutes. Double check that
the items are listed in the correct order? If they are, you can establish the agenda or
list of topics. If the agenda is not in accordance with what is set out in your statutes,
all members with voting rights need to take a position on any changes that need to
be made to the current agenda for the annual meeting. Then you can establish the
agenda. NB! This guide is written based on what an agenda for an annual meeting
normally looks like, i.e. the agenda for your association's annual meeting is not
necessarily exactly the same.

4. Appoint a chairperson and a secretary for the meeting: The chairperson and
secretary for the meeting are often not those on the board. The board usually
proposes two people and if everyone at the meeting agrees with the proposals, these
two will be elected, one as chairperson and the other as secretary for the meeting.

5. Choose who will be protocol adjusters and count votes: The person or those who are
protocol adjusters take their own notes during the annual meeting, and after the
meeting, they check that what the secretary of the meeting has written is what
happened during the meeting. The vote counter or vote counters count the votes
during the voting, announce the results and write it down.

6. Determine whether the meeting has been correctly called: Has the invitation to the
annual meeting and all the information that members should receive before the
annual meeting been sent out correctly and in a timely manner? How, when and
where the invitation and other information should be sent out is stated in your
statutes. If this has been done correctly, you can establish that the meeting has been
correctly called.

7. Review of the annual report: The annual report is a document that contains a
description of what the association has done in the last financial year. Here, for
example, it should be stated what the association has carried out of various activities
and competitions, how many members the association has had and who has been on
the board.

8. Review of annual closure or annual accounts: Here, the board presents the income
statement for the year, i.e. what revenues and expenses the association had in the
past year and what the result of all costs was. Here the board also presents the
balance sheet, which means that you present what assets, liabilities and any equity
the association has. The management report is also presented under this item.
Unlike the income statements and balance sheets, the management report describes
in words how the association's finances are and have been during the last financial
year. Often the costs and revenues of things that have taken place in the business,
such as various activities, are presented. When all presentations have been made
and members have had the opportunity to ask questions, those with voting rights
decide whether they approve the statements, in which case the income statements
and balance sheets are established.

9. Review of the auditor's report: The association's auditors have reviewed and checked
the board's work and the revenue and expenses that the association had during the
financial year. The auditors present the results of their audit in a report called the
auditor's report.

10. Decision on waivers for the board: In their auditor's report, the auditors conclude by
proposing to the members at the annual meeting to either waive responsibility for the
board for the past year or to not waive responsibility. Almost always, the members at
the annual meeting choose to vote as the auditors propose.

11. Review of the business plan and budget: The board presents their plan for the
association's activities in the coming financial year. In that plan, the board also
presents a budget that describes how they think the money should be distributed.

12. Review and vote of proposals: Propositions are the board's proposal for ideas or
changes to the association's activities. If the board has any proposals, they present
these under this item. The members of the annual meeting can both comment on the
proposals, propose changes or additions to the proposals and if you wish, you as a
member can also state how you intend to vote: For (yes) or against (no). Then voting
about the proposals will take place.

13. Review and vote of motions: The members' suggestions for ideas or changes to the
association's activities are called motions. If one or more members have submitted
motions to the annual meeting, this member or those members present these
proposals under this item. Your statutes state when a motion must be submitted by to
be included at the annual meeting. If there are motions from members, the board
should state their opinion on these proposals. Members may also comment on the
motions and make suggestions for changes or additions. It is then up to the members
with the right to vote for (yes) or against (no) each motion.

14. Establishment of membership fee: During this item, a vote and establishment of the
membership fee takes place. Some associations may have different fees for
membership, such as a fee for juniors and another fee for seniors. Each such
membership fee should be voted upon. Should it be the same as for previous years
or change? If the fee should be changed, it may be a good idea to explain why it
should be changed, so that everyone knows why the fee is raised or lowered. The
members with voting rights can vote. Please note that the membership fee and
training fee are two different fees. Membership fees should not be confused with fees
for participating in the sporting activities. Fees for participating in the activities may,
for example, be tuition fees, training fees or business fees and these are not
necessarily determined at the annual meeting. The membership fee only applies to
membership.

15. Election of representatives to the board, the nominating committee and election of
auditor or auditors: The nominating committee presents the persons they propose to
be members of the board. How many people will be elected to the board at each
annual meeting, and how many ordinary members the board shall consist of, may
differ in different associations. What applies to your association or your confederation
is in your statutes. Often half of the board positions are appointed at the annual
meeting, and the other half are appointed at the next annual meeting. In this way,
there will be both old and new ordinary members on the board, and knowledge can
be passed on in the association and from board to board. Not only the nominating
committee, but also members can propose persons to the board. It is always
important that the people proposed have been asked and accepted to be nominated.
A new nominating committee will also be elected. Both members and the board may
propose persons to the nominating committee. The election of an auditor or several
auditors must also be made. The person or people chosen as auditors at the meeting
do not have to be members of the association. All elections are held by vote and only
members with an established right to vote may participate.

16. Other questions: Here, those who are at the meeting can raise other questions or
comments. It is important that questions or comments are not about a very important
topic that concerns the whole association, and which would therefore require a vote
and a decision. Such questions need to be submitted in advance as a motion, or as a
preposition from the board. For this item, other comments and questions may instead
be asked, perhaps you want to congratulate those who have been elected to the
board or voice other things. Remember to be nice, kind and constructive.

17. The meeting ends: The chairperson of the meeting will end the annual meeting.

18. Adjust and sign the minutes: The minutes of the meeting are adjusted, i.e. reviewed,
by the person or persons selected as the protocol adjuster for the meeting. Those
people double-check the minutes to match the notes they themselves took during the
meeting. The adjusters also check that the number of votes in the voting is correct.
The meeting secretary corrects any adjustments made by the protocol adjusters.
When everyone agrees that the meeting minutes are correct, the chairperson of the
annual meeting, secretary and protocol adjuster sign them.

19. Save the protocol: It is important to save the meeting minutes, so that you know
where they are if you ever have to go back and look into it. The association itself is
responsible for its meeting minutes.