Secretary
The officer who keeps decisions alive
The secretary turns board discussions into agendas, minutes, records, and completed filings. They receive official correspondence and keep deadlines from slipping between volunteers. Annual meeting notices, elections, affiliations, insurance, and the organization's core documents all need a dependable home. The role is less about typing and more about continuity.
The honest hours. Allow one to two hours each week, with extra work near board meetings, renewals, and the annual meeting.
What the job actually is
Organize board meetings
Work with the chair on agendas, issue meeting details, record decisions and send useful minutes while actions remain current.
Route official correspondence
Monitor the club email for governing bodies, insurers, local authorities, other clubs and public inquiries, then respond or assign them.
Maintain organization records
Keep bylaws or rules, policies, minutes, insurance papers and affiliation documents where another authorized officer can find them.
Complete renewals and filings
Track affiliation, insurance and any returns required by the club's legal or tax structure, each with its fixed deadline.
Run annual meeting process
Follow the organization's notice, voting and election rules, circulating papers early enough for members to use them.
Preserve institutional memory
Record why decisions were made and what remains unfinished, so a changing board does not repeat the same work.
The year, honestly
Season opening
Confirm insurance and affiliation, schedule the board cycle and send members the practical information for the program ahead.
During the season
Manage the inbox, prepare meetings and file records as work happens rather than waiting for a year-end clean-up.
Annual meeting period
Give proper notice, gather officer reports, distribute papers and record voting and elections under the organization's rules.
Secretary transition
Transfer email and storage access, the complete deadline calendar and introductions to the contacts that matter.
The handover checklist
What the outgoing secretary hands to the incoming one. Most get none of this; be the club where they do.
Access
- Club email account credentials transferred
- Document storage access with edit rights
- Membership system access at secretary level
- Website or social media admin access held by the secretary
Documents
- Constitution, current version, and where amendments are recorded
- Minutes archive for at least the last three years
- Insurance policy documents and renewal date
- Affiliation confirmations and the governing body contact
Calendar
- Every fixed deadline: affiliation, insurance, returns, AGM notice period
- Committee meeting rhythm and how meetings are called
- Booking or fixture deadlines the secretary owns
People
- Governing body and regional association contacts
- Council or facility landlord contacts
- Who holds every other credential the club depends on
The parts software takes off your plate
Member questions answer themselves
Half the secretary inbox is members asking things a decent member portal already shows them.
How it worksAnnouncements reach everyone once
One message to the right group beats three emails, a group chat and a bulletin board.
How it worksRecords outlive the officer
When membership and club records live in the club's system, handover is access transfer, not archaeology.
How it worksQuestions
What does a US club secretary do?
The secretary manages agendas, minutes, official correspondence, core records, renewals and the annual meeting process. They keep the board's decisions and deadlines visible so the organization continues through changes of officers.
How many hours does it require?
One to two hours a week is a reasonable baseline. Board meetings, insurance or affiliation renewal and annual meeting preparation create the busiest periods. A well-organized inbox and document store keep those peaks smaller.
What makes someone effective as secretary?
Reliability matters most. Useful minutes go out promptly, deadlines have owners, and authorized officers can find the current governing records. The strongest secretary builds a system that another volunteer can understand without a long explanation.