To free the board’s time for discussing matters they can affect (i.e. the future), a consent agenda is a tool that can eliminate as much as ½ hour or more of reviewing what has happened in the past. The consent agenda is a SINGLE ITEM that encompasses all the things the board would normally approve with little comment. The minutes. The financials (yes, the financials!). Program reports or CEO reports. All items that simply report what has already happened in the past would combine to become one item for approval - the consent agenda.

This requires that board materials be provided in plenty of time for board members to read it all, because there will be NO discussion of these items individually. If an item does seem to require discussion/clarification, the following are the options that exist:

1. For items that require clarification, or for which a board member has a question, that clarification must be requested before the meeting. An item cannot be pulled from the consent agenda just to have a question answered. That sort of information gathering should happen ONLY before the meeting.
   
   
2. If there is an item about which a board member disagrees, or believes requires discussion, then a request is made at the board table to pull that one item from the consent agenda for discussion. The remainder of the items are voted on and approved, and only that single item is held out for discussion.

The consent agenda is a single item on the board’s agenda - usually the very first item. It is voted on with a single vote - to approve the consent agenda. And poof - in one vote, items that formerly took ½ hour or more have all been approved.