For nonprofit and public sector teamsTemplates

Turn meeting notes into decisions and actions, for nonprofit and public sector teams

Turn rough meeting notes into a clean list of what was decided and who will do what by when, with each item tied to the line in the notes it came from.

This is the version for nonprofit and public sector teams. The steps and checks are the same as in the general template; each prompt carries one added line about your setting, and the examples are from your kind of work.

Sample results: runs and scores on this page are illustrations while testing is set up. How we test

  • Who it is for: Coordinators, clerks and program staff in nonprofits and public agencies who keep the record of a board, committee or staff meeting.
  • Time: 5 minutes

Download it, in the format you use

  • Prompt chain

    Copy each step into ChatGPT or Claude, one after another.

  • Checklist

    Follow the steps and check off the checks by hand.

  • Claude skill

    A folder Claude loads, so it follows the steps by itself.

  • n8n file

    Import into n8n and connect your own AI account.

Using a download:How to use this in n8nHow to install a Claude skill

How it runs

Select a part to see its prompt, input, output and check.

The same job, with and without the template

Sample

One plain prompt

Turn these meeting notes into decisions and actions. (The same notes are pasted below.)

Meeting summary: Finance committee, October 14

Decisions

  • Hold the new outreach hire until January.
  • Sign the audit firm's engagement letter this month.
  • Move the board meeting to evenings, pending parking.

Actions

  • Paul to send the revised budget to the committee.
  • Rosa to sign the engagement letter.
  • Chen to review the reserve target and check evening parking.
  • Lindiwe to write the thank-you letters for the fall appeal.

Next meeting: November 11.

Problem:It lists moving to evening meetings as decided when the notes say no decision, gives the reserve review to Chen though nobody took it on, and the thank-you letters to Lindiwe, who only asked about them, and drops Paul's date of October 23.

With this template

The same input, run through the steps.

Decisions

Swipe sideways to see all columns

#DecisionSource line
1Hold the new hire in the community outreach team until Januaryhold the new hire in the community outreach team until January. Carried, four in favor, none against.
2Sign the audit firm's engagement letter this monthAgreed the audit firm's engagement letter should be signed this month.

Actions

Swipe sideways to see all columns

#ActionOwnerDue dateSource lineFollow up
1Send the revised budget to all committee membersPaulFriday, October 23Paul will send the revised budget to all committee members by Friday, October 23.OK
2Sign the audit firm's engagement letterRosathis monthRosa will sign it.FLAGGED: vague date
3Ask the building manager about evening parking and report backChenAt the next meeting, Wednesday, November 11Chen will ask the building manager about evening parking and report at the next meeting.OK

Open questions

Swipe sideways to see all columns

#Open questionWho answersSource line
1Whether to move the board meeting to eveningsNOT STATEDLong talk about moving the board meeting to evenings.
2Who will review the reserve target, not looked at since 2023NOT STATEDLindiwe asked who will review the reserve target
3Who is writing the thank-you letters for the fall appealNOT STATEDLindiwe asked who is writing the thank-you letters for the fall appeal.
  • Check:Every item quotes its note: Both decisions quote their line from the notes, and the evening meeting is left out because the notes say no decision.
  • Check:Every action has an owner and a date, or is flagged: All three actions have an owner and a due date, and one vague date (this month) is flagged for you to fix.
  • Check:Every open question says who answers: All three questions have an entry under Who answers; each reads NOT STATED because the notes name no one.
  • Check:Every action quotes its note: All three source lines are found word for word in the notes.
  • Check:Nothing was added that is not in the notes: Every decision, owner, date and question traces to a line in the notes.

Runs and scores

Sample

Claude, Sonnet model

October 4, 2026, typical sample

  • Check:Every item quotes its note

    Two decisions quote their lines; the evening meeting is left out because the notes say no decision.

  • Check:Every action has an owner and a date, or is flagged

    Three actions, each with an owner and a due date; one vague date (this month) is flagged.

  • Check:Every open question says who answers

    Three open questions, each with Who answers filled in; all read NOT STATED because the notes name no one.

  • Check:Every action quotes its note

    All three source lines are found word for word in the notes.

  • Check:Nothing was added that is not in the notes

    Every decision, owner, date and question traces to a line in the notes.

Fixed: Nothing needed fixing: every check passed on the first pass.

Met 5 of 5

ChatGPT, GPT model

October 5, 2026, tricky sample

  • Check:Every item quotes its note

    One decision quotes its line; the fee increase is left out because the motion was withdrawn.

  • First pass failed:Every action has an owner and a date, or is flagged

    The action to bring back the corrected fee table had an empty Owner cell and no flag.

  • Check:Every open question says who answers

    Three open questions, each with Who answers filled in; all read NOT STATED because the notes name no one.

  • Check:Every action quotes its note

    All three source lines are found word for word in the notes.

  • Check:Nothing was added that is not in the notes

    Every decision, action and question traces to a line; "when he gets a chance" is kept as written.

Fixed: The actions step ran again once: the fee-table action now reads NOT STATED in Owner and in Due date and is marked FLAGGED: no owner. The other two rows are unchanged.

Met 5 of 5

n8n, import format 2.20

October 6, 2026, easy sample

  • Check:Every item quotes its note

    One decision quotes its line from the notes.

  • Check:Every action has an owner and a date, or is flagged

    Two actions, each with an owner and a due date, both marked OK.

  • Check:Every open question says who answers

    None found: the notes leave nothing open.

  • Check:Every action quotes its note

    Both source lines are found word for word in the notes.

  • Check:Nothing was added that is not in the notes

    The decision and both actions trace to a line in the notes.

Fixed: Nothing needed fixing: every check passed on the first pass.

Met 5 of 5

The steps, and the check on each

  1. Step 1: Pull out decisions

    Find every decision in the notes, and copy the line each one comes from.

    Hands back: A table of decisions, each row with the line it came from.

    Check:Every item quotes its note

    A plain rule. If it fails, run the step again (the n8n file does this for you).

  2. Step 2: List the actions

    Find every action, with its owner and date, and flag any that are missing one.

    Hands back: A table of actions, each with an owner, a due date, the line it came from and an OK or FLAGGED mark.

    Check:Every action has an owner and a date, or is flagged

    A plain rule. If it fails, run the step again (the n8n file does this for you).

  3. Step 3: Note open questions

    List the questions the meeting left open, and who should answer each.

    Hands back: A table of open questions, each with who should answer it and the line it came from.

    Check:Every open question says who answers

    A plain rule. If it fails, run the step again (the n8n file does this for you).

After the last step

  • Check:Every action quotes its note

    A plain rule. If it fails, run the step again (the n8n file does this for you).

  • Check:Nothing was added that is not in the notes

    A second look by the AI. If it fails, run the step again (the n8n file does this for you).

What you need first

  • Meeting notes(needed)

    Paste the notes or transcript as they are. Messy is fine.

  • Meeting name and date(optional)

    For the heading of the record, for example "Weekly ops call, Oct 14".

Ways to adapt it

  • If your team tracks actions in a tool, change the actions step to return one line per action in the shape your tool imports (for example a spreadsheet row).
  • If your notes come from an automatic transcript, add a first step that removes filler words and speaker labels before pulling out items.
  • If you only need actions, delete the first step and the lines in the later steps that refer to its decisions.
  • Change NOT STATED and FLAGGED to the words your team uses, but change them in every step and in the checks too.

Change any step or check in the Editor, then download it again.

Words that fit nonprofit and public sector teams

  • Write motion, moved, seconded and carried as the notes do. Only a motion that carried, or something the notes say was agreed, is a decision.
  • A vote count belongs in the decision's source line, so keep it in the part you quote.
  • Public bodies often name a role (the chair, the clerk, the treasurer) as the owner; keep the role as written when no person is named.
Try it with a sampleSample

Messy notes from a five-person committee with a motion that carried, one agreed item, three actions with owners, and three matters left open.

Meeting notes
Finance committee, Wednesday, October 14. Present: Rosa (chair), Ahmed, Lindiwe, Chen, Paul (treasurer). Apologies: Greta. Rosa opened with the quarter's figures. Income is 12 percent below plan, mostly from the fall appeal. Moved by Ahmed, seconded by Lindiwe: hold the new hire in the community outreach team until January. Carried, four in favor, none against. Paul will send the revised budget to all committee members by Friday, October 23. Lindiwe asked who will review the reserve target of three months of costs, which has not been looked at since 2023. Nobody took it on. Agreed the audit firm's engagement letter should be signed this month. Rosa will sign it. Long talk about moving the board meeting to evenings. Ahmed in favor, Chen against because of parking. No decision. Chen will ask the building manager about evening parking and report at the next meeting. Lindiwe asked who is writing the thank-you letters for the fall appeal. Not settled. Next meeting: Wednesday, November 11, 6 pm.
Meeting name and date
Finance committee, October 14

The scoring guide

Sample

One criterion for each check, marked met or not met. (The guides in Quality rate a whole piece of work on three levels.) Under each one is how the three sample runs scored.

Download the scoring guide (Markdown)

  • Every item quotes its note

    A plain rule

    Meets:Every decision, action and question quotes the line of your notes it came from, word for word.
    Does not meet:An item has no source line, or the quote is not in your notes.
    Claude:Met
    ChatGPT:Met
    n8n:Met

  • Every action has an owner and a date, or is flagged

    A plain rule

    Meets:Every action has an owner and a due date, or is marked for follow up.
    Does not meet:An action has a blank owner or date and is not marked for follow up.
    Claude:Met
    ChatGPT:Met
    n8n:Met

  • Every open question says who answers

    A plain rule

    Meets:Every open question names who answers it.
    Does not meet:An open question has no name beside it.
    Claude:Met
    ChatGPT:Met
    n8n:Met

  • Every action quotes its note

    A plain rule

    Meets:Every action in the final list quotes a line that is really in your notes.
    Does not meet:A final action has a missing or reworded quote.
    Claude:Met
    ChatGPT:Met
    n8n:Met

  • Nothing was added that is not in the notes

    A second look by the AI

    Meets:Every decision, action, owner, date and question comes from your notes.
    Does not meet:The lists contain an owner, date or item that the notes never gave, or one that was changed.
    Claude:Met
    ChatGPT:Met
    n8n:Met

Claude: met 5 of 5

ChatGPT: met 5 of 5

n8n: met 5 of 5

Learn from this template

Each step hands the next one a list in a fixed shape: decisions first, then actions, then open questions, each tied to its line in the notes. A fixed shape lets the next step use the result and lets a check read it.

Where to see it: step 1 (Pull out decisions); step 2 (List the actions); step 3 (Note open questions).

Read the guide: Hand-offs

More to read:Worked example: meeting notesWhere a person must lookAdapting a template

Practice:Spot the mistake: meeting notes

Which one fits?

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All for Nonprofit and public sector

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Review

Last run
October 6, 2026: n8n, import format 2.20 (sample run)
Tools and versions
Claude, Sonnet model; ChatGPT, GPT model; n8n, import format 2.20
What was checked
The files, against each tool’s import format, and 3 sample runs, each check’s finding recorded.
Version
1.0
What changed
First release.

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