Meeting notices

What a notice must say

Every meeting notice needs three basics: the time, the date, and the place. That much is constant across meeting types. What changes is whether the notice also has to say what the meeting is about.

An annual meeting's notice does not need to list the business to be conducted, because the bylaws already fix its recurring schedule.

"The content and the delivery requirements of the notice for regular meetings depend mostly on the details of scheduling already contained in your bylaws."

Source: Robert's Rules for Giving Notice of a Meeting, Dummies.com

How far in advance it has to go out

Notice windows are not one number. The same state can require wildly different lead times depending on what kind of meeting is being called. California is one example that has been documented in detail:

Those figures are one state's illustration of the pattern, not a national default. Check your own state statute and your bylaws for the actual number that applies to the specific meeting you are calling.

Special meetings need more in the notice

A special meeting is called between annual meetings to handle something specific, and its notice has to name that something. Members who show up cannot be asked to vote on a topic that was never announced.

"Special meeting notices not only must include the date, time, place, and location, but also must specify all the business to be included in the meeting."

Source: Robert's Rules: Special Meetings, Dummies.com

Under Robert's Rules, nothing outside that list can be taken up at the meeting, no matter how urgent it feels once everyone is in the room.

Emergencies can shorten the clock

Some state laws let a board compress or waive the standard notice window when a meeting is genuinely being called to deal with an emergency, such as a model-act provision that permits this reduction.

"The minimum time to give notice required by subdivision (3) of this subsection may be reduced or waived for a meeting called to deal with an emergency."

Source: Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act §3 108, Vermont Legislature

What counts as an emergency, and how much the window can shrink, is set by your own state statute and governing documents. A board should not assume this exception applies without checking first.