The Volunteer Board Kit: AI tools for volunteer boards
For the few volunteers who keep a board running.
You take the minutes, fill the sign-up sheets, write the newsletter, count the cash and then explain it all to whoever comes next. The Volunteer Board Kit is five ready-made tools for Gemini, Claude and ChatGPT that draft each of those jobs. You check every draft before it goes anywhere.
What’s included
Five jobs. One tool for each.
Each tool is a skill: a set of written instructions you add to your AI assistant. It tells the assistant how to do one job and what to ask you. The tools use the open Agent Skills format.
Meeting minutes
/writing-the-minutes
Turns rough notes into draft minutes that record motions, votes, conflicts of interest and action items, not the arguments, and drafts the next agenda.
Volunteer asks
/asking-for-volunteers
Counts the open shifts and drafts the ask, a text version, the reminders and the thank-you, with exact times and no guilt trips.
Member newsletter
/writing-the-newsletter
Puts what members need to do first, checks every date and keeps children’s names and photos out until someone says yes.
Treasurer’s report
/reporting-the-money
Checks the math to the cent, matches it to your budget and turns anything unusual into a question, not an accusation.
Handoff binder
/handing-it-over
Interviews the outgoing volunteer one question at a time and writes the binder the next person inherits, with no passwords in it.
Samples
What you type and what you get back
These are illustrative samples for a made-up library friends group, using the practice data that comes with the kit. Everyone named is made up too. Your results depend on what you tell your AI assistant.
Sample meeting minutes
You type
/writing-the-minutes Write draft minutes from these notes. They’re my rough notes from our October board meeting.
You get back
DRAFT minutes: Friends of the Wrenfield Library, board meeting, Tuesday, October 27, 2026. 7 of 9 board members present, so the quorum (a majority, 5) was met.
- Motion (Anita Brooks) to give up to $600 from the library program grants budget for teen reading challenge prize books. Passed, [check: 5 for, 1 against?]. Tom Nguyen declared a conflict of interest, left the room and didn’t vote.
- Closed session from 7:20 to 7:35 p.m. No vote was taken.
Also drafted: action items with an owner for each, or “owner needed”, and the November agenda.
Check: the notes say the next meeting is Monday, November 10, but November 10, 2026 is a Tuesday. A heated comment about the officers is left out: leave it out, or add a neutral agenda item? Share this draft with the board to approve before members see it.
Sample volunteer ask
You type
/asking-for-volunteers Our holiday book sale is December 1 to 4. The shifts, who’s signed up and the library’s background check rule are below.
You get back
| Day | Needed | Signed up | Open |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tuesday, December 1 | 8 | 3 | 5 |
| Wednesday, December 2 | 8 | 3 | 5 |
| Thursday, December 3, with preview night | 12 | 3 | 9 |
| Friday, December 4 | 8 | 2 | 6 |
Text version: Can you take a shift at the Friends’ holiday book sale, Dec 1–4? 25 spots are open. Apply for the library’s background check by Fri, Nov 20, then sign up: [sign-up link]
Also drafted: the first ask, a reminder for each day of the sale, two last calls and the thank-you.
The apply-by date leaves a week for the background check and allows for the library being closed on November 26 and 27 for Thanksgiving. No message goes out on Thanksgiving.
Sample member newsletter
You type
/writing-the-newsletter Write our December newsletter from these notes. It goes out Monday, November 30.
You get back
Subject: The book sale starts tomorrow, and last call for tote bags
- Holiday book sale, Tuesday, December 1 to Friday, December 4. Volunteers still needed: [sign-up link]
- Tote bag orders are due Friday, December 11.
- Congratulations to Ava, age 10, who won the library’s young writers contest!
Also drafted: dates to remember in date order, and the winter concert, author night thank-you and holiday closings.
Check: the board meeting is listed as Monday, December 8, but December 8, 2026 is a Tuesday. Monday, December 7 or Tuesday, December 8? Left out for now: the bake sale until it’s confirmed, Ava’s full name and photo until a parent or guardian says yes, and the October minutes correction, which is board business. Have a fluent reader check any Spanish version.
Sample treasurer’s report
You type
/reporting-the-money Write the treasurer’s report for October. Our transactions, bank statement and budget are below.
You get back
| October 2026 | Amount |
|---|---|
| Balance on October 1 | $6,842.15 |
| Money in | $4,694.40 |
| Money out | $4,409.54 |
| Balance on October 31 | $7,127.01 |
The bank statement is $1,500.00 higher. Check 1045 to the library ($1,500.00, October 30) would explain that if it hasn’t cleared yet. Fall author night: $3,372.40 in, $1,349.54 out, $2,022.86 after costs.
Questions for the treasurer and president: the $240 debit card payment for lobby decorations has no budget line and is over $200. Did the board vote on it? Check 1043 pays back the treasurer: was it approved and signed by someone else? The dues cash was counted by one person at home. Could two people count it from now on?
Sample handoff binder
You type
/handing-it-over Help me write the handoff binder for the book sale chair. My notes are below.
You get back
First, one question at a time, starting with money and accounts. Then the binder:
- August: ask the branch manager for the community room dates.
- September and October: sorting nights on Wednesdays. Sorted boxes go to the storage unit.
- November: book the charity pickup. About three weeks before the sale, start asking for volunteers and remind them about the background check.
- Sale week: two people count the cash every afternoon and lock it in the library’s office safe. Deposit it the next morning.
Lessons from last year: bring small bills for change, and tell volunteers which table they’re on.
Not in the binder: the storage unit’s gate code and the card reader password. Change both after the handover, and move the card reader account from a personal email to a shared group email. The library’s office manager keeps the safe code.
Setup
How to add the tools to your AI assistant
Download the tools
After you pay, you get a download link by email. It holds five .zip files, one for each tool, setup steps and made-up practice data to try them on. The link stops working 24 hours after your first download, so save the file.
Upload them to your AI assistant
Open the Skills area in Gemini, Claude or ChatGPT and upload each tool. Steps for each one come with the kit.
Call a tool in any chat
Pick the tool in a chat and tell it what you need.
Check these before you buy
- Skills depend on your provider and plan, and the rules change. Check yours before you buy: Gemini, Claude or ChatGPT.
- On Gemini, skills need a personal Google account, not a work or school one.
- What you paste goes to your AI provider, so check its privacy settings. On Gemini, skills need Keep Activity turned on. Google can then use your chats to improve its services, and people may review some of them. Google says not to enter confidential information. Read Google’s Gemini privacy notice.
- Remove members’ contact details, account numbers, passwords and anything else private from what you paste, including details of a closed session.
Limits
What these tools won’t do
This is a low-cost tool for five specific jobs, and it can make mistakes.
They won’t send, sign anyone up or move money.
You review each draft and send it yourself. People on your board approve the spending.
They won’t invent a vote, a date or a dollar.
Anything they don’t know goes in square brackets for you to fill in. Read every draft anyway.
They won’t give professional advice.
They aren’t legal, tax or accounting advice, and your bylaws come first. Take tax questions to an accountant or your umbrella organization.
They can’t protect what you paste.
What you paste goes to your AI provider, so remove private details first.
Questions
Questions about the kit
Is this a subscription?
No. You pay $8 once and keep all five tools.
Can I get a refund?
No. It’s a digital download, so all sales are final. Please check what your AI assistant needs before you buy.
What kinds of groups is it for?
Any group run by a volunteer board: nonprofit boards, neighborhood and homeowners associations, clubs, sports leagues, friends groups and parent groups. Rules differ from group to group, so the tools ask you to check your bylaws rather than assume one set of rules.
Do I need to know anything about AI?
If you can upload a file and send an email, you can use these. Each tool asks for what it needs.
Will it know our group?
Only what you tell it. Each tool has a “Group’s details” section where you can save things like your quorum rule, your fiscal year and who signs the checks, so you don’t have to retype them.
Which AI assistants do they work with?
They’re built for Gemini, Claude and ChatGPT, using the open Agent Skills format. Another assistant may be able to follow the same instructions if you paste them into a chat, but those three are the ones we support.
Can I change them?
Yes. You can add your own tone, details and examples, or ask your assistant to change a tool for you. Use them in your own group, but please don’t resell or share them.
How is this different from the other kits?
The After-Hours Kit is for small business paperwork. The Department of One Kit is for raising money at a small nonprofit. The Volunteer Board Kit is for running the board itself: minutes, volunteers, the newsletter, the treasurer’s report and handing jobs over. All three work the same way: the tools draft, and you check everything.
Why is a company with “Schools” in its name behind this?
Shifting Schools is Jeff Utecht and Tricia Friedman. Our day job is helping schools work out where AI helps and where it doesn’t. These tools apply the same caution to the volunteers who keep community groups going.