How Nonprofit Board Governance Gets Easier with Electronic Approvals

 

Running a nonprofit organization comes with a strong responsibility to remain transparent, legally compliant, and accountable. At the heart of this responsibility is nonprofit governance. Every major decision, from approving budgets to signing policies, must be reviewed and approved by the board.

However, managing board approvals is not always simple. Board members are often busy, located in different places, or dependent on manual approval methods. These challenges can delay decisions, increase administrative effort, and slow down the organization’s ability to act.

In this blog, see how nonprofits can manage nonprofit board approvals more efficiently using digital workflows, and how an electronic signature solution like BoldSign helps simplify the entire process.

What is nonprofit board governance

A nonprofit’s governance structure defines how a nonprofit’s board oversees decision making to ensure the organization stays ethical, legally compliant, transparent, and aligned with its mission.

Strong board‑level governance helps a nonprofit:

• Stay aligned with its mission and long-term goals
• Use funds responsibly and transparently
• Meet legal and regulatory obligations
• Maintain clear records of decisions and approvals

A critical part of governance is approving and signing documents such as:

• Board resolutions
• Annual budgets
• Policy updates
• Contracts and vendor agreements
• Financial authorizations

In practice, nonprofit governance goes beyond meetings and discussions. It focuses on documented decisions with clear approvals and accountability.

Why board approvals are often a challenge

Many nonprofits still rely on manual or semi-digital processes for board approvals. While these methods may feel familiar, they often cause delays and uncertainty.

Common challenges include:

• Documents buried in long email threads
• Printing, signing, scanning, and resending paperwork
• Limited visibility into who has approved and who has not
• Delays caused by travel, schedules, and differing time zones
• Frequent follow-ups from administrators

As nonprofits grow, these challenges make the board approval process harder to manage and less reliable, increasing the administrative workload and slowing down implementation.

What a modern board approval process should include

To support strong governance practices within a nonprofit, approvals must be both efficient and trustworthy. A modern board approval process should be designed to work for both board members and administrators.

An effective process should be:

• Easy for board members to complete
• Secure, verifiable, and aligned with legal requirements
• Transparent and trackable for administrators
• Accessible from any device and location
• Designed to support audit-ready recordkeeping

This is where electronic board approvals and digital signing workflows become essential, especially for nonprofits with remote or geographically distributed boards.

What are electronic board approvals

Electronic board approvals are digital processes that let board members review, approve, and sign essential documents securely online. This modern workflow removes the need for physical paperwork and makes board decisions faster, more organized, and easier to track across distributed teams.

With electronic board approvals, nonprofits can:

• Share documents instantly with board members
• Collect signatures faster without waiting for meetings
• Track approval progress in real time
• Store signed documents securely with clear and searchable records

These digital workflows help nonprofits reduce delays, improve visibility into board decisions, and maintain consistent approval records.

How digital signatures support nonprofit boards

Digital signature software for nonprofit boards helps balance speed with accountability. Digital signatures provide reliable evidence that board-approved documents are authentic, complete, and properly authorized.

Key benefits include:

• Signed documents are protected, and tampering can be detected through the audit trail and document integrity checks.
• Every approval is recorded with date and time information.
• Signer identity can be verified when required.
• Signed records are securely stored and easy to retrieve.

These capabilities are critical during audits, compliance reviews, and internal governance checks. Digital signatures help ensure that board approvals are not only faster, but also defensible and trustworthy.

Board document signing workflow with BoldSign

A structured digital workflow helps board members complete approvals efficiently while allowing them to maintain organized and audit-ready records.

What you need to get started:

• The board document, such as a resolution, budget, or policy update.
• Board member email addresses or phone numbers.
• Your approval policy, including whether signing should be sequential or parallel.
• Optional templates for documents used regularly.

Step-by-step board approval workflow

A clear and structured digital workflow helps board members complete approvals efficiently while keeping records organized and audit ready. Here’s how the process works:

1. Prepare the board document

Upload and add fields – Upload governance documents to BoldSign and add signature or approval fields in the required places.

2. Assign board members and approval order

Define signer sequence – Add board members as signers and choose whether approvals should occur sequentially or in parallel based on your governance rules.

3. Send signing requests

Instant document delivery – Signing requests are sent via email, SMS, or WhatsApp so board members can access and sign documents from any device.

4. Verify signer identity when needed

Enhanced document security-Use identity verification options for sensitive or high-impact documents.

5. Collect approvals and signatures

Effortless digital signing– Board members review and sign digitally, without printing, scanning, or waiting for the next meeting.

6. Use reminders to keep approvals moving

Automated follow‑ups-Automated reminders help ensure pending approvals are completed without manual follow-ups.

7. Track progress and store signed records securely

Complete visibility and storage-Administrators can monitor approval status in real time and store completed documents centrally for audits, compliance reviews, and future reference.

If you’re ready to move from manual approvals to a digital workflow, you can learn more about how to get started with BoldSign for your nonprofit organization.

How BoldSign helps nonprofits manage board approvals

BoldSign is designed to make board document signing simple, secure, and accessible, even for non-technical users. It reduces friction for board members while giving administrators clear visibility and control over the approval process.

1. Easy for board members

Board members can review and sign documents in just a few steps, from any device, making participation simple even for remote boards.

2. Faster approvals

Approvals no longer depend on in-person meetings or physical paperwork. Documents move forward as soon as each signer completes their action, which is especially helpful for urgent or recurring decisions.

3. Secure approvals

Strong security controls and detailed audit trails help maintain trust, accountability, and compliance for governance documents.

4. Clear visibility for administrators

Administrators can see who has signed, who has not, and which documents are complete, reducing follow-ups and manual coordination.

5. Reliable digital signatures for governance records

Legally valid digital signing workflows support long-term recordkeeping for audits, grants, and internal governance reviews.

Final thoughts

Managing board approvals does not have to be slow or stressful. With a clear workflow and the right digital solution, nonprofits can improve efficiency, transparency, and governance.

By using electronic board approvals and a trusted digital signature solution like BoldSign, nonprofit organizations can streamline board decisions while maintaining legal compliance and accurate records.

To support mission-driven teams, BoldSign offers 50% off on all plans for nonprofit organizations. You can start with a 30-day free trial, schedule a free demo, or reach out to the BoldSign support team to see how the platform could fit your needs.

Related blogs

• How eSignatures in Construction Simplifies Approvals with BoldSign
• How BoldSign Speeds Up Board Meetings and Governance Signing
• How BoldSign Streamlines the Nonprofit Grant Application Signing Process

Note: This blog was originally published at boldsign.com