Association General Assembly Preparation: Step-by-Step Process with Digital Tools

What is an Association General Assembly?

The general assembly of an association is its most authoritative decision-making body; it is the meeting where members come together to elect the board of directors and the supervisory board, review the activity and financial reports of the previous term, approve the budget, and make amendments to the bylaws if necessary. Ordinary general assemblies are held at intervals specified in the bylaws (usually between two and four years); extraordinary general assemblies, however, can be convened at any time upon a decision of the board of directors or at the request of a certain percentage of members.

The preparation phase for a general assembly typically requires bringing together three separate data sets: an up-to-date membership list showing who can attend and vote, income and expense reports for the period, and records demonstrating that the meeting announcement was properly made. In associations where these three items are kept in scattered Excel files, email correspondence, and paper receipts, preparation can take weeks; however, when kept in a single system, the same data is collected on several screens.

Aidango is an association ERP software with over 200 modules that manages membership, dues, donations, and accounting processes for associations and foundations on a single platform.

Two modules are directly activated in the preparation of the general assembly: The Member and Donor Management module clarifies who has the right to vote by separating members into candidates/active members and filtering them according to their dues status; the Accounting Management module lists the income and expense records for the period by date and exports them to Excel, preparing the basic data for the financial summary that the board of directors will present to the general assembly. In associations with multiple branches , the Branch and Representative Offices module makes the member and income/expense data of each branch visible from the central panel.

There is an important distinction here: Aidango does not conduct the general assembly itself and does not replace the notification of the meeting's outcome to the state — this is a formal process that the association carries out with the local administrative authority through DERBİS (Associations Information System). Aidango is an internal management tool that accelerates the preparation of member and financial data that will enter this formal process.

How to Prepare for the General Assembly Step-by-Step?

Preparing for the general assembly is a process that can be completed within a few days if followed in the correct order.

1. Review the bylaws and draft agenda. Quorum requirements, voting conditions (mostly having paid dues on time), and agenda items (election of the board of directors/supervisory board, approval of the activity and financial reports, budget approval, amendments to the bylaws if any) are confirmed by the bylaws.

2. Generate a list of members eligible to attend the general assembly. In the Member and Donor Management module, members can be filtered based on their outstanding dues to see who is eligible to vote on a single screen; this list forms the basis of the official attendance list to be included in the meeting minutes.

3. Determine the date, location, and announcement period of the meeting. The date, time, location, and agenda of the general assembly meeting shall be notified to members at least 15 days in advance, in accordance with relevant legislation (the association's own bylaws shall be the basis for the exact period and notification method).

4. Send invitations/announcements to members. Ensure that all members are reached according to the method specified in the bylaws (written notification, announcement on the association's website, email, or registered communication channels) and that a record of these contacts is kept.

5. Compile the financial and activity report for the period. Income and expense records from the beginning of the period to the meeting date are exported to Excel from the Accounting Management module; this report provides the basic data for the activity and financial report to be prepared by the board of directors.

6. On the day of the meeting, check the quorum and form the presidium. Compare the number of participants with the list prepared in step 2 to confirm whether a majority (quorum) has been reached, elect the presidium chairman and secretaries, vote on the agenda items in order, and record them in the minutes.

7. Report the results of the general assembly within the legal timeframe. Within the period following the meeting date (30 days according to regulations), the results must be reported to the local administrative authority via DERBİS; the new board of directors and supervisory board members, and any amendments to the bylaws, must be entered into both the official system and the association's own management software.

In associations with multiple branches, steps 2 and 5 are not repeated on a branch-by-branch basis: In the Branches and Representatives module, the member and income-expense data of each branch can be defined separately and combined from the central panel to generate a single general assembly list and financial summary.

What are the benefits of preparing a General Assembly using digital tools?

• Undisputed voting rights list: The question of who has paid their dues and who hasn't is answered in a single filtered list in Excel, not scattered across tabs; this prevents quorum objections on meeting day.

• Time saving: Instead of manually compiling member and financial data for weeks, reports from the relevant modules are ready in a few hours.

• Ready-to-use data for financial report preparation: The income and expense breakdown from the Accounting Management module, which can be exported to Excel, forms the raw data for the financial summary that the board of directors will present to the general assembly.

• Centralized visibility in branch associations: Thanks to the Branch and Representative Offices module, member and income-expense data of each branch can be monitored from a single panel, eliminating the need to collect them separately.

• Corporate memory: Since past membership, dues, and donation data are stored in the system, it becomes easier to compare it with the previous year when preparing for the next general assembly.

How to Select the Tool to be Used in Preparing for the General Assembly?

How Does the Preparation for a General Assembly of an Association Change?

Let's consider an association with 300 members: as the general assembly date approaches, the secretary first compares three separate Excel files to find out who paid their dues, then tries to compile a financial summary by collecting last year's income and expense receipts one by one. This process takes days, and on the day of the meeting, discussions arise about "can this member vote?" because the handwritten debt records are not up-to-date.

When the same association keeps its membership and accounting data in a single system, a list of members with no outstanding dues can be retrieved with a single filter, and the period's income and expense breakdown can be exported to Excel and added to the board of directors' activity report. The attendance list and financial summary to be added to the meeting minutes can be completed in a few hours instead of a week of preparation. In the words of one association manager: "Before the general assembly, we no longer search in Excel for who can vote; we see it all on a single screen."

This shortens the preparation process; it doesn't necessitate the general assembly itself or the DERBİS notification — that step always remains the responsibility of the association.

The Right Step for Your Association

With Aidango, bring the complexity of member lists and financial data to a single screen during your general assembly preparations — 15 days free, no credit card required.

• Request a free demo (the URL for the actual demo form will be added before publication)

• Relevant feature pages: Member and Donor Management · Accounting Management · Branches and Representative Offices

• Related articles (when updated according to the template): What is an Association Management System? · Association Accounting Program: Income-Expense Guide · How to Track Association Membership Fees?

Frequently Asked Questions

How often should association general assemblies be held?

The interval for holding ordinary general meetings is determined by the association's own bylaws; in practice, a frequency of between two and four years is most commonly preferred. Extraordinary general meetings, however, can be convened at any time by a decision of the board of directors or at the request of a percentage of members specified in the bylaws.

Who can vote at the general assembly?

The conditions for voting rights are defined in the association's bylaws; generally, members who have paid their dues on time and have not been expelled from membership can vote. For the exact conditions, the association's own bylaws should be consulted.

How many days in advance should the general assembly be announced?

In general practice, members are notified of the meeting date, time, place, and agenda at least 15 days in advance; however, the bylaws may stipulate a longer period. The current and exact timeframe should be based on the association's bylaws and applicable legislation — this information does not constitute legal advice.

What should be done after the general assembly?

The meeting results (elected management/supervisory board, any bylaw amendments) are reported to the local administrative authority via DERBİS within the legal timeframe. This notification is the responsibility of the association, and no management software can replace this step.

Is Aidango holding the general assembly in my place?

No. Aidango is an internal management software that speeds up the preparation of the general assembly by preparing the membership list, membership fee status, and income and expense data. The association itself is responsible for conducting the meeting according to legal procedures and notifying DERBİS (the association's official registration system).