Modernizing board governance is tough.
You’re juggling endless email threads and scattered documents for board meetings, making preparation a chaotic and insecure process for everyone involved.
The real risk is that compliance gaps and data leaks become inevitable when your governance relies on manual processes that are difficult to track.
According to Boardable, 73% of organizations face these same document management challenges. This inefficiency often leads to costly errors and frustrated board members.
The right software solves this by providing a centralized and secure platform for all your board activities, from agendas to archives.
In this guide, I’ll review the best board management software. I’m focusing on tools that simplify workflows, enhance security, and ensure compliance without a complex setup.
You’ll discover solutions that streamline meeting prep, protect sensitive data, and empower your board to make better, more informed decisions.
Let’s get started.
Quick Summary:
| # | Software | Rating | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Diligent → | Mid-sized enterprises and nonprofits | |
| 2 | OnBoard → | Growing nonprofits and mid-sized enterprises | |
| 3 | Azeus Convene → | Growing nonprofits and mid-sized enterprises | |
| 4 | Boardable → | Operations managers at nonprofits | |
| 5 | BoardPro → | Nonprofits and mid-sized enterprises |
1. Diligent
Struggling with complex board governance workflows?
Diligent brings clarity, simplicity, and security to your board meetings. This means you can easily deliver key insights to the board.
It centralizes all your governance, risk, compliance, and ESG activities on one platform. This will help you reduce human error and eliminate data gaps.
Here’s how to ensure compliance.
Diligent offers an intuitive GRC platform with analytics and automation built-in. This enables you to spend less time deciphering data.
Plus, you can access powerful reporting best practices, including board, risk, audit, and ESG reports. You’ll find that benchmarking and insights are readily available. This platform integrates board management with a comprehensive set of GRC applications, helping your organization build resilience, elevate strategic risk management, and ensure regulatory compliance. The result is confident, risk-informed decisions.
Transform today’s risks into tomorrow’s opportunities.
Key features:
- Centralized GRC Platform: Consolidate governance, risk, compliance, and ESG activities onto one intuitive platform to streamline workflows and deliver key insights efficiently.
- AI-Driven Insights & Automation: Leverage AI tools for data analysis, enabling quicker decision-making and reducing manual effort across board and risk reporting.
- Robust Security & Compliance: Protect sensitive data with a security program governed by NIST Cybersecurity Framework and ISO/IEC 27001 standards, ensuring regulatory compliance and data protection.
Learn more about Diligent features, pricing, & alternatives →
Verdict: With over 25,000 customers and 700,000 leaders relying on it, Diligent excels at integrating board management with GRC, helping organizations like yours reduce costs and make informed decisions. Its focus on security and comprehensive reporting capabilities makes it a best board management software for mid-sized enterprises and growing nonprofits.
2. OnBoard
Struggling with complex board governance and outdated systems?
OnBoard simplifies crucial board activities, offering solutions from meeting operations to lifecycle management. This means you can easily create agendas and manage documents, saving valuable time.
With OnBoard, you can ditch the paper, PDFs, and endless emails, streamlining your board’s workflows effectively.
It’s time to streamline your board’s impact.
OnBoard addresses these issues by offering powerful, secure AI directly into your board processes. This solution helps simplify agenda building, capture meeting minutes, and surface strategic insights for better decisions.
The platform includes AI-powered tools like Minutes AI, which provides a full transcript and a summarized outline of key points, along with an automatically generated first draft of your minutes, all in one seamless workflow. Additionally, Book AI surfaces related discussions and documents, ensuring you have context exactly when you need it without breaking your flow. Plus, Assist AI acts as your on-demand boardroom copilot, offering instant answers and guidance for reports and meeting preparation, helping your board move forward with clarity.
This comprehensive approach allows you to achieve critical governance outcomes with ease.
Before diving deeper, you might find my analysis of best marketing analytics tools helpful for leveraging data across your organization.
Key features:
- Agenda Builder & Minutes AI: Craft precise agendas with drag-and-drop simplicity and automatically generate meeting minutes, transcripts, and summaries using AI.
- Secure Communications & Compliance: Replace insecure channels with a unified system of record, safeguarding sensitive data with advanced protections and compliance certifications like SOC 2 and ISO 27001.
- Integrated Decision-Making Tools: Expedite approvals and voting, manage tasks, conduct surveys, and utilize eSignatures for swift, secure decision-making within a centralized platform.
Learn more about OnBoard features, pricing, & alternatives →
Verdict: OnBoard excels at simplifying board governance for growing nonprofits and mid-sized enterprises. Its AI-powered features, like automated minute-taking and intelligent insights, combined with robust security and user-friendly design, make it a strong contender for the best board management software, ensuring efficient, compliant, and data-driven decision-making.
3. Azeus Convene
Is your board governance becoming a complex burden?
Azeus Convene streamlines your board’s operations, making them efficient and secure.
This means you can eliminate the bottlenecks of manual document management, freeing up valuable time and resources.
This simplifies your entire governance process.
Azeus Convene tackles these challenges head-on by centralizing your board materials and discussions. You can conduct meetings, share documents, and track actions all within a secure, integrated platform. This means you can ensure compliance and secure sensitive information, crucial for any growing organization. Additionally, the software supports hybrid meetings, letting your dispersed board members participate effectively, wherever they are. Plus, you gain real-time access to meeting details and decisions, enabling data-driven governance.
This is board management, simplified.
While we’re discussing efficient document management, exploring document version control software can further enhance your operations.
Key features:
- Centralized Board Portal: Securely manage all meeting documents, agendas, and minutes in one accessible location, reducing paper waste and improving organization.
- Secure Document Sharing: Control access to sensitive materials with granular permissions and robust encryption, ensuring confidentiality and regulatory compliance.
- Integrated Meeting Management: Streamline meeting scheduling, conduct virtual or hybrid sessions, and track action items, enhancing collaboration and decision-making efficiency.
Learn more about Azeus Convene features, pricing, & alternatives →
Verdict: Azeus Convene is an excellent choice for operations managers at growing nonprofits and mid-sized enterprises seeking the best board management software. Its focus on security, streamlined workflows, and support for hybrid meetings directly addresses key pain points like document management bottlenecks and compliance risks, simplifying complex governance.
4. Boardable
Is manual governance holding your organization back?
Boardable offers a comprehensive platform designed to streamline your board operations, making meeting preparation and follow-up intuitive.
You’ll find everything from an agenda builder to a document center, all working together to reduce administrative headaches and boost efficiency. This means less time wasted on logistics.
Here’s how to empower your team.
Boardable simplifies nonprofit teamwork, keeping executives, admins, and board members aligned. You can hold seamless virtual meetings with integrated video and instant AI-generated minutes, ensuring clear communication.
Plus, you can effortlessly create and distribute polished board packets with one click, eliminating paper-based workflows and document management bottlenecks. Additionally, features like E-Signatures and a Task Manager keep processes on track, while the mobile app ensures productivity on the go. The result is a unified platform that drives your mission forward.
This makes governance simpler and more secure.
While we’re discussing streamlining operations, understanding best Azure management tools is equally important for cloud-based infrastructures.
Key features:
- Integrated Video Conferencing & AI Tools: Support virtual and hybrid meetings with built-in video, AI transcription, and AI-generated meeting summaries for improved efficiency.
- Streamlined Document Management: Centralize all your files in a secure document center, create and distribute board packets effortlessly, and manage e-signatures from one place.
- Comprehensive Meeting Lifecycle Support: Access tools for agenda building with customizable templates, conduct polls for decision-making, and track tasks to ensure accountability.
Learn more about Boardable features, pricing, & alternatives →
Verdict: Boardable addresses key pain points for operations managers by offering a user-friendly, centralized platform. Its integrated AI tools and mobile accessibility simplify complex workflows and ensure security for geographically dispersed boards, making it an excellent choice for the best board management software.
5. BoardPro
Tired of governance chaos and security concerns?
BoardPro centralizes your board meetings, documents, and decisions, bringing everything into one secure place. This means you can say goodbye to mountains of paper and scattered information.
This platform helps you modernize board governance without overcomplicating workflows, providing a centralized, easy-to-search portal for all your critical documents. The result is streamlined processes, ensuring compliance and data-driven decision-making.
Here’s how BoardPro helps you achieve effortless governance.
BoardPro simplifies the entire meeting cycle, automating workflows to cut administrative time in half. You can create agendas, build board packs, and send them out in minutes, not weeks.
It ensures your data is stored securely in the cloud, utilizing Microsoft Azure with robust physical security controls, geographical data replicas, and SHA-256-bit encryption for data in transit and at rest. This comprehensive security protects your confidential information, giving you peace of mind. Additionally, you get access to features like real-time minute taking, voting, and eSignatures, all designed to make your board operations more efficient and accountable.
The result is better organization and communication for your board.
Before diving deeper into features, you might find my analysis of conversational support software helpful for improving member engagement.
Key features:
- Meeting Streamlining: Imagine board meetings with everything in one place, using automated agenda builders, board pack creation, and real-time minute taking to halve admin time.
- Secure Document Management: Ensure confidential information is protected with a central governance repository, offering enterprise-grade security, encryption, and secure data storage.
- Comprehensive Governance Tools: Facilitate smooth decision-making with features like actions, voting, decision registers, interest registers, and sub-committees, all accessible anytime from any device.
Learn more about BoardPro features, pricing, & alternatives →
Verdict: BoardPro offers a cost-effective, easy-to-use solution perfect for nonprofits and mid-sized enterprises looking to eliminate paper, enhance security, and automate governance. Its comprehensive features and customer praise for ease of use make it a strong contender for the best board management software.
6. Sherpany
Tired of slow, complex meeting processes?
Your team can quickly build agendas and manage documents to streamline governance.
This means you can create an entire meeting in only three minutes, saving up to 40% in preparation time.
Ready to simplify your board meetings?
Sherpany helps you eliminate administrative burdens and ensure compliant data exchange. It centralizes all your meetings, documents, decisions, and tasks, making them accessible from anywhere.
You can collaborate and align before meetings with smart agenda features, and even discuss items via the tool for informed decisions. It also offers features like remote voting, allowing you to vote remotely while remaining compliant and tracking every decision.
Additionally, Sherpany provides an easy and holistic view of projects from initial ideas to implementation. This ensures a clear task assignment and smart meeting minutes, so nothing is overlooked, keeping your strategic initiatives on track.
The result is faster decision-making.
Key features:
- Agenda Builder & Document Management: Quickly create agendas and securely manage sensitive meeting materials, reducing manual administrative work and ensuring compliance.
- Tasks & Decisions Tracking: Instantly assign tasks, track their progress, and record discussions to maintain oversight of execution and improve accountability.
- Robust Security & Compliance: Protect confidential data with end-to-end encryption, granular access control, and compliance with GDPR and FINMA standards.
Learn more about Sherpany features, pricing, & alternatives →
Verdict: Sherpany excels as a best board management software, providing an all-in-one secure platform that streamlines governance activities. Its features, like quick agenda building and robust security, directly address the challenges of operations managers, evidenced by saving users up to 40% in meeting preparation time.
7. Ideals
Struggling with board governance and data security?
Ideals helps you secure your project’s success with its intuitive data room, ensuring confidence and precision. This means you can centralize your critical board communications.
You will find it simple to manage every aspect of your project swiftly. This includes in-depth data governance and document management, eliminating paper-based workflows.
It’s time for comprehensive oversight.
Ideals offers robust reporting features for total visibility, helping you maintain compliance and make data-driven decisions. The platform’s award-winning interface ensures an effortless setup, so you can focus on core governance activities rather than complex implementation. You can manage multiple projects with ease, streamlining processes across your operations. Plus, with Artificial Intelligence features, you can anticipate challenges and accelerate your projects.
The result is fortified, certified governance and peace of mind.
While we’re discussing comprehensive oversight, you might find my analysis of PCI compliance software helpful for securing your data and easing audits.
Key features:
- Document Management: Centralize and organize all your board materials, ensuring quick access and secure sharing with robust version control, streamlining administrative tasks.
- Users and Permissions: Control who sees what with eight distinct permission levels, providing granular access to sensitive information and enhancing data security.
- Reporting and Insights: Gain total visibility into board activities and document engagement with powerful analytics, supporting data-driven decision-making and audit trails.
Learn more about Ideals features, pricing, & alternatives →
Verdict: Ideals delivers simplicity and speed, making it an excellent best board management software choice for operations managers at growing nonprofits and mid-sized enterprises. Its strong security, comprehensive reporting, and user-friendly interface simplify board communications and ensure regulatory compliance, enabling confident governance.
8. Govenda
Struggling with complex board governance workflows?
Govenda offers advanced features, including AI, to simplify your board processes.
This means you can efficiently build agendas, record minutes, and remove vulnerabilities to reach strategic objectives.
Ready for streamlined governance?
Govenda solves this by providing intuitive meeting features that empower administrators and enhance decision-making. You can also leverage Microsoft-enabled collaboration, which means you get seamless in-browser editing for your board materials.
Additionally, their pioneering AI solution, Gabii, revolutionizes committee management, ensuring compliance and keeping members engaged. Plus, you can invite Gabii to meetings to generate transcripts, draft minutes, and maintain security through scheduled transcript purges, ultimately elevating meeting productivity and engagement.
Boost your board’s efficiency and security.
Key features:
- AI-powered insights: Utilize Gabii AI to automate tasks like transcript generation and minute drafting, ensuring compliance and boosting meeting productivity for your entire board.
- Secure collaboration: Centralize all board materials in a single, secure location, eliminating vulnerabilities from email or local storage while supporting unlimited users without extra fees.
- Intuitive meeting management: Build agendas efficiently, record meeting minutes, and conduct D&O questionnaires and custom surveys, all designed for seamless use across all devices.
Learn more about Govenda features, pricing, & alternatives →
Verdict: Govenda stands out as the best board management software by combining intuitive workflows with robust security and innovative AI features. It addresses key pain points like document management bottlenecks and compliance risks, helping you streamline governance and make data-driven decisions effectively.
Conclusion
Modernizing your governance feels impossible.
Choosing the right tool often leads to decision paralysis. You must balance enterprise-grade security requirements with a simple user experience for your entire board.
G2 evaluations show these tools can reduce meeting preparation time by 40-50%. This newfound efficiency frees up your board to focus on high-impact strategic decisions instead of getting bogged down in administrative tasks.
So, which one should you choose?
After reviewing them all, my top recommendation is Diligent. It expertly integrates top-tier security with an intuitive platform that simplifies even the most complex governance workflows.
Its integrated GRC platform helps your organization build resilience, elevate strategic risk management, and ensure compliance. This is why I consider it the best board management software.
For optimizing other crucial business areas, my guide on best vendors management software offers valuable insights.
I strongly recommend you request a demo of Diligent. You can see firsthand how it streamlines your entire governance workflow from start to finish.
Confident, risk-informed decisions await.
