Tools to help streamline your board administration.
Board administration is time consuming. Our Cat Herder brings your agendas, board packs, minutes, actions, documents, and discussions into one secure portal — so you can spend less time on admin and more time on governance.
Organise Meetings
Because your time is valuable, our inbuilt meetings functionality reduces the time it takes you to prepare for your next board meeting. Set up meeting types for your board, sub-committees, and working groups, then manage the full lifecycle from agenda creation through to board pack distribution.
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Agenda Builder
The Our Cat Herder agenda builder is designed to speed up your workflow when creating meeting agendas. Drag and drop agenda items into order, attach supporting documents to individual items, and set time allocations to keep meetings on track. Your agenda feeds directly into minute taking and board pack generation. Learn more about the agenda builder →
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Agenda Templates
Our agenda template engine gives you increased consistency and flexibility. Build out unique templates for each meeting type — board meetings, AGMs, sub-committee meetings — then customise each meeting as required. Templates ensure standing items are never missed while still allowing you to add or remove items for each session.
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Build & Distribute Board Packs
Rapidly create and distribute full board document packages that are accessible to all meeting attendees. Attach reports, financial statements, and supporting documents to individual agenda items so directors have the context they need. Whether your pack has five pages or five hundred, board members can access everything from any device before, during, and after the meeting.
Collaboration & Communication
Centralise your board communication with Our Cat Herder's built-in collaboration tools. Keep discussions, decisions, and documents in one place instead of scattered across email threads, shared drives, and messaging apps.
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Discussions
Bring your discussions out of confusing email chains and into a clear, structured format that makes it easy to stay up to date. Create open discussions for the full board or private threads for sub-committees and working groups. Each new post is emailed directly to members, so there is no need to keep checking the portal.
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Decision Maker
Our decision maker allows you to vote digitally in meetings or between meetings. For fast decisions between meetings, complete the flying-minute template, take a vote, and your portal generates an immediate result. All votes are recorded with a full audit trail, giving your board a clear record of circular resolutions and out-of-session decisions.
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Document Storage
Ensure that your board members have quick and easy access to the documents they need, when they need them. Upload your strategic plan, board policies, constitutions, and governance frameworks. Unlimited storage is included with every portal, with support for files up to 100MB each. Documents are organised by category and searchable, so nothing gets lost.
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Meeting Comments
Meeting comment and discussion functionality lets you and your board collaborate on building out board packs and preparing for meetings. Leave comments on individual agenda items, ask questions about attached documents, and resolve queries before the meeting starts.
Run Meetings
Run your meetings effectively and efficiently. Capture minutes, assign actions, and track follow-ups all from within the same meeting workspace — no switching between apps or emailing spreadsheets around.
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Minute Taker
Using our built-in minute taker you can document the important records from your meetings as they happen. Minutes are structured against your agenda, making it easy to record decisions, note attendees, and capture key discussion points. When finished, distribute minutes to the board for review and use the built-in sign-off workflow to get formal approval. Learn more about minute taking →
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Action Assignment & Tracking
Ensure that important to-dos, tasks, and actions are captured and tracked so nothing falls through the cracks. Assign actions to specific members with due dates, and monitor progress from your dashboard. Outstanding actions automatically carry forward to the next meeting so your board maintains accountability. Learn more about action tracking →
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Notes
Make private notes on each board pack document so you know exactly what you were thinking when you reviewed them. Notes are visible only to you and persist across sessions, so you can prepare ahead of the meeting and refer back to your thoughts during discussion.
Compliance
Stay on top of your governance obligations with built-in compliance tools. Track conflicts of interest, contracts, delegations, and more — all from within your board portal.
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Registers
Create and manage any type of governance register directly in your portal. Conflicts of interest, contracts, compliance, delegations, insurance — whatever your board needs to track. Choose from 9 built-in templates or build your own with 15+ column types. Enable self-service forms so board members can submit declarations any time, and link registers to a meeting type so entries can be added directly during minute-taking. Learn more about registers →
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Activity Log & Reports
A complete audit trail of portal activity helps you maintain governance records and demonstrate compliance. Generate reports on meeting attendance, action completion, and document access when you need them.
Governance & Security
Our Cat Herder is built with governance best practices and security at its core. Manage roles, control access, and maintain a complete audit trail of your board's activities.
- Role-Based Permissions
- Assign roles such as Chair, Secretary, Treasurer, President, CEO, and more. Each role has tailored permissions so members see only what they need to. Guests and ex-officio members can be given limited access for specific meetings.
- Security & MFA
- Multi-factor authentication, encrypted data at rest and in transit, and Australian-hosted infrastructure. Your board's sensitive documents are protected by the same security standards used by financial institutions. Read more about security →
- Multiple Portals
- Directors who serve on multiple boards can access all their portals from a single login. Secretariats managing multiple organisations can switch between portals without logging out and back in.
- Bulk Extract
- Download complete board packs as a single PDF for offline reading or archival purposes. Extract meeting records, minutes, and documents in bulk when you need them for audits or compliance reviews.
- Access on Any Device
- Our Cat Herder works on any device with a web browser — desktop, laptop, tablet, or phone. No app to install or update. Whether your board members use Android, iPhone, Mac, or Windows, they can access the portal from wherever they are.
How Our Cat Herder Compares
Many boards cobble together shared drives, email, and spreadsheets — or pay tens of thousands for enterprise portals designed for ASX-listed companies. Our Cat Herder sits in between: purpose-built board governance tools at a price that works for NFPs and SMBs.
| Feature | Our Cat Herder | SharePoint / Google Drive | Enterprise Portals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Agenda builder with templates | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ |
| Board pack generation & distribution | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ |
| Minute taking with approval workflow | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ |
| Action tracking & carry-forward | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ |
| Governance registers (conflicts, contracts, etc.) | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Flying minutes & digital voting | ✓ | ✗ | Varies |
| Board & committee discussions | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ |
| Unlimited document storage | ✓ | Quota-based | Varies |
| Multi-factor authentication | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Australian-hosted data | ✓ | ✗ | Varies |
| No per-user fees | ✓ | Per-user | Per-user |
| Setup & training required | Minimal | DIY | Significant (extra fees) |
| Typical annual cost | From $595/yr | $0–$2,000+ | $5,000–$50,000+ |
Frequently Asked Questions About Board Portal Features
- What is a board portal?
- A board portal is a secure online platform that centralises everything a board needs to operate: agendas, board packs, minutes, actions, documents, discussions, and voting. It replaces the patchwork of email, shared drives, and spreadsheets that most boards rely on, giving directors a single place to prepare for meetings, make decisions, and track follow-ups. Watch our explainer video →
- Is Our Cat Herder suitable for small boards?
- Yes. Our Cat Herder is designed for boards of all sizes, from a five-person community group through to larger organisations with multiple sub-committees. There are no per-user fees, so adding an extra board member or observer costs nothing. Pricing starts at $595 per year for organisations with under $1 million in annual revenue.
- How does board pack distribution work?
- You build your board pack by attaching reports, financial statements, and supporting documents to individual agenda items. When the pack is ready, you distribute it to all meeting attendees with a single click. Board members are notified by email and can access the full pack from any device — desktop, tablet, or phone — before, during, and after the meeting.
- Can we manage conflicts of interest and other registers?
- Yes. Our Cat Herder includes a flexible register system with nine built-in templates covering conflicts of interest, contracts, compliance, delegations, insurance, and more. You can also build custom registers using 15+ column types. Board members can submit declarations through self-service forms, and registers can be linked to meeting types so entries are captured during minute-taking.
- What is a flying minute and how does digital voting work?
- A flying minute (also called a circular resolution) is a decision made between scheduled meetings. In Our Cat Herder, the secretary creates a flying minute using the built-in template, board members vote digitally, and the portal generates an immediate result. This avoids the delays of waiting for the next meeting to make time-sensitive decisions.
- Is our data secure and hosted in Australia?
- Yes. All data is hosted on Australian infrastructure, encrypted at rest and in transit, and protected by multi-factor authentication. We follow the same security standards used by financial institutions. For full details, see our security page.
- How long does it take to get started?
- Most boards are up and running within a day. There is no software to install — Our Cat Herder works in any web browser. You create your portal, invite your board members, and start building your first agenda. We offer a free 45-day trial so you can test every feature before committing. Start your free trial →