Chapter Leader Policies

Chapters are groups that hold workshops on a regular basis and want to operate as a legal part of the Bridge Foundry nonprofit organization. This page outlines the support Bridge Foundry agrees to provide to chapters, and what the chapter leader agrees to do in return.

Term of Leadership

When Chapters form, their leader(s) commit to a one year term, with the understanding that you can renew as many times as you’d like. Bridge Foundry will check in with you at the end of the yearlong period to confirm who will be the leader(s) for the next year, and complete an agreement with any new leader(s).

Note: When a Chapter leader steps down, if a new leader is not identified, the chapter becomes an Independent Community, in which case volunteers are still able to hold workshops and apply for grants but the group is not considered a legal part of Bridge Foundry, Inc.

Bridge Foundry's Responsibilities

As long as your Chapter remains active and works in a way that is consistent with our mission and policies, Bridge Foundry will:

  • Provide infrastructure for accepting online donations and send gift receipts
    • If you want to raise funds in other ways, sign up as a Volunteer Fundraiser (separate agreement)
  • Hold funds raised for the chapter in reserve for your chapter’s sole use
    • If the chapter reverts to a Community Chapter, we reserve the right to allocate the funds elsewhere. AND, we will check in with you before that change to understand if you have workshops planned as a Community Chapter so we can use the remaining funds for a grant to the chapter.
  • Track financial transactions for your chapter in a location you can access to view history and chapter balance (currently via public spreadsheet)
  • Make it easy for your chapter leaders to spend funds available to it by:
    • Providing an expense card for direct purchases to one chapter leader
    • Providing reimbursements to all chapter leaders
  • Facilitate access to discounts and benefits available via our non profit structure where possible
    • This is dependent on a) what we can practically support, and b) ensuring equal access for all chapters
    • In many cases this is as simple as providing our tax exemption letter so that a donor will make an in-kind donation or provide a discount
  • Provide guidance and advice as desired for developing your events and building your community
  • Provide guidance and support in situations where someone breaks the code of conduct or you run into other challenges at a workshop
  • Review contracts and agreements you want Bridge Foundry to enter for your chapter, determine whether it is appropriate for the organization to make the agreement, and handle signing if so.
  • Let you know if any of these methods of support change.

Chapter Leader's Responsibilities

Leadership & communications

By signing the Volunteer Agreement, Chapter Leaders agree to:

  • Serve as a chapter leader for the next year (365 days after the signing of this agreement).
  • Meet with their Bridge leader and/or a volunteer mentor once a year to share knowledge about successes and challenges.
  • Respond to Bridge Foundry’s inquiry after a year to let us know who will be leading the chapter next year. If they don’t respond, Bridge Foundry will convert the chapter to a Community Chapter.
  • Sign an agreement as a volunteer fundraiser if they want to solicit donations for their chapter (apart from having a donate button embedded on the chapter’s website).
  • Inform Bridge Foundry of any incidents of injury, harassment, or code of conduct breaches at workshops or events via the Reporting Form. Talk with a Bridge Foundry leader to answer questions about the incident if needed.
  • Contact Bridge Foundry if their chapter needs something that involves signing a contract of any kind. Chapter Leaders do not have authority to bind the organization into contracts or agreements.

Spending money

By signing the Volunteer Agreement, Chapter Leaders agree to:

  • Keep their expense card in a safe location and not share it with anyone else.
  • Spend funds only on approved expense categories, according to approved expenses policy.
  • Submit receipts for all expense card purchases by the 5th day of the month following the month they were incurred.
  • Submit receipts for all expenses to be reimbursed within a month, following the workshop.