Program Leader Policies

Programs are groups that hold activities 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 programs, and what the program leader agrees to do in return.

Note: These policies are extremely similar to those for Chapters.

Term of Leadership

When Operational Programs 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 Program leader steps down, if a new leader is not identified, the program becomes inactive and we may utilize extra funds elsewhere in support of our mission.

Bridge Foundry's Responsibilities

As long as your Program 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 program in reserve for your program’s sole use
  • If the program becomes inactive, we reserve the right to allocate the funds elsewhere in support of our mission.
• Track financial transactions for your program in a location you can access to view history and program balance (currently via public spreadsheet)
• Make it easy for your program leaders to spend funds available to it by:
  • Providing an expense card for direct purchases to one program leader
  • Providing reimbursements to all program leaders
• Facilitate access to discounts and benefits available via our nonprofit structure where possible
  • This is dependent on a) what we can practically support, and b) ensuring equal access for all programs
  • 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
• Review contracts and agreements you want Bridge Foundry to enter for your program, 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

Program Leader's Responsibilities

Leadership & communications

By signing the Volunteer Agreement, Program Leaders agree to:

• Serve as a program leader for the next year (365 days after the signing of this agreement).
• Meet with 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 program next year. If they don’t respond, the program becomes inactive.
• Sign an agreement as a volunteer fundraiser if they want to solicit donations for their program (apart from having a donate button embedded on the program’s website).
• Inform Bridge Foundry of any incidents of injury, harassment, or code of conduct breaches at events via the Reporting Form. Talk with a Bridge Foundry leader to answer questions about the incident if needed.
• Contact Bridge Foundry if their program needs something that involves signing a contract of any kind. Program Leaders do not have authority to bind the organization into contracts or agreements.

Spending money

By signing the Volunteer Agreement, Program 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.