Document Retention Policy
OPEN SOURCE ECOLOGY DOCUMENT RETENTION AND DESTRUCTION POLICY
Purpose
The purpose of this Document Retention and Destruction Policy is to establish guidelines for the retention, storage, protection, and destruction of organizational records of Open Source Ecology (“OSE”) in accordance with applicable legal, operational, financial, and governance requirements.
Policy
OSE shall maintain complete, accurate, and secure records related to its governance, finances, operations, programs, personnel, legal obligations, and tax-exempt activities. Records may be maintained in physical or electronic form.
OSE shall not knowingly destroy documents relevant to pending or reasonably foreseeable litigation, audits, investigations, or governmental inquiries.
Record Retention
The following records shall generally be retained for at least the periods indicated below:
Permanent Records The following records shall be retained permanently:
- Articles of Incorporation
- Bylaws and amendments
- IRS determination letters
- Board meeting minutes and written consents
- Major policies
- Annual Form 990 filings
- Financial statements
- Real estate and major asset records
- Intellectual property records
- Major contracts and agreements
- Grant agreements
- Corporate resolutions
Seven-Year Records The following records shall generally be retained for at least seven (7) years:
- Bank statements
- Expense records
- Accounts payable and receivable records
- Contractor invoices
- Payroll records
- Employment tax records
- W-9 and W-8 forms
- 1099 filings
- Donor contribution records
- Grant reporting records
- Insurance records
- General correspondence related to financial matters
Three-Year Records The following records shall generally be retained for at least three (3) years:
- Routine operational correspondence
- Draft documents not constituting official records
- Internal administrative materials
Electronic Records
Electronic records shall be backed up periodically and stored in reasonably secure systems with access limited to authorized personnel. OSE may use cloud-based storage systems for operational efficiency and redundancy.
Destruction of Records
Records that have satisfied their retention period may be destroyed in a manner appropriate to the sensitivity of the information involved, including shredding of paper records and secure deletion of electronic files.
Records containing personally identifiable information, financial account information, taxpayer identification numbers, or confidential information shall be destroyed securely.
Litigation Hold
If OSE becomes aware of pending or threatened litigation, audit, investigation, or governmental inquiry, destruction of potentially relevant records shall cease immediately until the matter is resolved.
Administration
The Executive Director, or a designated officer, shall be responsible for administration of this policy and may establish operational procedures consistent with this policy.
Policy Review
This policy may be reviewed and amended periodically by the Board of Directors as needed.
Adopted by the Board of Directors of Open Source Ecology on: __________________