Policy Number: 1040
Dated: 2/05/2013

Document Retention Policy

General Guidelines

Records should not be kept if they are no longer needed for the operation of the business or required by law. Unnecessary records should be eliminated from the files. The cost of maintaining records is an expense which can grow unreasonably if good housekeeping is not performed. A mass of records also makes it more difficult to find pertinent records.

From time to time, the Board of Trustees may establish retention or destruction policies or schedules for specific categories of records in order to ensure legal compliance, and also to accomplish other objectives, such as preserving intellectual property and cost management. Several categories of documents that warrant special consideration are identified below. While minimum retention periods are established, the retention of the documents identified below and of documents not included in the identified categories should be determined primarily by the application of the general guidelines affecting document retention, as well as the exception for litigation relevant documents and any other pertinent factors.

Exception for Litigation Relevant Documents

The Board of Trustees expects all officers, directors, and employees to comply fully with any published records retention or destruction policies and schedules, provided that all officers, directors, and employees should note the following general exception to any stated destruction schedule: If you believe, or the Organization informs you, that Board of Trustees’ records are relevant to litigation, or potential litigation (i.e., a dispute that could result in litigation), then you must preserve those records until it is determined that the records are no longer needed. That exception supersedes any previously or subsequently established destruction schedule for those records.

Minimum Retention Periods for Specific Categories

1. Organizational Documents: The Board of Trustees’ records include the Board of Trustees articles of incorporation, by-­‐laws and IRS Form 1023, Application for Exemption. The Board of Trustees’ records should be retained permanently. IRS regulations require that the Form 1023 be available for public inspection upon request.
2. Tax Records: Tax records include, but may not be limited to, documents concerning payroll, expenses, proof of contributions made by donors, accounting procedures, and other documents concerning the Board of Trustees’ revenues. Tax records should be retained for at least seven years from the date of filing the applicable return.  
3. Employment Records/Personnel Records: State and federal statutes require the Board of Trustees to keep certain recruitment, employment and personnel information. The Board of Trustees should also keep personnel files that reflect performance reviews and any complaints brought against the Board of Trustees or individual employees under applicable state and federal statutes. The Board of Trustees should also keep in the employee’s personnel file all final memoranda and correspondence reflecting performance reviews and actions taken by or against personnel. Employment applications should be retained for three years. Retirement and pension records should be kept permanently. Other employment and personnel records should be retained for seven years.
4. Board and Board Committee Materials: Meeting minutes should be retained in perpetuity in the Organization’s minute book. A clean copy of all other Board and Board committee materials should be kept for no less than three years by the Board of Trustees.
5. Press Releases/Public Filings: The Board of Trustees should retain permanent copies of all press releases and publicly filed documents under the theory that the Organization should have its own copy to test the accuracy of any document a member of the public can theoretically produce against the Board of Trustees.
6. Legal Files: Legal counsel should be consulted to determine the retention period of particular documents, but legal documents should generally be maintained for a period of ten years.
7. Marketing and Sales Documents: The Board of Trustees should keep final copies of marketing and sales documents for the same period of time it keeps other corporate files, generally three years. An exception to the three-­‐year policy may be sales invoices, contracts, leases, licenses, and other legal documentation. These documents should be kept for at least three years beyond the life of the agreement.
8. Development/Intellectual Property and Trade Secrets: Development documents are often subject to intellectual property protection in their final form (e.g., patents and copyrights). The documents detailing the development process are often also of value to the Board of Trustees and are protected as a trade secret where the Board of Trustees:
   • Derives independent economic value from the secrecy of the information; and
   • Has taken affirmative steps to keep the information confidential.                                                                                                                                                    The Board of Trustees should keep all documents designated as containing trade secret information for at least the life of the trade secret.
9.  Contracts: Final, execution copies of all contracts entered into by the Board of Trustees should be retained. The Board of Trustees should retain copies of the final contracts for at least three years beyond the life of the agreement, and longer in the case of publicly filed contracts.
10. Correspondence: Unless correspondence falls under another category listed elsewhere in this policy, correspondence should generally be saved for two years.
11. Banking and Accounting: Accounts payable ledgers and schedules should be kept for seven years. Bank reconciliations, bank statements, deposit slips and checks (unless for important payments and purchases) should be kept for three years. Any inventories of products, materials, and supplies and any invoices should be kept for seven years.
12. Expired insurance policies, insurance records, accident reports, claims, etc. Should be kept permanently.
13. Audit Records: External audit reports should be kept permanently. Internal audit reports should be kept for three years.

Electronic Mail

Email that needs to be saved should be either:

• Printed in hard copy and kept in the appropriate file; or
• Downloaded to a computer file and kept electronically or on disk as a separate file.

The retention period depends upon the subject matter of the e-­‐mail, as covered elsewhere this policy.