2 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, Conservancy may establish retention or 

destruction policies or schedules for additional categories of 

records in order to ensure legal compliance, and also to 

accomplish other objectives, such as cost management. Conservancy 

has identified several categories of documents that warrant 

special consideration; these categories are listed below. While 

Conservancy has established minimum retention periods for these 

categories, the retention of these documents - and of records not 

included in the identified categories - should be determined 

primarily by the application of the General Guidelines affecting 

document retention in this Section, as well as the exception for 

litigation-relevant records described in the next Section and any 

other pertinent factors.

3 Document Storage Methods

All Conservancy documents are stored electronically in a 

version-controlled repository on a remote server that is backed 

up to drives on our local premises, with the following 

exceptions: 

• Conservancy stores all e-mails on a separate e-mail server

• Conservancy retains hard copies of all contracts executed with 

  parties outside of the United States for at least the full term 

  of each contract

4 Minimum Retention Periods for Conservancy Documents

4.1 Organizational Documents 	

The following records should be retained permanently:

• Conservancy Articles of Incorporation

• Conservancy By-laws

== Reimbursement Procedure

Note that reimbursements are only processed once per week.  While we usually

can turn around reimbursements in about two weeks' time, please be advised

that Conservancy officially does reimbursements on a NET-30 basis, starting

from the date that complete materials are received.  If this is an issue,

Conservancy is available to prepurchase expensive items like airline tickets

on your behalf, so that you don't need to be reimbursed.

If you seek to be reimbursed for Conservancy Project expenses, please send

the following, in a self contained email (with attachments as necessary),

cc'ing your Project Leadership Committee address (PROJECT@sfconservancy.org)

for Project approval:

  * a brief paragraph explaining what was accomplished for the project

    during your travel and/or with the funds being reimbursed.  This can

    be informal; it's just for our records to confirm the travel advanced

    the not-for-profit mission of both Conservancy and the project.

  * A brief report listing the items to be reimbursed.

  * Full receipt(s) for everything, unless the travel policy does not

    require receipts (e.g., for per diem expenses).

    for reimbursement, include documentation of the rate conversion (e.g., a

    redacted credit card statement in your preferred currency).  Otherwise,

    Conservancy will use the prevailing rate for the date of the expense for

    conversion.

    Please verify that the receipts that you submit are within the attached

    travel policy requirements.  Note, however, that your Project Leadership

    Committee may have set a stricter budget than what the general

    Conservancy policy allows.

  * How you'd liked to be reimbursed. The four payment options, in order of

    Conservancy's preference, are:

    * Paypal.  For this, we need an email address that is valid for the

      Paypal account be paid.  Note that sometimes PayPal fees are

      assessed.  Usually we're taking funds from our PayPal balance, which

      means no fees appear on our side, but they may appear on yours.  It

      might be worth it to check the fee schedule before choosing this

      method.

    * Issue you a check in USD from a USA bank, sent to you via post.

      For this option, I just need your postal address.

    * Wire the amount in your local currency to your bank account in your

== Project Leadership Committee Review

Conservancy foresees the need for periodic reasonable exceptions to

this Policy.  Persons working on behalf of a specific Project seeking

an exception to this Policy must petition their PLC to obtain written

approval from Conservancy authorizing the exception.  Persons working

directly on behalf of Conservancy must seeking an exception to the

Policy must obtain written approval from Conservancy authorizing the

exception. 

PLCs are responsible for creating procedures for requesting exceptions, 

and submitting to Conservancy reimbursement requests associated with

their respective Projects.  PLCs are also responsible for making available

a list of required response times for inquiries, including but not

limited to, the following two cases

* a specific number of days to respond to regular reimbursement requests,

and

* a specific number of days to respond to pre-authorization requests.

PLCs are also responsible for monitoring the available balance in their

Project Fund, and for granting or refusing approval for travel expense 

outstanding contracts payable.  PLCs are not to approve travel expense 

requests when their Project does not have sufficient funds to cover the 

expense.  If a PLC has any questions regarding whether their Project has 

sufficient funds to cover a Traveler's expense request, the PLC should 

contact Conservancy.

== Transportation

=== Overall transportation Cost

Domestic transportation costs greater than US$750 requires Conservancy 

approval prior to booking, even if all other Policy conditions have been 

met.  International transportation costs greater than US$1,650 requires 

Conservancy approval prior to booking, even if all other Policy conditions 

have been met.

=== Advance Purchase

Tickets for travel by air or rail (excluding commuter train and subway) 

should be booked at least 14 days in advance; any travel booked less than 

14 days in advance requires written pre-authorization by Conservancy.  

Tickets for travel by air or rail beyond 365 days in advance also require 

written pre-authorization by Conservancy.

== Non-reimbursable Expenses

Non-reimbursable expenses are identified throughout this policy.  The

following items are typically non-reimbursable expenses: 

* Partner, spouse, and/or companion travel

* First class travel (unless medically necessary)

* Upgrades to air travel, car rentals, or hotel rooms

* Purchase of clothing, luggage, toiletries and other miscellaneous

personal items 

* Supplemental travel or car rental insurance

* Fines, penalties, or legal fees

* Personal entertainment or recreational expenses beyond the allotted per

diem

Travelers are permitted to pay for their own upgrades, or use bonus

programs to upgrade Conservancy-reimbursed expenses.  However, Travelers

for any such transaction.

== Satisfaction of IRS Requirements

Reimbursed travel expenses are subject to examination by the USA Internal

Revenue Service (IRS).  Travelers are responsible for retaining documentary

evidence that all expenses are strictly for Project- and/or

Conservancy-related purposes, not personal in nature, and therefore not

includable as taxable income to the Traveler.  Receipts are required for

all expenses, no matter the amount.

== Currency Exchange Rates

Expenses incurred in foreign currencies will be converted to US dollars

based on the exchange rate on the date of incursion.  The currency

exchange rate of record shall be done using

http://www.bankofcanada.ca/rates/exchange/10-year-converter/[The Bank of Canada 10-year currency converter].

== Approvals

Travelers traveling on behalf of a Project must seek approvals and

submit expense reports to their PLC.  PLCs are to review those expense

reports and pass them along to Conservancy's Executive Director for

final approval and reimbursement. 

To book the flight, I'll likely need the following info.  Feel free to send

it to me in an GPG-encrypted email (or plain text, if you don't care ;):

  * Exact itinerary, including specific flights, airports and time, and be

    sure the total is within the travel policy requirements.

  * Passport Information

      - Full Name, as it appears on the Passport

      - Issue Date

      - Expiration date

      - Country of Issue

      - Gender

      - Date of Birth

  * Frequent flyer numbers for major airlines (if you want the miles credited)

  * Seat Preference (either specific seats, or "Aisle vs. Window" preference)

  * Meal Preference (if a meal is included in the coach flight)