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\begin_layout Title
Software Freedom Conservancy Document Retention Policy
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\begin_layout Section
Purpose
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Software Freedom Conservancy (
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Conservancy
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) has adopted a document retention and destruction policy (
Policy
) in order to define the record retention responsibilities of Conservancy
officers, staff, and board members for maintaining and documenting the
storage and destruction of Conservancy's documents and records.
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 and/or Member Projects 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.
Consevancy has identified several categories of documents that warrant
special consideration; these categories are listed below.
While Conservancy has established minimum retention periods for these categorie
s, 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.
Exception for GPL Compliance and Litigation-Relevant Documents
Conservancy expects all staff, officers, board members, and PLCs to comply
fully with this Policy and any other written document retention policies,
with the following notable exception to any stated destruction schedule:
if you believe, or if Conservancy informs you, that certain Conservancy
and/or Project records relate to efforts to bring companies into compliance
with the General Public License, enforcing the GPL, or in some way relates
to litigation or potential litigation (i.e., a dispute that could result
in litigation), then you
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must
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preserve those records until it is determined that the records are no longer
needed.
That exception supersedes any previously or subsequently established destructio
n schedule for those records.
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:
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Conservancy stores all e-mails are stored 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
Minimum Retention Periods for Conservancy Documents
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Organizational Documents
The following records should be retained permanently:
Conservancy Articles of Incorporation
Conservancy By-laws
Conservancy's Form 1023 - which should also be available for public inspection
upon request
Board meeting minutes
Tax Records
Tax records should be retained for at least seven years from the date of
filing the applicable return.
These records include:
IRS Form 990 and related schedules
Financial audit letter and supporting documents
Employment tax records
Documents concerning payroll, expenses, proof of donor contributions
Documented accounting procedures
Financial Records
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.
Employment/Personnel Records
All employment and personnel records should be kept for at least seven years,
with the following exceptions:
IRS Form 990 and related schedules: at least seven years from the date of
filing the applicable return
Financial audit letter and supporting documents: at least seven years from
the date of filing the applicable return
Correspondence
Hard copies of letters
E-mail correspondence in Conservancy e-mail accounts shall be archived for
a minimum of one year, with the exception of the correspondence sent to
the
compliance@sfconservancy.org
account, which shall be archived for a minimum of seven years.
Reports from Projects
Blogs and Press Releases
Contracts
All contracts entered into by Conservancy should be retained for at least
seven years from the date of filing the applicable return.
Code
All source code written by a developer in fulfillment of a contract with
Conservancy should be archived electronically for at least three years.
Storage of Project Documents
Conservancy and PLCs
Destruction of Documents
staff, board members, and Member Project Leadership Committees (
PLCs
) for maintaining and documenting the storage and destruction of Conservancy's
documents and records.
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