Affiliates need to comply with a variety of requirements when first establishing the affiliate and subsequently operating it. These requirements are imposed by Federal and state laws as well as by ACE policies. Failure to fulfill these requirements can jeopardize an affiliate’s status as a nonprofit organization, its insurance coverage, and good standing in the ACE Mentor Program, among other consequences.
ACE Affiliates are responsible for keeping students, leaders, mentors, and the program protected. This requires everyone’s due diligence and compliance with ACE operational and reporting requirements. In addition, affiliates and mentors should insure the safety of participants and the ACE program by observing basic safety procedures outlined in the Safety 101 document.
ACE’s Corporate Policies are located on the ACE website in the public sectionCorporate Policies. The National Board of Directors has approved them as official policies of the national organization. As independent corporations, affiliates should review the policies and accept them into their official meeting minutes. The annual IRS tax return asks if a corporation has adopted these policies. So it is important that affiliates officially approve them. Rather than print out the policies, affiliates can direct board members to review the documents at the link mentioned above and then carry a motion to approve the documents at a board meeting.
Internal Policies set forth ACE’s rules for proper operation of the organization. They explain requirements for affiliates to meet the needs of the organization.
This handbook’s purpose is to help mentors, team leaders, and affiliate mentor liaisons as they support mentors and strengthen their mentoring relationships with students. Included in this document are succinct summaries of all ACE policies relative to mentoring, some procedures and best practices mentors must follow when working with students, strategies for mentors to use when responding to difficult questions from students, and copies of relevant forms.
Every affiliate must select an individual to serve as an affiliate mentor liaison. Each year the mentor liaison is required to complete ACE’s web-based training based on this Affiliate Mentor Liaison Policy Handbook. This training can be viewed in the video below.
