Risk Management and Compliance

These are the foundational policies that support legal compliance, ethical conduct, and organizational integrity. They typically align with regulatory expectations and nonprofit best practices, including guidance from entities like the Internal Revenue Service. 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.

Required: these are ACE policies that must be adopted by your board

ANTI-BULLYING POLICY

CODE OF ETHICS

CONFLICT OF INTEREST POLICY

CORE VALUES POLICY

DOCUMENT RETENTION POLICY

MISSION STATEMENT + PROGRAM GOALS

SEXUAL HARASSMENT + NON-DISCRIMINATION

WHISTLEBLOWER POLICY

Affiliates are required to complete annual reporting to ensure ongoing compliance and good standing. This includes filing any required forms with the Internal Revenue Service, as well as meeting reporting obligations tied to the affiliate agreement. ACE Regional Directors annually will review each affiliate’s adherence to all compliance requirements and report the results to the Executive Committee of the ACE Board. The following materials will help affiliates ensure they are in compliance.

Annual compliance checklist

Summary Chart of Annual Compliance

Affiliate Mentor Liaison – link to below

Timely payment of invoices (develop invoice explanation)

Closing out Program year

Program report _LINK TO PAGE

Financial reports (link to financial page)

Charitable Registration Renewal (if required by state) – link to page

Corporate Filings – link to page

Current list of Board members

Maintain an up to date Affiliate webpage – can we add something on communications page

These policies guide the day-to-day functioning of the affiliate and ensure consistency, quality, and safety in program delivery. The following must be followed by all affiliates. As a best practice, boards can adopt these policies and have them in the minutes.

Required Operational Policies and Procedures that apply to all affiliates, volunteers, etc.

Parental Consent forms: All new and returning students each year must turn in a signed Parental Consent form to participate in ACE. Affiliates are responsible for ensuring only students who are registered in the database with a signed parent consent attend sessions.

Database Management: Every affiliate is responsible for maintaining in the national database an accurate, up-to-date record of all students, mentors, staff, board members, and other volunteers. Each year in April, the ACE National Office uses the database to determine the number of “active” and “pending” students, mentors, Board members, administrative staff, and other volunteers. Based on this number, ACE’s insurance carrier calculates insurance premiums. Affiliates are billed for their proportionate share of all covered individuals. Only individuals registered as “active” or “pending” in the database are covered under ACE National’s insurance umbrella. (Chapter 7 has more details about ACE’s insurance.)

Mentor Participation Requirement: Mentors are required to register or update their registration every year and complete the mentor training module which is part of the registration process. All adult volunteers/mentors working with students and paid staff persons must be registered in the database have an approved background check every three years/36 months. Additionally, any individual who has access to the ACE database must have an approved background check prior to serving as a volunteer/mentor or paid staff person. Regional Directors will regularly audit affiliate compliance. The full policy can be found here ACE BACKGROUND CHECK POLICY:

The following Policies apply to all affiliates and must be followed. Click each link for the full policy.

DOCUMENT RETENTION POLICY

DATABASE PERSONAL INFORMATION SECURITY POLICY

MISSION STATEMENT + PROGRAM GOALS

SEXUAL HARASSMENT + NON-DISCRIMINATION

ANTI-BULLYING POLICY

TRANSPORTATION OF STUDENTS POLICY

CORE VALUES POLICY

CODE OF ETHICS

CONFLICT OF INTEREST POLICY

Affiliate Mentor Liaison Policy (link to below)

Confidentiality – check with Andrew

Youth Protection – Need to develop

The following are guidelines, best practices, and recommended policies and procedures that affiliates can adopt to better run their affiliate and be mindful of risk management. If an affiliate chooses to utilize any of the following, they should ensure all elements apply to their affiliate and once finalized receive board approval.

Reminder, once a policy is created, it should be properly monitored and enforced. Not everything needs to be a policy either. Sometimes guidelines are effective as well. Reach out to your regional director for support on any of the below samples.

Communication policy

Social media

Emergency Plans

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.

If you are your affiliate’s mentor liaison, please complete this quick form AFTER viewing the recording. Thank you!

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