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Standard Operating Procedures

Best practices on creating and maintaining standard operating procedures.

SOUTH CAROLINA: Making VP of Finance “EZ”—SOP for Filing 990-N and 990-EZ Tax Returns

In 2019, The South Carolina Chapter’s income exceeded the limit to file a 990-N postcard. The chapter had never filed a 990-EZ, so the board created a standard operating procedure (SOP) as the vice president of finance went through the process to create a resource that can be passed down to future board members. The SOP saves the chapter the expense of an accountant to prepare the filing, and it expects to see a 75 percent (7.5 hours) reduction or more in the completion of future tax returns.

YEAR: 2021


NEBRASKA CHAPTER: Operations Manual

SUMMARY: The chapter created a manual to ensure that key details not included in the bylaws or chapter leader job descriptions would be passed on to future leaders. The manual allowed for consistent onboarding from year to year and served as a reference for the processes that impact chapter operations. Having the information in one central location increased board member satisfaction, ensured consistency through board transitions and onboarding, and created a one-stop shop for learning more about procedural details.

YEAR: 2018


EASTERN PENNSYLVANIA CHAPTER: VP of Technology Training Solution

SUMMARY: As a result of attending ALC 2015, in particular the session entitled, Your Technology Succession Plan, it became apparent that the vice president of technology role needed to have documented processes for knowledge sharing and succession. After conducting a needs assessment, the chapter’s vice president of technology developed a written training manual to capture the major processes that the role performs. This manual is part of a three-component solution, which also includes training with the outgoing vice president of technology during a transition and a recorded archive of the training for future reference. Now that this is in place, the current and future vice presidents of technology should be able to properly execute the role’s responsibilities.

YEAR: 2016


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