THE ORGANIZATIONAL SHOE BOX CHECK LIST
Ensure your organization has the following documents somewhere easy to find. A new staff or board member should have access to this ‘shoe box’ of important resources.
Your organization may not have all of these documents, so the checklist is also useful as a guideline for items you may want to develop (such as a policy and procedure manual) as you grow. The checklist should aid you in finding the background documents you need when you are:
- writing grants or fundraising proposals and need to add/copy attachments to your proposal;
- filling out your T3010B annually;
- preparing for your Annual General Meeting;
- undergoing your charity’s annual audit or financial review;
- orienting a new staff or board member to your organization (particularly the Board President, Treasurer and/or Executive Director-Office Administrator).
Go here for the checklist for building your Shoe Box
Tip: Once you have established your Organizational “Shoe Box” make an additional back up copy using PDFs, compact discs, photocopies or computer travel drives (flash sticks) and store the backup version in a second, secure location.
Tip: Have an annual plan for transferring key information in the event of a change of personnel, either on the board or on staff if your charity has paid personnel.
Because you are the director of a charitable organization your “Shoe Box” might also contain a series of important governing polices and documents made available by the Canada Revenue Agency.
Go here for a handy reference checklist with links to the most important CRA documents for the directors and staff of a charity
Go here for a great summary you can share with your board colleagues. It explains the importance of keeping a “Shoe Box”.
Think of the “Shoe Box” as an organizational history in a box – something you can easily pass along to a new board member or staff person who takes on the responsibility of helping to run your small or rural charity.
