RECORD RETENTION AND DESTRUCTION POLICY

Labyrinth’s document and destruction policy identifies the record retention responsibilities we have pertaining maintaining and documenting the storage and destruction records of nonprofits we assist.

Record Retention for State Registrations

• State registration filings – Keep past four (4) years plus the current year filings, i.e., if we are in 2019, keep for 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 and the current year of 2018—Toss everything else
• Confirmations from the states – Keep (in the form of a registration letter and/or license) for each year noted above
• Extensions – Keep all requests for extension, EXCEPT when you have an extension confirmation; toss the requests for extension, as well as any extension acceptance, if you have a confirmation (in the form of a registration letter and/or license)
• Fundraiser contracts – keep in the file only those for the same period of time as noted in the first item above – Keep only one copy of non-current contracts in the files
• Original forms – Keep only one copy of IRS determination letter, current By-Laws, Articles of Incorporation, etc.—Toss old Board lists, listing of Key Employees, etc.—Keep only the most recent copies
• Audits – Keep only one copy of each old audit— as noted in the first item above, keep only one copy of 2015 through 2019 (for example, for the year that ENDS in 2018—you would hold on to an audit that starts in 2017 but ends in 2018—this applies to non-calendar year clients).
• Form 990 – Keep according to the guideline for Audits as noted above.
• Correspondence – Keep only as necessary; keep information re: answers to state questions, contributions raised, etc. for at least the last three years, but no further back then relates to the guidance as noted in the first item above
• Client brochures, etc. – Keep only what you deem necessary
• File maintenance – Purge your files after each year’s filing and submission of the billing sheet, i.e., toss out the oldest year— as noted in the first item above, once filing is done in 2019, toss out 2014 and prior state filings

NOTHING IN THE FILES SHOULD BE DATED 2013 AND PRIOR