General Operations and Guidelines

Operating Guidelines - Since chapters are not legal entities, they cannot have bylaws. Chapters may create operational guidelines. These guidelines cannot counter any policies defined within this SOM and are subject to review and approval by the SCORE District Director and the SCORE Regional Vice President.
Retention of forms – SCORE aims to be as paperless as possible. Any Chapter contracts, leases, SOWs (Scopes of Work), etc., must be kept for at least 5 years. Scanned and saved versions of all paperwork are preferred and a copy may be submitted to SCORE Headquarters. All volunteer and client records must be entered into the SCORE Engage system and no physical paper regarding client information, client requests, or volunteer applications and personal information should be retained.
Client confidential information – Volunteers should not save material containing any client confidential information on any personal computing equipment.
Chapter Planning and Goal Setting process – In conjunction with the District Director, each chapter should annually create a tactical operational plan that aligns with the SCORE Strategic and Tactical Plans. A template for this can be found at this link .
Annual Onsite Review process – Every chapter must complete a review (link found here) with their District Director, reviewing performance, addressing challenges, and discussion resources.
Technology – Chapters and Districts cannot create independent technology solutions. This includes standalone websites, websites for events, downloadable apps, social media profiles, and calendaring applications without consent of SCORE.
1. Both Google Meet and ZOOM are available video mentoring platforms available for SCORE mentors. All @scorevolunteer.org email addresses come with access to Google video platforms including the recently improved Google Meet video conferencing platform. All volunteers are also welcome to sign up for a free basic ZOOM account and use to connect with clients virtually when applicable. Resources on both of these tools are available on the SCORE Support Center.
2. All video conferencing within SCORE must be used for SCORE purposes ONLY. This extends to: 1) client mentoring, and 2)virtual workshops and meetings when in-person is not possible.
3. SCORE Chapters are eligible for 1 Zoom Pro account under the chapter administrator email (ch.adminXXXX@scorevolunteer.org). Other Zoom Pro needs are evaluated upon request and must be authorized by chapter leadership.
Email use – all SCORE business must be conducted under a SCORE email including client communication. All volunteers must use @scorevolunteer.org emails.
1. @scorevolunteer.org emails cannot be set up to automatically forward emails to an outside email address
Chapter Contracts and Leases – Chapter Contracts for more than $10,000 must be approved by SCORE Headquarters and signed per the most recent guidance from the SCORE Accounting team. All leases, regardless of length or amount, must be reviewed by SCORE Headquarters and signed by the SCORE CEO or Vice President of Finance.
The SCORE Association must obtain price quotes in writing from at least three qualified sources and inform SBA of these quotes in the corresponding payment requests/financial reports.
If the SCORE Association does not choose to go with the lowest price quote, the SCORE Association must explain why.
Chapter/District/Regional Meetings – Field meetings are important for SCORE volunteers to communicate, bond, and learn. All attempts should be made to engage remote and working volunteers with the use of ZOOM and create virtual meetings.
Email use – all SCORE business must be conducted under a SCORE email including client communication. All volunteers must use @scorevolunteer.org emails.
- @scorevolunteer.org emails cannot be set up to automatically forward emails to an outside email address
- Do not enable read-receipts on emails sent from @scorevolunteer.org emails.

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