The institution,
built in the open.
Every document HAND Protocol Foundation will operate by, published before incorporation. Articles, Bylaws, all the policies funders look for, board governance, theory of change, strategic plan, and the Form 1023 narrative draft. Adoption follows board ratification; right now these are working drafts you can read, comment on, and hold us to.
The pool, built in the open.
HAND operates a curated resource pool where Contributors and Reciprocates match through three flows (Donate, Exchange, Receive), so that everyone involved can benefit if they choose to. The pool is the primary mechanism. Asking Contributors to give time and Reciprocates to trust us with their work is a serious ask. Reciprocating that trust requires making our own operations equally inspectable.
So before we file Form 1023, we're publishing the documents we'll operate by. The Articles of Incorporation as drafted for the Texas SOS. The Bylaws as the founding board will adopt them, including Article XI on Resource Pool Governance and Article XII on Sovereign Reciprocates (an optional AI augmentation, available to Reciprocate groups who choose it). Every Form 990 Part VI policy. The board succession protocols. The theory of change with honest assessment of where the evidence is and isn't yet. The Form 1023 narrative we'll submit to the IRS.
They are working drafts. Adoption follows board ratification. Until then, comments at hand@handprotocol.org.
How to read this section
Six categories below: foundational (Articles, Bylaws, Compliance Calendar), policies, board governance, programs and strategy, grant-readiness, and the Form 1023 filing draft. Each document links to the markdown source on GitHub. Every document has an "Open questions" section at the bottom naming what we haven't decided yet.
The charter and the calendar.
Three documents that define the institution itself: the Texas SOS filing, the governance constitution, and the running compliance schedule.
README & index
Overview of the full governance directory with status of each document. Start here.
Articles of Incorporation
Texas SOS Form 202 narrative with IRS-mandated purpose and dissolution clauses. The public charter.
Bylaws
Governance constitution: directors, officers, committees, indemnification, AI workstream oversight, amendment process.
Compliance Calendar
Every filing, renewal, and review HAND owes the IRS, the Texas Comptroller, the SOS, funders, and itself.
Fourteen policies, four required by the IRS.
The first four (Conflict of Interest, Whistleblower, Document Retention, Executive Compensation) are required by Form 1023 or strongly expected on Form 990 Part VI. The rest operationalize how HAND handles money, gifts, people, data, and AI.
Conflict of Interest
IRS sample policy adapted with HAND-specific provisions for Reciprocates and the AI workstream. Required attachment to Form 1023.
Whistleblower
Protection from retaliation for good-faith reports. SOX §1107 baseline plus extended internal channels.
Document Retention
Retention schedule, destruction procedure, suspension-on-investigation, and Sovereign Reciprocates data special protections.
Executive Compensation
Rebuttable-presumption procedure under Treas. Reg. §53.4958-6, plus HAND's compensation philosophy and ratio commitments.
Financial Management
Internal controls, signing authorities, reserve targets, audit thresholds, restricted-funds treatment.
Gift Acceptance
Cash, securities, non-cash, cryptocurrency, in-kind, restricted gifts. Form 8283 / Schedule M handling.
Fiscal Sponsorship
Model C interim posture for the pre-Determination period. Sponsor shortlist, key terms, exit protocol.
Grant Management
Pipeline, application, acceptance, drawdown, reporting, closeout. Restricted-funds discipline.
Code of Ethics
Conduct standards for directors, staff, Contributors, Reciprocates. Values floor, not ceiling.
Equal Opportunity & Anti-Harassment
Active-practice posture, not passive non-discrimination. Complaint process, accommodation, pay equity.
Privacy
Internal procedures and public-facing rights. Reciprocate-data sovereignty, sensitive-information protection, retention.
Data Sovereignty & AI
The eight Sovereign Reciprocates principles operationalized into binding policy. Model Card and Algorithmic Impact Assessment templates.
Community Standards & Content
Community space conduct, AI output guardrails, user-submitted content acceptance, DMCA, abuse reporting.
Volunteer & Contributor
Application, onboarding, matching, recognition, exit. Texas Charitable Immunity and federal Volunteer Protection Act.
How the board works.
The agreements directors sign, the procedures for every kind of transition, and the recruitment matrix that guides who we look for.
Board Member Agreement
What each director commits to. Signed annually. Time, mission, fundraising, founder dynamics.
Succession & Replacement
Five scenarios: emergency ED, planned ED transition, founder departure, board chair succession, director removal.
Emergency Succession Plan
First 48 hours, first 30 days, first 90 days. Cross-trained backup matrix. Tabletop drill annually.
Officer Job Descriptions
Board Chair, Vice Chair, Treasurer, Secretary, and where the Executive Director sits.
Composition Matrix
Skills, lived experience, networks the board needs. Gap analysis. Recruitment process.
Annual Disclosure Form
Reciprocate form to the Conflict of Interest Policy. Signed annually by every director, officer, and key employee.
Director Prospect Brief
The two-pager HAND sends to a prospective director. Honest about what we're asking and what we have not yet done.
Outreach Templates
Email and message templates for inviting prospective directors. Internal use; hand-tailor every send.
What HAND will actually do, and why we think it works.
Theory of change with honest assessment of the evidence for each link. Logic model for grant attachments. Three-year strategic plan. Reciprocate lifecycle protocol.
Theory of Change
Five named links from activity to outcome. Honest about which links are well-evidenced and which are still hypotheses.
Logic Model
One-page visual logic model with performance indicators across Reciprocate, Contributor, sovereignty, field, and organizational dimensions.
Strategic Plan 2026-2028
Three-year plan with priorities, milestones, budget envelopes, and risk-mitigation. Reviewed annually by the Board.
Reciprocate Selection & Graduation
How HAND chooses Reciprocates, what HAND commits to during the engagement, and how engagements end with sovereignty handoff.
The funder packet, ready to send.
Pre-approved boilerplate, capacity statement, attachments checklist, budget structure, and funder pipeline. Everything ready for the next grant inquiry.
Organizational Boilerplate
Tagline, mission, vision, values. One-paragraph, one-page, two-page descriptions. Source of truth for external descriptions.
Capacity Statement
Why HAND is ready to receive and deploy funds responsibly. Honest about what's missing right now.
Standard Attachments Checklist
The 15-item packet most foundation funders ask for, with current status of each. Updated quarterly.
Budget Template
Multi-year operating budget structure. FASB ASC 958-compliant. Three-year envelopes from the strategic plan.
Funder Pipeline
Tier 1, 2, 3 funder shortlist with fit notes, access path, and relationship status. Reviewed quarterly.
The narrative we'll submit to the IRS.
A complete draft of the Part IV narrative description of activities, plus the supporting language for Parts V, VI, VIII, and X. Plain English while remaining IRS-acceptable.
Every claim traces back to evidence.
Before we drafted any policy, we commissioned a structured research report on Texas 501(c)(3) incorporation, IRS Form 1023 requirements, Form 990 governance disclosures, fiscal sponsorship options, board governance best practices, succession protocols, multi-state charitable solicitation, and AI-specific governance for funders like McGovern, Mozilla, and Ford. The report is in the repository.