Travel policy
A policy staff can follow and funders recognise.
A good travel policy protects the mission's money without making every trip a negotiation. silentVIP checks each travel option against your rules before anyone chooses it, so the policy is applied at booking, not argued about at year end.
Option 2 of 3 · Denver round trip
$412 economy, nonstop
What goes in it
The rules a nonprofit usually needs
Every organization sets its own limits. These are the decisions a policy should make clearly.
Class of travel
Economy as the default, with any exceptions written down: long flights, medical need, accessibility.
Booking ahead
How far ahead trips should be booked, and what happens when they can't be.
Hotels and meals
Nightly rate guides and meal allowances. Many organizations use the GSA per diem rates as their guide.
Who it covers
Staff, board, volunteers, participants and guests, and any rules that differ between them.
Approvals
Who approves each traveler's trips, and when approval is needed: out of policy, always, or above a trip maximum.
Documentation
The business purpose, the cost codes, and the receipts each trip must keep.
At booking
Policy applied on every option
When the travel team sends options, each one shows whether it is within your rules, and why not if it isn't.
- Rules the portal can check, such as class of travel and booking ahead, are flagged on each option.
- Guidance it can't check, such as "choose the hotel nearest the venue", is shown to the person choosing.
- When someone chooses an option outside policy, the reason is recorded with the booking and goes to the approver.
- Exceptions are reported, so you can see where the policy and real travel differ, and change one or the other.
Funders and auditors
Policies that hold up to review
Funders and auditors commonly ask whether travel was necessary for the work, reasonable in cost, and charged under a written policy that was applied consistently. For US federal awards, 2 CFR 200.475 in the Uniform Guidance covers travel costs, including documentation and airfare. Read the current text and your award terms.
Getting started
From a blank page to a working policy
Draft
Use the free policy builder or the section-by-section guide.
Agree
Have finance and leadership agree the limits; many boards approve the travel policy.
Set up
silentVIP sets your rules in the portal during implementation, typically 4 to 6 weeks.
Review
Look at the exceptions report and adjust the policy where it doesn't match how you need to travel.
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