Contracts for Chapters: How to Submit for Approval and Signature

Page last updated April 2026

Overview

This page explains why VMN volunteers should not be signing contracts without the VMN State Office reviewing the document first and how chapters can submit contracts through the VMN State Office for approval and signature by Virginia Cooperative Extension, our lead sponsoring agency. The VMN State Office recommends that anyone submitting a contract for approval and signature read this Info Sheet in its entirety so that they understand the contract submission process – especially if they are someone who submits contracts often for their chapter. 

For those uninterested in reading or in a hurry, use this quick version:

Quick version of how to submit a contract

1. Find the contract you need approved/signed.

2. Do not fill it out!

3. Email it to Tiffany (tiffany.brown@vt.edu) for review.

4. Look for confirmation of receipt from Tiffany within 2 business days of your email being sent. If you don’t receive that, resend your email.

5. Tiffany will review the contract with two days of receiving it and determine if it needs to go through VT/VCE for approval and signature or if the chapter can sign it.

6. If the contract needs to go through VT/VCE, then Tiffany will need to fill it out per VT/VCE protocols. She will reach out to you to ask if you want to set up a phone call or a Zoom session to get the information needed or continue the process via email. A phone call or Zoom will be much faster but that might not be possible for everyone.

7. Once all of the information is collected and the contract submitted to VT/VCE, allow at least 4 weeks for processing.

Explanation

In the course of delivering the VMN program and engaging in activities, VMN volunteers will encounter occasions where they are requested to sign a contract, agreement, application, etc. (from here on referred to collectively as “contract(s)”). These instances can range from booking a room for basic training to obtaining special use permits to securing an outreach booth at a festival, and many other things. While some of these documents can seem innocuous, it is important to remember that contracts are serious legal documents and should be treated accordingly.

For this reason, individuals should not sign contracts on behalf of their chapter, the VMN program, or its sponsoring agencies without first having the VMN State Office review it. If an individual signs a contract, they will then be personally liable for whatever the contract holds. As part of the VMN Program, all chapters have a mechanism for getting contracts signed without involving an individual of the chapter as a signatory. This is done through Virginia Tech (VT) and Virginia Cooperative Extension (VCE) (where the VMN Program is housed administratively), with the VMN State Office acting as the contract liaison for all chapters.

There is one exception to this procedure: If a chapter is an incorporated 501c3, its leaders can choose to have an authorized representative of that organization sign a contract on behalf of that entity without first having the VMN State Office review the contract. If a 501c3 chapter chooses to do this, the chapter, as an entity (and possibly the individual signing), is then responsible for everything in the contract and the VMN State Office cannot provide advice or help with anything related to that contract.

A Note about Online Forms

VT/VCE cannot approve or sign an online form. Many organizations (most often festivals or fairs) are moving to the use of systems like Google Forms or Microsoft Forms for groups to sign up for their event. While this is convenient for the organization, it is not possible for VT/VCE to use them. If there is an event the chapter would like to attend and the organization is making use of online forms, please contact the organization and ask for the paper, Word, or PDF version of the form – PDF being the best option. If they don’t have any of those, ask them if you can create a PDF of their online form to fill out and send back signed. It is best to communicate about this BEFORE you send the organization something they will not accept.

How to Submit a Contract for Approgal and Signature

Step 1 – All contracts should be vetted by VMN State Office

Any document that requires a signature should be vetted by the VMN State Office to determine if it can be signed by the chapter or if it needs to be approved and signed by VT/VCE. As a rule, if the contract is obligating the chapter to any liability or a financial commitment, then the document should go through VT/VCE for approval and signature. This is the case with 99% of contracts. As a best practice, chapters should send all contracts to Tiffany at the State Office for review. She can easily determine if the chapter can sign the document or if it needs to be submitted to VT/VCE. This is particularly true for contracts pertaining to events the chapter has done in the past. Even if the chapter was allowed to sign an event’s or organization’s document in the past, organizations make changes to their documents each year, so all contracts should be reviewed.

Once it is determined that the contract must be submitted to VT/VCE for approval and signature, the chapter representative (chapter rep) for each particular contract (might be a different chapter member for each one depending on what the contract is for) will work with Tiffany to get the contract submitted and approved.

Step 2 – Secure a blank version of the contract

Please do not fill out the contract. It is best for Tiffany to start with a blank version of the document so that she can read everything clearly and easily.

Step 3 – Send the blank contract to Tiffany for review

Send an email to Tiffany Brown at tiffany.brown@vt.edu with the blank contract attached. Look for confirmation of receipt from Tiffany within 2 business days of your email being sent. If you don’t receive that, resend your email.

Step 4 – Tiffany reviews the contract

Tiffany will review the contract within two days of acknowledging receipt. She will determine if it needs to go through VT/VCE for approval and signature or if the chapter can sign it. She will reply to the chapter’s rep and let them know either way. If the contract needs to go through VT/VCE, proceed to Step 5.

Step 5 – Provide the chapter-specific information that goes in the contract

If the contract needs to go through VT/VCE, then Tiffany will need to fill it out per specific VT/VCE protocols. She will reach out to the chapter rep to ask if they want to set up a phone call or a Zoom session to get the information needed or if the chapter rep would like to continue the process via email. A phone call or Zoom session will be much faster for this step but we understand that this might not be possible for everyone.

Before the scheduled call or Zoom session, the chapter rep should look through the contract and note what information the chapter needs to provide. This usually consists of a contact person for the chapter including email and phone number. Sometimes an address is required also, so the chapter rep will need to know if they should use the chapter’s mailing address (if it has one) or their own mailing address. Then there are fields specific to the activities being performed like dates, times, descriptions of the activity – whatever the form is asking for. In the case of reserving facilities, there might also be equipment and room configuration questions that need to be answered.

Step 6 – Allow 4 weeks for processing

The VMN State Office does not have any control over the contract approval process or its timeline. The VT/VCE submission system allows Tiffany to enter a date that the contract is needed by, but that date doesn’t dictate a hard deadline to anyone in VT/VCE. Even if Tiffany submits a contract within two days of receipt, it can still take up to 4 weeks to get it back. Volunteers submitting contracts should keep in mind that Virginia Cooperative Extension (VCE) is a large, statewide agency housed inside an even larger state institution, Virginia Tech (VT). Your contract is one of thousands that the university must review. Planning well ahead is the best strategy.