Governance and Compliance Procedures for Certified Military Financial Professional (CMFP)

We are seeking support from a Taproot volunteer to help develop the second phase of policies / procedures for the Certified Military Financial Professional, or CMFP, certification program.

CMFP is being designed as a professional certification for financial professionals who serve Veterans, Service members, military spouses, survivors, caregivers, and military families. After completing the core governance and candidate-facing policies, this second project will focus on the compliance, security, and credential management policies needed to protect the integrity of the certification program over time.

For this project, we are requesting assistance with drafting and organizing the following priority policies:

Disciplinary Policy
Records Retention Policy
Recertification Policy
Use of Credential Policy
Continuing Education Policy
Privacy and Data Protection Policy
Exam Security Policy
Candidate Misconduct Policy
Certification Revocation Policy
Conflict of Interest Policy

The volunteer would help us turn our existing framework, notes, and certification program structure into polished draft policies that can be reviewed by our leadership team, advisory stakeholders, and legal/compliance partners as needed. We are not asking the volunteer to provide legal advice or final compliance approval. Instead, we are seeking help with policy structure, plain-language drafting, consistency across documents, and alignment with common certification program practices.

Specific tasks may include creating policy outlines, recommending a standard policy template, drafting policy language, identifying gaps or unclear areas, and helping organize the final drafts into a usable policy and procedures framework.

The ideal outcome is a complete draft package of 10 compliance, security, and credential management policies that strengthens CMFP’s long-term integrity, candidate accountability, data protection, and accreditation readiness. This project will help ensure that CMFP is not only launched professionally, but governed responsibly as a trusted certification program serving the military and Veteran financial services field.

This project supports our mission by helping turn CMFP from an idea into a trusted professional standard.

Military and Veteran families often make financial decisions in circumstances most traditional professionals are not trained to fully understand. Their financial lives may involve military benefits, VA disability compensation, survivor benefits, transition pay, housing instability, caregiving responsibilities, employment disruption, and complex federal systems. When a financial professional lacks that context, even well-intended guidance can miss the mark.

CMFP is being created to close that gap.

The policies developed through this project will help define how the credential is earned, maintained, protected, and governed. That matters because trust cannot be built on curriculum alone. A certification also needs clear rules for conduct, data protection, exam security, continuing education, recertification, credential use, conflicts of interest, and consequences when standards are violated.

For a Taproot volunteer, this is an opportunity to help build the backbone of a new credential before it reaches the field. Their work will help ensure that CMFP is not just a technology-enabled learning tool, but a responsible certification system with safeguards, accountability, and long-term credibility.

The ultimate impact is better prepared professionals and stronger protection for the military-connected households they serve. A volunteer’s contribution will help create the standards behind a credential designed to improve the quality, consistency, and trustworthiness of financial guidance available to those who have served and the families who support them.

CMFP is a new certification project currently in early development. At this stage, the primary foundation we have built is the technology concept and infrastructure needed to support the program over time. Because the certification itself is new, we do not yet have completed policies and procedures in place. That is exactly why this Taproot Plus project is so important.

I am the primary project lead and will be the volunteer’s direct point of contact throughout the engagement. I have already identified the key policy areas needed to move CMFP from concept and technology development toward a more formal certification structure. I have also organized the work into two manageable phases so the volunteer is not being asked to complete the entire policy framework at once.

For this project, the volunteer would help create the second group of policies from the ground up: disciplinary, records retention, recertification, use of credential, continuing education, privacy and data protection, exam security, candidate misconduct, certification revocation, and conflict of interest. I will provide the volunteer with the CMFP program concept, intended audience, certification goals, draft notes, technology context, and any related materials that explain how the credential is expected to operate.

I understand that the volunteer will not be providing legal advice or final compliance approval. Their role would be to help structure and draft practical, professional policy documents that can later be reviewed, refined, and adopted as CMFP develops.

The project outcomes will be used as foundational operating documents for CMFP. These policies will help move the certification from an early-stage technology-enabled concept toward a credible, well-governed credentialing program for financial professionals serving Veterans, Service members, military spouses, survivors, caregivers, and military families.