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Starting a charity
fengirl_2
Posts: 4,530 Forumite
Seeing a need, either in the community or the wider world, often inspires people to want to help and the largest charities in the UK have often been started by a few passionate people with a desire to make a difference. However, starting a charity is a huge undertaking and not one to be taken lightly. It should certainly not be seen as something which belongs to one person, nor the platform for an ego trip.
Your first step should be to find out if there is an existing organisation doing the same or similar work. There is no point in duplicating effort and funders will soon tire of funding two organisations where one could do the work.
If you are determined to continue, as a minimum you need three trustees with the appropriate skills and understanding, not only of the cause you are fighting, but of basic charity law, finance, funding, project management and employment law. Being a charity trustee is not an honorary position, but a serious legal undertaking because everything that happens in the charity is the ultimate responsibility of the trustees.
To start with, you need to decide on which legal structure to adopt. At present there are three options: a trust, an association or a company limited by guarantee. Model governing documents for all three are on the Charity Commission website www.charitycommission.gov.uk, but you should take proper advice as to which structure is right for you. Your local Council for Voluntary Service (CVS) can help with this – Google the name of your town + CVS.
In order to register as a charity, an organisation in England and Wales has to be set up entirely for charitable reasons under one of the 12 heads of charity as defined in the Charities Act 2006. These are listed on the Charity Commission website along with example objects for you to lift into your chosen governing document. In addition, the organisation has to be set up ‘for the wider public benefit’, so you cannot set up a charity just for one family for instance. The Charity Commission will only enter you on the register of charities once your income reaches £5000, although the Commission does have jurisdiction over all charitable organisations and you can describe yourself as charitable without being registered provided your objects fall within Charities Act 2006.
Fundraising is not a charitable object in law and so you cannot set up a charity just to fundraise.
Charities in Scotland are regulated by the OSCR http://www.oscr.org.uk/ and a similar regulatory body is being set up in Northern Ireland, although at present charities there register with HMRC.
Once set up, the organisation needs to start developing policies and procedures for its efficient running and most certainly ensure that there are proper financial controls in place. Again, your local CVS will help and also hopefully have some training in things like governance, financial management and fundraising. The National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO) has a website full of useful tools www.ask-ncvo.org.uk as does the Governance Hub http://www.ncvo-vol.org.uk/governanceandleadership and the Suffolk Association of Voluntary Organisations is particularly strong on trustee information http://www.savo.co.uk/. Many counties and larger towns now have trustee networks where you can meet other people running charities and learn from each other.
Don’t forget that trustees cannot be paid for their role, nor can they be employed by the organisation of which they are a trustee. So, if you are planning to become the paid manager of your group, you cannot be a trustee. It’s also not good practice for people who volunteer in the organisation to also be trustees.
You will need a bank account – choose one which is not going to charge you! All cheques should be signed by two unrelated people out of a pool of at least four if you can.
You cannot do anything without money and funding is an issue for all voluntary organisations. Funding comes from four main sources: individuals, companies, statutory sources and trusts and the Lottery. However you plan to fundraise, you need to make yourself aware of the regulations and ask for help and advice from your CVS, especially when applying to statutory, trusts and the Lottery.
Your first step should be to find out if there is an existing organisation doing the same or similar work. There is no point in duplicating effort and funders will soon tire of funding two organisations where one could do the work.
If you are determined to continue, as a minimum you need three trustees with the appropriate skills and understanding, not only of the cause you are fighting, but of basic charity law, finance, funding, project management and employment law. Being a charity trustee is not an honorary position, but a serious legal undertaking because everything that happens in the charity is the ultimate responsibility of the trustees.
To start with, you need to decide on which legal structure to adopt. At present there are three options: a trust, an association or a company limited by guarantee. Model governing documents for all three are on the Charity Commission website www.charitycommission.gov.uk, but you should take proper advice as to which structure is right for you. Your local Council for Voluntary Service (CVS) can help with this – Google the name of your town + CVS.
In order to register as a charity, an organisation in England and Wales has to be set up entirely for charitable reasons under one of the 12 heads of charity as defined in the Charities Act 2006. These are listed on the Charity Commission website along with example objects for you to lift into your chosen governing document. In addition, the organisation has to be set up ‘for the wider public benefit’, so you cannot set up a charity just for one family for instance. The Charity Commission will only enter you on the register of charities once your income reaches £5000, although the Commission does have jurisdiction over all charitable organisations and you can describe yourself as charitable without being registered provided your objects fall within Charities Act 2006.
Fundraising is not a charitable object in law and so you cannot set up a charity just to fundraise.
Charities in Scotland are regulated by the OSCR http://www.oscr.org.uk/ and a similar regulatory body is being set up in Northern Ireland, although at present charities there register with HMRC.
Once set up, the organisation needs to start developing policies and procedures for its efficient running and most certainly ensure that there are proper financial controls in place. Again, your local CVS will help and also hopefully have some training in things like governance, financial management and fundraising. The National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO) has a website full of useful tools www.ask-ncvo.org.uk as does the Governance Hub http://www.ncvo-vol.org.uk/governanceandleadership and the Suffolk Association of Voluntary Organisations is particularly strong on trustee information http://www.savo.co.uk/. Many counties and larger towns now have trustee networks where you can meet other people running charities and learn from each other.
Don’t forget that trustees cannot be paid for their role, nor can they be employed by the organisation of which they are a trustee. So, if you are planning to become the paid manager of your group, you cannot be a trustee. It’s also not good practice for people who volunteer in the organisation to also be trustees.
You will need a bank account – choose one which is not going to charge you! All cheques should be signed by two unrelated people out of a pool of at least four if you can.
You cannot do anything without money and funding is an issue for all voluntary organisations. Funding comes from four main sources: individuals, companies, statutory sources and trusts and the Lottery. However you plan to fundraise, you need to make yourself aware of the regulations and ask for help and advice from your CVS, especially when applying to statutory, trusts and the Lottery.
£705,000 raised by client groups in the past 18 mths :beer:
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Comments
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There is a popular thread about this already which has been viewed by nearly 9000 people and has had nearly twenty contributors, already outlining alot of what you have already said.
Check it out here:
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=26591When dealing with the CSA its important to note that it is commonly accepted as unfit for purpose, and by default this also means the staff are unfit for purpose.0 -
Just got this pm from fengirl, not sure why she didnt post it here:
I was asked to write a revised sticky on this subject by Savvy Sue. I understand that she will be moving my thread idc.When dealing with the CSA its important to note that it is commonly accepted as unfit for purpose, and by default this also means the staff are unfit for purpose.0 -
True, but it's very old and the law has changed since I started that thread!borders_dude wrote: »There is a popular thread about this already which has been viewed by nearly 9000 people and has had nearly twenty contributors, already outlining alot of what you have already said.
Check it out here:
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=26591Signature removed for peace of mind0 -
and this one is now a sticky and the other one isnt.When dealing with the CSA its important to note that it is commonly accepted as unfit for purpose, and by default this also means the staff are unfit for purpose.0
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I know you don't like PMs, but I have sent you one explaining what's going on. Each thread has a link to the other, but the old one could be quite misleading. And I say that as the person who started it!borders_dude wrote: »and this one is now a sticky and the other one isnt.Signature removed for peace of mind0 -
You dont need to explain, I was just carrying on from your comment at post number 4 :rolleyes:When dealing with the CSA its important to note that it is commonly accepted as unfit for purpose, and by default this also means the staff are unfit for purpose.0
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Hey,
We were setting up a charity, its is alot of work and you need alot of support in order to suceed, unfortunately due to the recession - apparently, the government had cut back on funding and employment of charity workers as is, so this leaves a dead end for any new charities at the moment.
Its a shame but hopefully will be resolved soon.0 -
I wasn't aware the government had ever employed any charity workers. Yes, there is sometimes government funding available, and yes, there is less of it than there used to be. But charities - especially new ones! - need to be aware that government funding is ALWAYS driven by government priorities, and both priorities and governments can change at short notice.apparently, the government had cut back on funding and employment of charity workers as is, so this leaves a dead end for any new charities at the moment.
Being too heavily dependent on 'official' money is not always a healthy situation. Plus the reporting required for large sums can be very onerous, especially for a small organisation.
What's equally difficult is that there is far more funding for 'new' projects and developments than for 'keeping up the good work'. So, you get funding to employ a new worker to reach out to a particular client group for 12 months, for example, and this work is hugely successful. BUT no-one wants to fund it for the next 12 months. However if you decide to reach out to the partners of that client group, you can write up a whole new project for funding.Signature removed for peace of mind0 -
Roxy, I'm sorry that you have had to give up. Who was giving you support and what kind of help did you get/not get? Where in the Uk are you?£705,000 raised by client groups in the past 18 mths :beer:0
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Roxy, I'm sorry that you have had to give up. Who was giving you support and what kind of help did you get/not get? Where in the Uk are you?
Good news, its not given up -Thanks Savvy to as she is correct in what sh is saying. We are looking to set up a self sustaining eco village in Wales (like the lamas project) to help all current charities while supposting the enviroment and reducing the carbon foot print - this is something that the government should be keen on funding due to the sustainability aspect.
We are working on the website but will post it for anyone who is interested.
Thanks fengirl :j0
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