Company constitutions refer to the documents that businesses can use as their source of information on how to properly run their business, including the establishment of their business goals or purpose, defining relationships between internal stakeholders, and implementing basic rules of conduct. Like other businesses, charity organizations also provide their charity constitution which is a governing document that outlines the rights as well as roles and responsibilities of their members and other essential details.

FREE 7+ Charity Constitution Samples & Templates in PDF | MS Word

1. Charity Constitution Template

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2. Circus Project Charity Constitution

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3. Foundation Charity Constitution

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4. Official Charity Constitution Template

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5. Charitable Constitution Template

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6. Sample Registered Charity Constitution

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7. Basic Charity Constitution Template

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8. Small Charity Constitution Sample

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What is a Charity Constitution?

Charity constitutions or also known as governing document, rules, or articles, are one of the most important documents that charities must keep as it establishes the framework for their organization’s governance. This constitution must be followed by everyone involved in the charity such as the trustees, honorary members or officers, paid staff, and other key volunteers that assists in the operations management and strategic planning of the charity. Other company policies followed by charities include a charity volunteer management policy, charity reserves policy, privacy policy, charity recruitment policy, charity marketing policy, and more.

How to Create a Charity Constitution

A charity’s governing document or constitution helps in establishing an organization’s goals or purposes as well as the method it will take to ensure its effective management and operations. However, governing documents have different names depending on the legal structure of a charity. These names include constitutions or rules, trust deeds, memorandums and articles of association, and association model and foundation model constitutions. The terms to be used when writing a charity constitution also depends on the nature of a certain charity.

Step 1: Include the Name of the Organization

Check your local sector to see whether there is another organization that operates with the same name. Under the law, charities will not be able to register if the name is too similar to another charity, is possible to mislead the public in the true nature of the organization, is offensive, and gives the impression that it is connected to the government or local authorities.

Step 2: Provide the Purpose of the Charity

The constitution must provide an outline of the organization’s purpose, the type of work or activities it plans to undertake, and the location where it will be conducted. These details will serve as the charity’s guide on what they need to do.

Step 3: Create an Outline of How Changes Should Be Made

After registering the charity, you will need to get permission from the authorities before making any changes to your organization. Members must also formally approve changes by creating change proposals and conducting a formal voting procedure so all members can express their issues and approve the changes.

Step 4: Write a Dissolution Cause

There will come a time that might decide or require you to close your organization, therefore, you must also include a dissolution clause in your constitution. It must outline what will happen to any remaining assets or funds in case the charity needs to close down.

FAQs

What are the mandatory sections in a company constitution?

A company constitution must include a number of mandatory segments such as the name clause, liability clause, subscriber clause, object clause, and rules and regulations clauses. Companies can also include information about their company type, shares, dividends, directors, company documents, conflict of interest, loans, and indemnities.

What are the components of a company constitution?

Company constitutions have components like the name and type of company, decision-making and board member selection structure, nature and extent of liabilities of company members, details of company shareholders, business objectives, and rules and regulations on sharing issuance, boarding resolutions, and directing duties.

What are the purposes of charity constitutions?

Charity constitutions help in ensuring that all of its activities are within its purposes, follow rules on the boarding of trustees, and enable trustees to have proper knowledge and understanding of their constitution or governing documents.

Charity constitutions are one of the most important documents in managing charities as it sets out the rights and responsibilities of every member of the organization. A standard charity constitution contains information about its charitable purpose, a statement that the charity is operating on a not-for-profit basis, and clauses on the rights and duties of its members. It is important to ensure that the constitution is established based on the organization’s purpose and is compliant with relevant legislation and regulations.

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