Setting up a charity registration

This article explains how to register your charity in England and Wales with the Charity Commission.

 

You should make an application only after you have formally adopted a governing document. This is partly because the answers to many of the questions on the application form depend on which governing document style you have chosen. Exceptions to this rule are:

• where a disaster appeal is due to be launched and time is short; or
• if the proposed charity is operating in a field which is on the fringes of charity law, and the views of our legal staff may need to be sought; or
• where the proposed charity is a company and wishes to use a sensitive word in its name

 

All charities need a governing document. The governing document sets out how the charity's income can be spent, how the trustees are appointed and how the charity will operate.

 

There are three main types of governing document, and the type you choose will determine the type of organisation the charity will be. The three main types of governing document are:

• Constitution or Rules;
• Trust deed; and
• Memorandum and articles

 

To apply for registration send:

• The completed application form;
• The signed trustee declaration form;
• A copy of the governing document; and
• Evidence of income or a letter or email from us confirming that we have agreed to assess the application even though the income threshold has not been reached. to the Charities Commission

 

If you adopt an appropriate approved governing document without amending it (other than to fill in blanks or delete optional paragraphs) this will speed up your application for registration. Organisations using an approved governing document must confirm:

• That the national body has agreed to their use of the approved governing document; and
• That they will operate within the guidelines issued by that body.

 

If your organisation adopts an approved governing document it can apply for registration via the Commission’s on-line application for registration service.

 

Organisations that use a governing document drawn by a professional will find the registration process faster because the administrative provisions have already been agreed.

 

All the trustees must sign the declaration form. To establish that a person is not disqualified from being a trustee, include:

• All the names by which trustees are, or have been, known;
• Their addresses; and
• Their dates of birth.

 

Note: Only the preferred name of each trustee will be displayed on the public Register on our website.

 

When Charity Commission Direct have received:

• The completed application form;
• The trustee declaration; and
• The supporting documentation listed in Appendix A;
• They will send you an acknowledgment.

 

At the same time the application will be sent to the Registration Unit for assessment. The Registration Unit aim to provide an initial response to the application within 15 working days. If you have used an approved governing document without changing it and there is no significant private benefit to any trustee or related party they will normally be able to approve your application and give you the registration number within this time frame.

 

If, having considered all the information provided with the application, it is decided that your organisation is not exclusively charitable you will receive a written letter explaining why. You have a right of appeal to the Charity Tribunal where, despite a review of the decision, we are unable to register your organisation.

 

If your application is successful, the date of registration is the date on which we enter your organisation on the Register of Charities. However, charitable status does not depend on registration but on the date that the organisation was set up as a charity (for example, the date charitable objects were adopted). HM Revenue and Customs may backdate tax exemption to the date on which your organisation started to carry out exclusively charitable aims, even if this was before the date of registration.

 

Details about your charity will appear on the Public Register on our website within 2 working days of being accepted for registration.

 

Registration is not the end of the process. You will have a number of ongoing duties and responsibilities, some of which may involve regular contact with us. This contact will not only provide you with advice and help when you need it, but provides the general public with confidence that charities are being effectively monitored and checked to make sure they are doing what they should. The following is a list of some of the things you will have to do if you are the trustee of a registered charity:

• Keep your charity's accounts;
• Tell us about any changes to your governing document (for example, changing the specified date of an Annual General Meeting or changing the number of trustee Meetings);
• Tell us about any changes to the details of your charity shown on the Register of Charities (for example the correspondent's address) - one way of discharging this Duty is to return the charity details update form we send out each year;
• Tell us if your charity no longer exists or operates; and
• Charities with an income or expenditure over £10,000 have a legal duty to send us the Annual Return we issue each year. This should be accompanied by the Accounts, Examiner's or Auditor's Report and Trustees' Annual Report. These documents must be sent to us within 10 months of the end of the charity's financial year.

 

If your application for registration is successful, we will send each trustee a letter and leaflet welcoming them to trusteeship and reminding them of these duties, and we will also write to the nominated correspondent confirming your charity's entry on the Register of Charities.