Subject: THE BENEFITS/NEGATIVES OF A REG CHARITY BECOMING A COMPANY
Hi All, I started a local charity called IDEAL some 7 years ago we are now we are now fully funded for the next few years after a long hard struggle, with no goverment or local authority funding.
We are considering the benefits/costs of becoming an incorporation and registreing the charity as a company ltd by guarantee.
I am looking for advice about what this will mean to IDEAL and our volunteers and trustees
If you can help please get in touch ideal-one@hotmail.co.uk or 0117 955 6971
Thanks
Hi Garry,
I shall e-mail you as well.
It rather depends on the size of your organisation, how big you expect to become, and how much money you're handling. One of the vulnerable aspects of not becoming incorporated is that your Trustees are financially liable if something untoward ever occurs. As an incorporated charity, the liability is extremely limited.
There's a relatively new idea called a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) which means that you don't have to register with Companies House. All of the information is on the Charity Commission Website: http://bit.ly/g18Sba
If you are already a registered charity, this is probably the way to go. The costs and benefits are something that it's probably worth getting someone in to assess, as well as reviewing your organisational strategy. If you are fully-funded at the moment, you're lucky. You should now be considering ways to taper the funding you currently have, in a bid to generate greater income for the future - times as they are, your ability to do this will become increasingly important. As traditional funding decreases, innovative ways of supporting your organisation will be required - something that will be easier with trading status.
All the best,
Marion.
Sorry, I'd just like to amend the bit above about CIOs. Having spoken to a friend, there does still seem to be some delays in rolling this out. It may be something to give the CC a call about and have a chat. The traditional route of Companies House may still be a favoured option depending on how soon you're thinking of doing this.
