Subject: Good articles of association?
Hi,
I'm currently trying to start a (non-profit) company limited by guarantee. We are a small group of activists but we rapidly realised that we both need to formalise an organisation structure and be able to receive funding for some projects we need help developing.
I've waded through lots of paperwork but I'm really looking for some inspiring and innovative articles of association that we can work from.
It's really important for us that our member-based organisation is democratic and as responsive to its members as possible.
We really can't afford to get a lawyer on board to draft these articles, so I was hoping that some searching would provide a template that we could work from.
Unfortunately, we've had no luck.
The Charity Commission does a template but seeing as our work is going to be explicitly political we don't qualify for charity status 
Do any of you know of a comparison of 'standard' articles of association for non-profits?
Really appreciate any help.
James
This comment was last edited on Feb 12, 2010
Hello James
I appreciate your desire not to spend too much resource on this- but be careful. Choosing the right legal form is an important decision that you don't want to rue further down the track. And the ‘right legal form’ depends on the individual characteristics of your organisation – how you are going to raise money, how you are going to manage risk, how you are going to make decisions.
You might want to check out this publication which explains different legal forms.
Apart from the initial grants you mention how do you intend to fund yourselves? You might want to look at some examples of social enterprise structures.
Also bear in mind that new incorporation procedures and forms are being introduced on 1st October .
Given your interest in campaigning you might also be interested in Amnesty UK’s constitution (pdf)
I hope you’ll let us know how you get on.
Bessy
This comment was last edited on Feb 12, 2010
Thanks! I do think it's super important so I'm not trying to avoid spending time on it - just want to get it right!
I checked out the NCVO doc before and that just confirmed to me that we need to go down the company limited by guarantee route. The commoncause link looks great - thanks and will definitely check out Amnesty too.
Thanks for all your help this is great - will definitely blog our progress (and let you know where that happens..).
Cheers
This comment was last edited on Feb 12, 2010
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