[foundation-board] Charitable Incorporation follow-up from September Board meeting

[Helen Turvey (King)]

I am very happy with this - thanks, HT

On 5 October 2015 at 13:16, Rufus Pollock <rufus.pollock at okfn.org> wrote:
> The expert we consulted re charitable designation has confirm our approach
> is a sound one:
>
> - seeking charitable status (in the UK) is largely orthogonal to legal
> structure
> - the legal structure we have (company limited by guarantee) is the right
> one
>
> Given this I:
>
> a) assume that the conditional approval given in the board meeting to
> proceed with charitable work is now fully approved
> b) will move on this effective immediately
>
> Please say if you have any concerns. @helen: it would be great if you could
> confirm you are happy with the outcome as I know you were the one especially
> flagging this in the meeting.
>
> Regards,
>
> Rufus
>
> At Board meeting on 9th September Board indicated consulting re our
> charitable incorporation plans with an expert Justin Greig (suggested by
> Helen Turvey).
>
> We conducted two calls with Justin. These were very useful - beyond our
> specific remit too - and so big thanks to Helen for arranging this.
>
>  Key points:
>
> Charitable designation in the UK seems most sensible (vs e.g. 501(c)3) -
> assuming we want to pursue that designation
>
> Various things to think about e.g. the need to very strict on purposes
>
> Charitable designation and legal vehicle are orthogonal
>
> Legal vehicle: should be company limited by guarantee (which we are already)
>
> Cannot have any commercial activity
>
> So commercial activity must move to a for-profit subsidiary
>
>
> He also provided some useful thoughts about the "costs" of being a charity:
>
> Far more rigorous re purposes: as trustees you have to check that
> activities comply with our purpose. You have to be meticulous - trustees are
> personally responsible
>
> As a company limited by guarantee you can pretty much do anything
>
> One possibility is to incorporate a subsidiary and perform work through that
> if needed
>
> Accounting has to be done properly, acceptable to charity commissioner. Not
> a big deal as you already have this generally
>
> Have to have audited accounts. Slightly stricter / slightly different.
> Already do this basically. Cost effect is relatively minor.
>
> Governance
>
> Want to spell out your governance very clearly
>
> Same set of staff can administer the charity and the subsidiaries
>
>
> --
>
> Rufus Pollock
>
> Founder and President | skype: rufuspollock | @rufuspollock
>
> Open Knowledge - see how openness can change the world
>
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-- 
Helen Turvey (King)

CEO
Shuttleworth Foundation

website: www.shuttleworthfoundation.org
twitter: @helenturvey