Managing my Organisation Well
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Governance
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Governance
How to Write A Governing Document
A governing document acts as a rule book. It sets out your organisation’s purposes (‘objects’), the activities it will engage in, who can be a member, who can run the organisation and other rules about payments, who can make changes, how decisions are made and disputes are resolved. It can include changes that can be made as a result of an emergency, such as delays to submitting accounts or holding and AGM.
A resource where you can find online templates and guidance documents is OSCR and SCVO. Each legal structure will have their own governing document that is applicable to them. If your organisation or charity is associated with a national group, it may have templates you can use
Key points:
A governing document is your organisation’s rule book
Although it may seem quite daunting, there is lots of help and support
Links for more information
How to write your charity's governing document
How to set out your charity's purposes and rules in its governing document, how to start using it and how to change it.
Governing Documents and Meetings
A comprehensive list of helps and examples of governing documents.
Glossary of Terms
An excellent pool of terms and links to the underpinning legislation
https://www.oscr.org.uk/guidance-and-forms/glossary-of-terms#GoverningDocument
Charities and Coronavirus: An update from the regulator
For the latest information on contacting the Scottish Charity Regulator and a FAQ responses related to holding digital meetings.
https://www.oscr.org.uk/news/charities-and-coronavirus-an-update-from-the-regulator/
Legal Form Fact Sheet OSCR
The link leads to a table which sets out some of the key characteristics of the most common types of legal form used by Scottish charities. This comparison may help you consider which legal form is suitable for the proposed charity.
https://www.oscr.org.uk/media/2506/legal-forms-factsheet.pdf