Governing Documents

A governing document is the formal document which sets up a charity or voluntary organisation and should contain all the information about:

• what the organisation is set up to do
• how the organisation will do those things
• who will run it
• what happens if changes to the administrative provisions need to be made
• what happens if the organisations wishes to wind up

It should also contain the administrative provisions:

• how the trustees or management committee will run it
• internal arrangements for meetings, voting, looking after money, etc.

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

• constitution or rules used by unincorporated organisations
• small charity constitution
• trust deed
• articles of association

Registration

The Charity Commission website has all the information you need on choosing and preparing a governing document and provides Model Governing Documents  which provide the basic provisions that a charity will need.

For organisations working in Scotland, the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR) provides guidance on setting up a charity in Scotland. Under the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005 (the 2005 Act), bodies which represent themselves as charities in Scotland are required to register with OSCR. This requirement includes bodies which are established and/or registered as charities in other legal jurisdictions, such as England and Wales.