How to set up a charity (CC21a)

Related in the library

• 14.1C181

  Guidelines for Comprehensive Fiscal Sponsorship

  National Network of Fiscal Sponsors · 2010

  A short paper setting out administrative, financial and legal good practice for comprehensive fiscal sponsorship, where a host nonprofit takes a project in as its own programme. It was written by a group of fiscal sponsors who practise this model, many working for social justice. Sponsors use it to set their own standards. Project leaders and funders use it to judge whether a sponsor runs the arrangement well.

  ClassicKey manual or guideFree
• 14.1C183

  Understand fiscal hosting

  Open Collective Europe Foundation · Ongoing

  Online documentation from Open Collective Europe, a Belgian public utility foundation that acts as fiscal host for groups without their own legal body. It explains who does what among the collective, its administrators, the foundation and the Open Collective platform. It sets out the difference between a collective and a fund and what to check before applying. Grassroots and civic groups in Europe use it to decide whether fiscal hosting suits them.

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• 14.1C184

  Questions to ask before starting an organization

  Pillar Nonprofit Network · n.d.

  A one-page checklist from Pillar Nonprofit Network in London, Ontario, for people thinking of starting a nonprofit. It asks whether someone already does the work, which structure fits, whether the need is lasting, whether others will help, whether money can be found and whether founders will hand control to a board. It then outlines the steps for incorporation and charitable status in Canada and points to a longer Imagine Canada guide.

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• 8.2C108

  Internal financial controls for charities

  Charity Commission for England and Wales · 2012 (updated 2024)

  Regulator guidance for charity trustees on the internal controls that protect funds and assets from fraud and loss. It explains how controls help trustees meet their legal duties, manage financial risk and keep proper accounting records. The page has 3 parts: the CC8 guidance, a separate page on protecting a charity from fraud, and a downloadable checklist that trustees and finance staff use to test their own controls.

  CurrentKey manual or guideFree
• 11.3C153

  Charities and risk management (CC26)

  Charity Commission for England and Wales · 2010 (updated 2026)

  Guidance from the charity regulator for England and Wales on how trustees identify, assess and manage risks to their charity. It defines a risk as any event that could stop a charity achieving its aims or carrying out its strategies, with examples such as reputational damage, lost funding, poor investments and policy changes. Trustees use it to set up and review a risk register and to report on risk in their accounts.

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• 15.2C192

  Trustees, trading and tax: how charities may lawfully trade (CC35)

  Charity Commission for England and Wales · 2016

  Regulator guidance for charity trustees on selling goods and services. It explains when a charity can trade directly and when it should set up a separate trading subsidiary. It also covers the basic rules on using trading income for charitable purposes and how corporation tax applies to trading profits. Trustees and advisers use it when planning earned income or a charity shop.

  ClassicKey online resourceFree