[Gllug] info on setup and running a NFP here in the UK

[Jason Clifford]

On Wed, 2009-08-05 at 23:23 +0100, Karanbir Singh wrote:
> One of the things that we are looking at in the CentOS camp is setting 
> up a not-for-profit / charity foundation here in the UK and having 
> project assets and resources managed under that, including all donations 
> and hardware etc.

I've spent some time looking into the possibility of setting up a
registered charity specifically around Free Software and ultimately
concluded that producing and or supporting Free Software and Free
Software communities is not, in itself, a charitable activity within the
meaning of the relevant legislation.

For me that's not a problem as my aim is to fun students involved in
Free Software in the UK and funding students is charitable.

In the case of CentOS you do not need to register a charity however. All
you need is some form of recognised body to be CentOS in the UK and you
can accomplish that fairly easily using a number of different means.
Probably the most common, and easiest to get wrong(!), is an
unincorporated association. 

Debian did this in 2005 (Debian UK) and it appears to be OK however
their constitution is very simplistic and relies a lot on continued good
will. Having seen what happens when things go wrong (AFFS) I'd strongly
recommend against copying Debian in this respect.

The Charities Commission do have a number of template constitutions
which may well provide a suitable template. You don't have to be
registering a charity for these to be suitable. Their templates are
likely to be a lot more appropriate and provide a safer basis.

It may be a good idea to have a chat with someone who knows about the
possible tax implications for this as well.

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