Aims
One of the words used to describe what an organisation intends to do. Often used with 'objectives' in the phrase 'aims and objectives' – where aims describe ‘what’ a group intends to achieve, and the objectives describe ‘how’ the group will achieve them.
Beneficiaries
This is the name given to the people or community which the organisation aims to help.
Chair
The Chair takes a leadership role in ensuring that the management committee fulfils its responsibilities, and works closely with staff/volunteers to achieve the goals of the organisation.
Community organisation
Organisations that are not-for-profit and neither public nor government-run; they tend to have been set up by a community to benefit the community, or some part of it.
Company secretary
An officer of a company with duties set out in company law to ensure compliance with the organisation’s own governing document and various legal matters.
Governing document
A legal document setting out the charity’s purposes and, usually, how it is to be administered. Common ones used include trust deed, constitution, memorandum and articles of association, or other formal document.
Incorporated charity
A charity which is also a company or has a similar legal status as a corporate entity in law.
Management committee (MC)
The governing body of a charity/community organisation which is ultimately responsible for everything your organisation does.
Objects
An organisation’s aims (or purposes) are usually expressed in the ‘objects clause’ of your governing document.
Quorum
The minimum number of management committee (MC) members who must be present for the meeting of the MC to be properly constituted. The governing document may specify this.
Secretary
This is the same role as the Company Secretary (see above), and is a more commonly used term in the voluntary sector.
Treasurer
The Treasurer takes the lead in monitoring the finances of the organisation, including ensuring that proper financial records and procedures are maintained.
Unincorporated charities
These may be ‘trusts’ or ‘associations’. Their governing document will usually be a trust deed or a constitution.
Voluntary organisation
An organisation that is not-for-profit and neither public (for example, schools and hospitals) nor government-run; they tend to have been set up to benefit a specific community, or some part of society.
This page is a summary of information contained in the full online toolkit.
