What is a public association?
Public association is a voluntary association of individuals and/or legal entities for the exercise and protection of rights and freedoms, satisfaction of public, in particular economic, social, cultural, environmental and other interests. For example, human rights, educational, environmental associations, etc.
Public associations can be created in order to achieve the goals and solely in the interests of their members. That is, their activities are local and can solve small-scale problems.
In contrast, there are public associations that have goals useful for the whole society: protection of human rights, education, provision of social services, housing, food, basic necessities.
There are two types of public associations:
- public organization;
- public union.
The number of founders in both the union and the organization cannot be less than two persons.
The main difference between a public union and a public organization is that the founders of a public organization can be only individuals, while a public union can be founded by legal entities.
What you need to register a public association
To register a public association you need to:
- Identify at least 2 persons who will be the founders
- Choose the name and type (form) of the future public association, address, head and governing bodies, purpose and activities
- Prepare documents for submission to the сenter for the provision of administrative services, namely
- application (if necessary, with an indication of inclusion in the Register of non-profit institutions and organizations);
- a copy of the founders’ decision to establish a public association;
- charter (carefully drafted);
- information about the governing bodies;
- information about the person who has the right to represent the public association for registration actions;
- register of persons who participated in the meeting.
What is a charitable organization?
A charitable organization is a legal entity whose charitable activity in one or more areas is the main purpose of its activity. Charitable activity is voluntary personal and/or property assistance to achieve certain goals, which does not provide for the benefactor’s profit, as well as the payment of any remuneration or compensation to the benefactor.
The areas of charitable activity can be:
- education,
- health care,
- assistance to victims of disasters, armed conflicts and accidents, as well as to refugees and persons in difficult
- life circumstances
- guardianship and custody,
- legal assistance,
- social protection, social security, social services and poverty alleviation,
- promotion of defense capability and mobilization readiness of the country,
- protection of the population in emergency situations, etc.
A charitable organization can be established as:
charitable society – at least two founders; acts on the basis of the charter; may have, in addition to the founders, other members who have joined it;- charitable institution – the founders transfer assets to achieve the goals of charitable activities; the founder or founders of the charitable institution do not participate in the management of the charitable institution; acts on the basis of the constituent act;
- charitable foundation – acts on the basis of the charter, has participants and is managed by participants who are not obliged to transfer any assets to this organization to achieve the goals of charitable activities; can be created by one or more founders
What is required to register a charitable organization
In general, the procedure does not differ from the registration of public associations.
The only difference is in the list of documents to be submitted.
The following documents shall be submitted for state registration of a charitable organization
- application for state registration (if necessary, with an indication of inclusion in the Register of non-profit institutions and organizations)
- a copy of the decision to establish a charitable organization;
- constituent document (charter or constituent act)
Main differences between charitable organizations and public associations
The main function of public associations is to promote the common interests of members of the organization, in particular, to provide assistance to persons in need. In turn, the function of charitable organizations is to collect and transfer money and property to the recipients of charitable assistance.
All collected funds can be spent on the goals and objectives of the public association. While a charitable organization must transfer 80% of the collected funds to the recipients of assistance, and 20% must be used to cover the administrative expenses of the charitable organization itself.
Charitable organizations and public associations do not aim to make a profit. The main purpose of their activities is property assistance and protection of rights, freedoms and legitimate interests of persons in need.
Each founder independently chooses the type of organization or association, taking into account the scope of activities, goals, personal participation, number of founders.
State registration of public associations and charitable organizations is free of charge.
If you need to create a public or charitable organization, we always advise you to contact professionals, as many years of experience of such specialists not only speeds up the receipt and formation of the necessary package of documents for the registration of such legal entities, but also saves your own money. And also it will not be superfluous to hire a qualified accountant who will accompany the financial and reporting activities of the public organization.
The team of “Legal House “Copyright” will help you to obtain the necessary package of documents, develop the charter and minutes of the decision, fill out the application, as well as advise on the terms and necessary documents for the successful establishment of a public or charitable organization. And, if you wish, you can use the legal and financial assistance of our specialists who provide turnkey legal and accounting services for newly established companies or companies with experience. Don’t hesitate to contact us!
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