Clubs: Guidance and Constitutions
Use this section if you are setting up or putting proper rules in place for a members' club that is not a charity. It is intended for a club that is an unincorporated association, owned by its members, run by a committee and not operated for profit. Sports clubs, social clubs, hobby clubs and similar community organisations all fit this description.
Why does a club need a written constitution?
An unincorporated club has no legal identity separate from its members, so the constitution is the agreement that holds it together. It should set out the club's objects, who can join and on what terms, how subscriptions are set, how the committee is elected and what it can decide, how meetings are called and how the club can be wound up. Without one, disputes about money, membership or control are hard to resolve and the committee members may find themselves personally exposed.
What documents are in this section?
The Guidance Note – Clubs explains the legal nature of a members' club, the position of the committee and the points to think about before adopting a constitution. The Private Members' Club – Long Form Constitution is a full set of rules for a club with an active membership and committee structure. The Private Members' Club – Short Form Constitution is a simpler version for a small club that does not need the detail of the long form.
If your club is a sports club and you want to register it with HMRC as a community amateur sports club, use the constitution in the Community Amateur Sports Clubs and HMRC Requirements section instead, because CASC registration has its own requirements.
Clubs: Guidance and Constitutions is part of Charity. Just £38.50 + VAT provides unlimited downloads from Charity for 1 year.
Frequently Asked Questions
Long form or short form constitution: which suits our club? +
Match the document to the club's complexity, not its ambitions. The short form suits a small club with simple activities, modest funds and a single committee. The long form earns its length where there is a bar or premises, employees, valuable equipment, several classes of membership or higher membership numbers, because those are the areas where detailed rules prevent disputes. Both are drafted for unincorporated, member-owned, non-charitable clubs.
What should a members' club constitution actually cover? +
Eight essentials: the club's name and objects, who can join and how membership ends including expulsion with fair procedure, subscriptions, the committee's composition, election and powers, general meetings and voting, control of money and property including holding trustees, how the constitution is amended and what happens to assets on dissolution. The dissolution clause matters more than anyone expects, member-owned assets have to go somewhere. Both templates cover all eight.
What makes the CASC constitution different from an ordinary club constitution? +
It hard-wires HMRC's conditions into the rules: membership open to the whole community without discrimination, affordable fees, the main purpose being participation in an eligible amateur sport, limits on paying players, income and property applied to the club's sporting purposes and a dissolution clause sending surplus assets to another CASC, a sports governing body or a charity. HMRC reads the constitution when you apply, so the drafting is the registration case.
How do we change our club's existing constitution? +
Follow its own amendment clause, usually a resolution at a general meeting with a stated majority and notice period. If your constitution has no amendment clause the position is awkward, unanimity may be needed, which is itself the best argument for adopting a modern constitution with a workable amendment rule. Record the change in the minutes, date the new version and, if you are a CASC, check the amendment does not breach HMRC's conditions before passing it.
