Use this section to administer the membership of a charitable incorporated organisation (CIO). A CIO must have members. In a foundation CIO the trustees are the only members, so membership changes when trustees come and go. In an association CIO there is a wider voting membership and people will join and leave from time to time.
What is the difference between members and trustees?
Members of a CIO are not the same as its trustees, although the same person can be both. Members vote at general meetings and on the matters the constitution reserves to them, such as amending the constitution. Trustees run the charity. Documents for trustees are in the other sections of Trustees, Members and Governing Rules.
What documents are in this section?
The Application to Become a Member of a CIO and the Acceptance of Application to become a Member of a CIO deal with admitting a new member in accordance with the constitution. The Certificate of CIO Membership gives the member a record of their membership. The Resignation of Member of a CIO is for a member who wishes to leave.
The register of members that a CIO must keep and the list of current members are in the CIO Registers and Records section. The written resolution by which CIO members can take decisions without a meeting is in the CIO Meetings and Decisions section.
CIO Members is part of Charity. Just £38.50 + VAT provides unlimited downloads from Charity for 1 year.
Frequently Asked Questions
How does someone become a member of our CIO? +
Under your constitution: normally a written application, a decision by the trustees or existing members to admit them and entry in the register of members, from which point membership takes effect. Check any conditions your constitution sets, such as supporting the charity's purposes or paying a subscription. The application, acceptance and certificate templates here run the sequence, and admission decisions should be minuted like any other.
Can our CIO's members pass a resolution without holding a meeting? +
Usually yes, if your constitution provides for written resolutions of members, as the Commission's model constitutions do. Check the threshold your constitution sets for decisions taken in writing, it can differ from the majority needed at a meeting, and keep the signed resolution with the members' records. The Ordinary Resolution in Writing of CIO Members template in the CIO Meetings and Decisions section provides the form; the decision still needs the register to show who was entitled to sign.
Is a certificate of membership worth issuing? +
It is optional but useful: a certificate gives the member evidence of their status, marks the admission formally and reduces later disputes about who joined and when. It does not replace the register, which remains the authoritative record; treat the certificate as the member's copy and the register as the charity's. The Certificate of CIO Membership template here pairs with the register so both are produced in one admission step.
