Charitable Company Limited by Guarantee
Use this section if you are setting up your charity as a company limited by guarantee. This is a common choice where the charity will employ staff, enter into contracts or take on property, because the company itself is the legal person and the trustees, who are also its directors, are not normally personally liable for its debts.
Who is a charitable company suitable for?
A charitable company is registered at Companies House and, where its income makes registration necessary, with the Charity Commission as well. It therefore answers to two regulators and has both company law and charity law obligations. That is more administration than a charitable incorporated organisation (CIO) involves, but some funders, lenders and larger organisations prefer the company form because it is long established and widely understood.
What documents are in this section?
The two documents are the Memorandum - Charity Company Limited By Guarantee and the Charity Articles of Association - Private Company Limited By Guarantee. Together they form the governing document of a charitable company. The articles set out the charity's purposes, who its members are, how trustees are appointed and how decisions are made.
Once the company exists, resolutions for changing its articles are in the Changing a Charitable Company Governing Document section and the Companies House forms it will need from time to time are in the Records, Reporting and Compliance section.
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