Charities are set up to help people who are in difficult situations, without a livelihood, a job or a place to live. These are non-governmental organisations that run targeted support programmes.

Why and why?

First of all, we have to find out what is the mission and purpose of the charity. You should understand what social problems they are going to solve.

The support provided by charities may be different and so are the fields of activity. Some foundations specialise in raising money to buy expensive medication, others create jobs for people with mental disabilities, and still others help victims of violence.

Charity organisation’s programme aims state how and who it may help. The main thing is that these aims have to be clear, for example, social support for people with certain illnesses, financial help for children who are growing up in disadvantaged families.

Form of organisation

The legal form of the organisation is chosen according to its size and the nature of the problems to be solved. There may be several options:

– non-profit organisation

– public organization;

– charitable foundation.

Autonomous non-profit organisations contribute to solving social problems, providing paid and free services in the educational, legal, scientific and health care sectors.

NGOs have much in common with associations; they are based on the principle of membership and seek to defend and uphold the rights of various population groups.

Charities are created to help those in need and to deal with socially important problems.

It is good to know about taxes and benefits for such organisations.

Statutes

A charity must have a constitution – a document that defines the mission, objectives and rules. This is the main document, with which the procedure of setting up a foundation starts. It may state, for example, that the organisation is engaged in holding cultural and entertainment events of charitable nature. In such cases, all of the money raised goes to those in need.

The Foundation Board approves the constitution of the Foundation and prioritises its activities. Board members approve the charity’s programmes and the annual accounts.

Team

Establishing a charity is not an easy task; it is important to build a strong team, whose members will be as united as possible and who are all interested in one cause. Employees can be hired or volunteers can be found. Hiring is not an option for every charity as the staff need to be paid regularly.

The work of the foundation is supervised by the board of trustees, whose members are not paid for their activities. But the director of the charity may have a salary.

In addition to the executive director, the foundation’s team includes an accountant with a lawyer, a fundraiser – a specialist who raises financial support for the non-profit organisation, and a PR manager who interacts with the media.

Each team member has rights and responsibilities.

Funding

Funding is one of the biggest challenges faced by charities. It is necessary to create its own plan specifying the source of funds and their subsequent distribution. A budget needs to be created to show how much will be spent on the top priority needs.

Most charities look for donors, usually wealthy people who are not indifferent to the needs of others.

When planning the budget it is important not to forget about administrative expenses. These account for approximately 20% of the donations.

Charity programmes must be accompanied by an estimate of their costs.

In order for such a project to be successful, a qualified lawyer and accountant must be found and their services will also have to be paid for. The accountant will be involved in keeping separate accounts of funds and preparing accounts.

The budget of charities is based on donations from private and corporate donors. Grants can also be considered as a source of funding. In addition, there is the NPO’s endowment, profits from commercial activities, and funds invested by participants.

Donations can be either one-off or recurrent and account for the majority of the budget.

Grants are divided into public and private. The possibility of applying for grants is available to organisations that have been in existence for more than 12 months.

The endowment of non-profit organisations is called an endowment. It consists of collecting a certain amount of money, depositing it in a current account and transferring it to an investment organisation for management. The latter, in turn, invests the funds in projects and sends the income to the NPO to fund the activities set out in the articles of association.

When founding a charitable foundation, it is not uncommon for the founders to invest their own money as a donation. Such a foundation is considered to be the best option available.

Some organisations earn extra money by selling goods made by their beneficiaries, providing paid advice and renting out premises to tenants.

Run programmes and events

A charity is a very special organisation which needs to develop or it will not be able to help those in need. You need to create a plan of activities which will help you to achieve your goals and mission.

Programs must be well thought out and sponsors must be involved. The work of the foundation will be most productive if it has its own website. Once it is set up, fundraising can begin, don’t forget about regular reports to donors, and don’t neglect to evaluate the effectiveness of the work done.