Requirements for the Charter of a civil organization in Ukraine

The Charter is a basic document that contains a whole set of data about a non-governmental organization (hereinafter referred to as an NGO).

When registering an NGO, it is important to draft the Charter correctly and to include the obligatory provisions defined by the current legislation.

In our article, we will tell you about the peculiarities of the registration of an NGO and the peculiarities of drafting its Charter.

Firstly, we need to decide whether we are registering an NGO with or without the status of a legal entity. If you have firmly decided that you do not need such a status, you do not need to submit a Charter for registration. You can carry out your activities without it.

However, you have the right to approve the Charter at your own will - it will be somewhat shorter and easier to draft.

The Charter for an NGO with the status of a legal entity is much more meaningful, it should have information about the management, structure, and other elements that will meet your needs and vision for future activities.

We strongly recommend not using template Charters! It will only cause harm and create several problems in the further course of business. Unfortunately, it may even end up in court proceedings.

It is very important to properly describe the receipt and distribution of funds because the NGO is a non-profit organization, so carrying out any financial activities can only pursue the goals of the organization.

It is possible to indicate that in addition to the main directions of activity, it is planned to carry out some charitable actions. For example, one direction will be financial support of other legal entities, and in addition, it is planned to receive voluntary donations, i.e. income from outside individuals or legal entities.

All this should be indicated in the sources of funding and recorded in the areas of activity, so that in the future this funding, which will be assessed as income, can be used for the areas of activity, according to the Charter.

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What provisions should be enshrined in the Charter of the NGO?

Let's start with the basic legal requirements for the Charter. It must contain:

• the name of the NGO;
• goals and activities of the NGO;
• the procedure for acquiring and terminating membership, rights, and obligations;
• the authority of the governing bodies, the procedure for their formation, and changes;
• the frequency of meetings of the governing bodies, the decision-making procedure;
• the procedure of accountability of the governing bodies to their members;
• the procedure for appealing against decisions, actions, and inactions of the governing bodies of the NGO;
• sources of funds, the order of their use, the property of the NGO;
• provisions for separate divisions;
• the procedure for the use of funds and property of the NGO in case of its dissolution;
• the procedure for amending the Charter;
• the procedure for adopting a decision on the self-dissolution or reorganization of the NGO.

Please note! The above-mentioned provisions shall be prescribed in the Charter. Without it, it is impossible to successfully register an NGO.

Nevertheless, the law allows prescribing its own principles of conducting activities. This will be a guarantee of successful activity in the future.

With our law company the preparation for drafting the Charter begins with you defining for yourself the main nuances of NGO management which you would like to introduce. Then we will consider all your ideas and analyze the possibility to implement them according to the legislation.

We will also advise you on what must be specified in the Charter in order to protect yourself and the shareholders.

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Let's look in more detail at what you can list and what you shouldn't list. Why is it important?

You can think about unique activities and forms of implementation if that's in your best interest.

Perhaps you are concerned that the management of the NGO is in good hands.

First, you can establish a term of office for the governing bodies. The term of office can be as long as 10 years. Second, there can be one head, and a position can be called Director or President.

The goals and objectives of the NGO can be different if it does not contradict the law, it all depends on your needs and plans.

However, a "golden mean" is necessary everywhere. There is no need to think up unnecessary things or over-prescribe all the nuances. This will only lead to a lot of questions from the Ministry of Justice, and even a refusal to register.

Given our experience, we do not recommend specifying the creation of advisory, consultative bodies with a complicated election procedure and conflicting powers. This greatly complicates and prolongs the registration procedure. Or if there is such a need, it is better to entrust the development of the scheme to lawyers.

On the other hand, the possibility of creating executive and advisory bodies is quite promising. One of them will be the Board, and the other will be the President, so they will regulate and control the work of the NGO or each other.

Even if you do not plan to create separate divisions of the NGO, we recommend providing for such a possibility in the Charter. Often clients ask to remove this from the Charter or do it on their own because they are fully confident that there will be no separate divisions. We remind you that this is a mandatory legal requirement!

We have developed Charters that comply with the legislation and the position of the Ministry of Justice. We always make amendments, and develop provisions that meet the specific request of the Client.

Before submitting for registration together with the package of documents, the Charter must be stitched and certified.

Please note! Signatures should be put by all founders of the LLC.

If you are carrying out the activity, but the Charter partially or fully does not correspond to the real situation of the foundation, we recommend changing the Charter and bringing everything into conformity. We are ready to help you.

You should approach the creation of the Charter in a complex and qualified manner. We recommend you not waste your time, but contact the lawyers at once. We provide services on "turnkey" foundation registration - easy, fast, and with a guarantee of a successful result.

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