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What is a charity?
Not all voluntary organisations, however worthy their activities, are charities. For an organisation to be a charity it must be set up for purposes that the law regards as exclusively charitable.
There are currently four categories of purpose that the law recognises as charitable. These are:
- the relief of poverty;
- the advancement of education;
- the advancement of religion;
- other purposes beneficial to the community
It is proposed that the current four categories of charitable purposes be extended to 14 charitable purposes. Any such changes to charity law will be widely publicised once in place.
To find out more go to www.dsdni.gov.uk under the Voluntary & Community Unit section, or contact the Charity Advice Unit at NICVA on tel: 028 90 877 777 or email cas@nicva.org
Your organisation’s main purpose must generally fit within one of the categories above, in order to obtain charitable recognition. Your charitable purpose will impact upon the type of activities that your organisation can undertake.
More on charitable purposes and activities
Evidence of charitable status
A charity will often (though not always) have evidence of being recognised as a charity. This evidence may include:
- charity registration (e.g. charities in Northern Ireland that are UK wide may be registered with the Charity Commission in England and have a charity reference number); or
- charitable recognition (e.g. in receipt of a letter issued by the Inland Revenue giving a reference code that recognises groups/organisations in Northern Ireland as having charitable purposes, which also grants certain tax benefits).
Being a charity is not a legal structure, it is an overlay to your organisation or group. As such, it brings additional responsibilities associated with charity law, and restricts the type of activities that you are able to undertake as a charity. Being a charity also has benefits such as tax exemptions and recognition that the organisation’s work is for the benefit of others.
Click here for further information on what it means to be a charitable organisation.
Info sheet: Charitable Purposes and Activities
