Info Sheet - Association

Info Sheet - Association

More on charitable activities.

An unincorporated association has:

• a set of rules setting out how it has agreed to operate (e.g. constitution)
• a membership;
• an agreed purpose for which it is set up to work towards;
• no separate legal identity;
• no ownership of property (property must be held by named trustees or custodians);
• Management Committee members, who are personally liable for any debts or claims against the organisation that cannot be met out of the organisation’s own resources.

An association is generally appropriate when one or more of the following applies:

• the organisation is relatively small in terms of its assets;
• the organisation is to be a local branch of a national charity with a standard constitution;
• it has a membership;
• the Management Committee is elected or appointed for a fixed period, usually one year;
• the views of local residents, local councils, and other bodies, need to be represented through membership;
• the purposes/objectives of the organisation are to be carried out by members.

Management Committee members of an unincorporated association must be 18 years and older.

More on the advantages & disadvantages of different legal structures