Starting a charity/social enterprise/NGO

[Anonymouse007]

Hello,

This might sound naive or silly but for about 2 years I've been thinking of starting a... 'something'. Not sure if I should call it a charity or NGO or what.

Without spilling the details (privacy reasons), it's basically a plan that involves improving the general health of women and their children (below 5) in an Asian developing country that I have a strong link with.

How should I start? I'd be grateful for advice on what I should have ready. I'm not interesting in the extreme nitty gritty legal side just yet BUT what should I have written down e.g. mission statement?

Would love to hear your tips on this.

Thanks x

Go and have a look at the Charity Commissioners website. It's got a load of useful info about setting up a charity. It's not that hard.

Would your charity be based in a UK country or elsewhere?
That would inform where to look for templates of memorandum of association or equivalent.

I’d be quite worried that you’re planning to start a charity but have no idea where to start!

Look at what other charities are doing with your target demographic. Is there a need? What’s your theory of change? What can you do that others locally can’t? What’s the funding model? How will you measure impact (real lasting change, not just numbers of ppl worked with)? What legal structures are needed in the country you’re in. Some South Asian countries have banned foreign NGOs recently. How will you deliver your service? What insurance do you need? Is it best to be a CIO or registered charity? Etc, etc

@PercyKirke @SuperLoudPoppingAction
It would be based in Asia (purely working there) but would probably be funded by people in the UK as well. Currently on the Charity Commissions Gov website and going through the info!

@Nightmanagerfan
Ahh I'm sorry, I was so vague that it made me sound clueless. I do have a plan but I didn't want to blab about it on Mumsnet because I've spoken to 2-3 family members about it and I don't want to be super revealing. I doubt they even use Mumsnet so I'm just being stupidly paranoid!!!
There is a definite gap for the specific sort of healthcare I would be providing. Your questions have been helpful tho, it's given me a start of stuff I want to write down and express clearly.

Basically, I have the concept written up in terms of funding, action, measuring effectiveness, overall plan of what needs to be done.
It's just the legal/administrative stuff I haven't delved into as much as I find it a bit confusing especially with covid in the pic!

I might speak to someone who actually runs a charity/enterprise and see where they started.

Thank you for your responses so far! Interested to hear from any others too :)

OP are you from the country you intend to work in? Or have immediate family ties there? If not, then you have a high risk of becoming another well meaning but ultimately pointless at best (damaging at worse) entity.

So if you want to fundraise "here" (assuming UK?) Then you'll need to follow regulations here for that and then if you're delivering a service if some kind in another country, you will need to meet all the requirements of that state. Unless you have a project you have already identified that is locally run and you want to support them? You might then need to check with them on impact of foreign donations. How is it managed etc.

If you don't have a local partner, have you spoken to local women's groups, authorities and healthcare workers (who could help you navigate that area's bureuacracy better than some randoms on Mumsnet). If not, how do you know it is a gap and needed and will be welcomed?

@Griefmonster

Hi, thanks for the helpful questions - they’re all making me really think about what I want to do and give me some clarity!

So to answer your question, yes I have very strong family ties to that country AND I also lived there for 10 years (albeit those were my teen years). I still visit regularly (not since covid). If I miraculously become rich one day, I’d probably move there full-time.

So to make it simpler, the project I want to start with is regarding women’s health and is linked closely to new mothers. there is a definite gap there, a lot of research has been done on the subject too! The govt did chuck out a random programme to ‘help’ but it isn’t enough and much more needs to be done.

Basically, I was wondering how I should write down and organise the ideas in my head so that I could express them to others better. I’ve decided to start writing the ‘statement of purpose’ mentioned on the Govt website.

I was also confused at whether it would be a charity or titled differently. It would be not for profit and wouldn’t involve running a business venture. It would just be a healthcare project funded by charitable donors, if that makes sense!

Bumping for some early morning wisdom

Charity Commission website. Also, absolutely make sure no other charity is doing this work already. Funders hate that and often encourage merging.

@ErickBroch
thanks for that! I’ve done a lot of research on what I want to do and haven’t seen anything else being done like it yet, probably because my focus is quite specific and it’s a developing country so the govt hasn’t done much about it yet because it’s not as important to them just yet.

I will still make sure I give one last good look around to see if anyone’s doing anything similar!

Ugh, excuse the ‘yet’ overload!

I think the social enterprise is a stronger idea. Try www.socialenterprise.org.uk/faq/where-can-i-get-advice-on-starting-up-a-social-enterprise/

There are hundreds of charities/NGOs working on women’s projects across the developing world. I would be surprised if there wasn’t something similar going on already, albeit possibly in a different country. Some of the bigger NGOs - Oxfam, Christian Aid, UNICEF - might be able to point you in the right direction. You just need a helpful desk officer in this country or try contacting in-country offices for advice and support. They may also have seed funding for small projects.

@Enoughnowstop

My idea isn’t new by all means but it focuses on women’s health linked directly to breastfeeding rates. The country in question has many health issues in women/children and research shows that breastfeeding awareness/support/facilities would be very beneficial.

UK has ABM/LLL/NCT so it’s been done here on a wide scale but I feel like there’s scope for developing countries.

Anyone else got an opinion on this? Would love to hear your views as always

‘I’d be quite worried that you’re planning to start a charity but have no idea where to start!’

I started up a charity it was disability related based in the UK. I had no experience but there was a real need, so I just got on with it!

@Oceangirl82

That’s just amazing, well done! People with disabilities can be overlooked so it’s great that you’ve done something to help out. How was your overall experience with starting and running a charity? What was the most challenging aspect?

It was about 12 years ago, people were very helpful but I imagine it may be a little easier now as we have so much information available via the internet.
Finding volunteers can be problematic, as I always want to give 100% but of course everyone’s time commitments and availability are different and at the end of the day they are volunteers and so we don’t have 1st call on their time. Of course all volunteers are fantastic, where would charities be without them?
Biggest annoyance was probably organisations or people who wanted to
put obstacles in way, just because and were very uncompromising. Such as trying to block activities although they were to be insured, risk assessed etc

Feel free to PM me 😀

Thanks for the details @Oceangirl82! I may PM you soon

Anyone else who can add anything to this? Xx

How soon do you want to get started? The Charity Commission approves new charities, but I've heard there is a longish wait at the moment to get new ones approved. It may be worth a call to them to find out what the current wait time is.

There can be tax advantages to running a charity, such as being able to claim gift aid on donations. It also opens up more funding opportunities, as some funders will only consider charities. You will need to appoint trustees, good trustees can be a great support to you, and the buck rests with them financially, so you will need to recruit people who you really trust for the role. Try to pick people with the skills you need. You may be a trustee of your own charity but trustees must be unpaid, so you cannot be a trustee if you want to draw a salary from the charity. You can take a paid role in the charity but your trustees in theory do have the power to get rid of you if you appoint rogue ones, or they feel that you are doing a poor job!

A Community Interest Company (CIC) may be a faster route to getting started and gives you more direct control. They are a company limited by guarantee (no shareholders), with an asset lock and limitations to directors pay. You can set it up as a director, run it, and be paid a salary. There are no trustees, although if you want to appoint a board to help you, that's completely up to you. You will not be able to claim gift aid on donations, and some funders will not be open to you, although the number of funders accepting CIC seems to be growing all the time. You can convert one into a charity once you're up and running. Disclaimer - I have no experience of what structures are best, or if a CIC is recognised by authorities in the country where you'd be operating. I have only worked with organisations operating in the UK. Good luck with it.

Honestly most are a con. And people shouldn’t support them. I have a friend runs a community non profit on a £100,000 salary for a £30k job

Anyone serious about donating to charity will avoid them

I hope nobody takes Polmn seriously when it comes to that sweeping statement. Many ‘charities’ although not registered are run by volunteers who invest a huge amount of time and often their own money to help them succeed.

Yes, agreed @Oceangirl82 it's doing organisations and the kind hearted people who volunteer for them a disservice. It also sounds pretty unlikely that a not for profit with a turnover large enough to pay someone a £100K salary would be an unincorporated association and therefore be without any formal accountability.