A charitable voluntary or community organisation is run by a group of people called a management committee & is setup to provide services that are of benefit to the general community, area or specific social group. Legally a management committee should have a minimum of three people aged 18 or over (see roles of the committee part 3).
- Voluntary organisations: provide services to the general public
- Community organisations: provide services to a specific social group or area
Charitable organisations,(voluntary & community), must be set up on a not-for-profit or non-profit basis, which means that they cannot be set up specifically for commercial or profit-making purposes. This basically means that any profits or surplus made by the organisation must be used solely for the purposes of the organisation's aims & must not be distributed as profits, dividends or bonuses to members of the organisation or trustees of the governing body, as they can in a business.
When these criteria are met an organisation can be charitable even if it charges a rate for its charitable activities or services.
Social Enterprises
A social enterprise is a company with primarily social objectives whose surpluses are principally reinvested for that purpose in the business or in the community, rather than being driven by the need to maximise profit for shareholders and owners.
Social enterprises tackle a wide range of social and environmental issues and operate in all parts of the economy. By using business solutions to achieve public good, the government believes that social enterprises have a distinct and valuable role to play in helping create a strong, sustainable and socially inclusive economy.
Social enterprises are diverse. They include local community enterprises, social firms, mutual organisations such as co-operatives, and large-scale organisations operating nationally or internationally. There is no single legal model for social enterprise. They include companies limited by guarantee, industrial and provident societies, and companies limited by shares; some organisations are unincorporated and others are registered charities, (see choosing the right structure).
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