Charities must ensure they are complying with the law warns NI regulator
Howard Lake | 12 December 2014 | News
Charities in Northern Ireland have been warned by the Charity Commission that they have until the end of December to register or submit an ‘expression of intent’ form.
“It is a legal requirement for charities in Northern Ireland to apply to register with us,” the Commission says.
Frances McCandless, Chief Executive of the Commission, explained:
“Under the law, charities in Northern Ireland must apply to register with the Commission and it is the responsibility of trustees to ensure they meet that statutory duty.
“As the first step in that process we are urging charities to take action now to check they are included on our registration lists and, if not, complete and submit an Expression of Intent form before the end of December, providing us with their details”.
Ms McCandless said each charity successfully registered will be listed on the Commission’s public register of charities where everyone, including volunteers, donors and funders, will be able to check they are an open, accountable and bona fide charity.
Under charity law, an organisation must apply to register if it has exclusively charitable purposes, it is governed by the law of Northern Ireland and it has control and direction over its governance and resources.
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About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.