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BECOMING A VCSFE ORGANISATION
Deciding to set-up a voluntary, community, social or faith based enterprise (VCSFE) is rewarding as well as complicated. Whether this is your first step to setting up an organisation or you’ve stepped out of the sector for a while, we hope you find this information useful.
If you have any questions, or would like a general chat about where you want to head, please get in touch with our funding team [email protected].
What are VCSFE Organisations?
VCSFE stands for Voluntary, Community, Social and Faith Based Enterprises. Such organisations range from small community based groups or schemes (e.g. ‘knit & natter group’) through to nationally recognised charities. What differs between the various types of organisations or groups are how they are controlled or owned, their governing document, how revenue and profits are used, their charitable status and regulating body. All of these are important, but first you need to identify as to which you need to be, then it will all fall into place.
Questions to Get You Started
There are a few key questions you need to consider before establishing your group:
- Why should the group exist and why is it needed now?
- What is the group going to do?
- Which geographical area will the group cover?
- Who is the group going to help?
Once you have some answers, do some research. You may find that there are organisations already doing the work you’d like to do. You don’t want to duplicate effort unnecessarily. If that is the case you could look to work with existing organisations in other ways.
Consider if a Charity is the Right Step
Make sure you have the time and commitment needed to set up a new organisation. You’ll need to meet certain regulatory and legal requirements depending on the type of organisation you set up. These can be difficult to learn about and you’ll need time to understand new information and processes. The type of organisation you become differ in terms of their regulations, restrictions, and legal structure. From charities to social enterprises, and then within these, there can be a further degree of classification. We strongly advise that you take a look at a more elaborate description of the types of organisations and each of their individual pro’s and con’s by visiting the NCVO website and the alternative options to a charity on the Charity Commission website.
Your Mission, Vision & Values
Once you have decided that your organisation needs to exist and in what structure, you can pull together your purpose which incorporates your mission, vision and values.
Vision
This is how you want the future to be. for instance, if you were a mental health charity you would want people affected by mental illness to be treated fairly, respectfully and equally.
Mission
This is what you are going to do but not how you are going to do it. Go back to look at your purpose and why your group exists for this.
Values
Think of your values as your groups code of conduct. Values will include how you will treat people fairly and how you will empower staff and volunteers.
The Governing Document
A voluntary or community group should have a governing document that provides a clear framework explaining why it exists and what it does. A governing document will act as a reference in terms of how the group is run, for instance who can attend meetings and who can vote on decisions associated with the running of the charity. It will layout how members can get involved. If your group goes on to become a charity you will need a governing document or constitution which it is also known as.
Visit the NCVO website here to see a detailed explanation of the type of governing document you require and what it should include.
Open a Bank Account
The group will need a bank account in it’s name to be able to receive grants and funding. When this is done you will need to assign two people as signatories that cannot be related as they will both need to sign any cheques required on behalf of the group. The names of these signatories will be formalised with your bank as a ‘mandate’. It is a good idea to have more than two signatories, to ensure they are always available.
Funds & Grants
Visit our ‘Finding Funds’ page here for information on finding and applying for funding and grants and for links to current open funds.