Getting Constituted

A constitution is a set of rules used to run your organisation, simply a written agreement between the organisation and its members. It is also used to enable you to open a bank account, to apply for charitable status and to boost your organisations credibility in the public domain.

The first step in order to become constituted is usually to hold a public meeting so as to define the organisation you propose to create and also to appoint members of a steering group to take forward your plans. This steering group would develop the constitution and relay back to the community the terms of the constitution for general approval by the wider community.  Only after that approval has been secured would the members of the management committee be elected.

The constitution needs to reflect the aims, projections and needs of the group and these will be defined by the group members. Initially, the constitution can be made quite simple, with any necessary changes being made at a later stage.  This would however need  to be carried out at an Annual General Meeting (AGM) or an Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM). It is important to note that if your organisation is applying for charitable status the information and aims detailed in the constitution need to be regarded as charitable purposes. Also, if you are a charity you will need to have your constitution registered by the Office of Scottish Charities Regulator (OSCR)

A voluntary organisation is seen as being a two-tier structure, being made up of the management committee and the members. Due to the type of organisation it is usually the members who have ultimate control of the organisation.

Your organisation will probably find that there are similar organisations to yours and these can be useful for getting advice or for a model of a constitution which can then be adapted. However, it is recommended that a suitably experienced solicitor check the final version of your constitution in order to ensure that everything is correct and suitable for the operation of your organisation, although this is not essential.

Once the constitution has been drafted, it should then be circulated to the committee for comment and a final copy then distributed for them to keep. Community Energy Scotland, and no doubt other funding organisations, will ask for this in order to assess eligibility.

You can find more information on drafting a constitution at Scottish Council of Voluntary Organisations website.