Glossary of terms
For a full explanation of the terms we use please click on the links below:
Charitable purposes
These are the charitable causes recognised in Section 7(2) of the Charities Trustee and Investment (Scotland) Act 2005.
a) The prevention or relief of poverty.
b) The advancement of education.
c) The advancement of religion.
d) The advancement of health.
e) The saving of lives.
f) The advancement of citizenship or community development.
g) The advancement of the arts, heritage, culture or science.
h) The advancement of public participation in sport.
i) The provision of recreational facilities, or the organisation of recreational activities with the object of improving the conditions of life for the persons for whom the facilities or activities are primarily intended.
j) The advancement of human rights, conflict resolution or reconciliation.
k) The promotion of religious or racial harmony.
l) The promotion of equality and diversity.
m) The advancement of environmental protection or improvement.
n) The relief of those in need by reason of age, ill –health, disability, financial hardship or other disadvantage.
o) The advancement of animal welfare.
p) Any other purpose that may reasonably regarded as analogous to any of the preceding purposes.
Charity Test
The test under the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005 which determines whether a body can be granted charitable status. To be a charity the following requirements must be met:
- your organisation must have only charitable purposes
- your constitution must be acceptable in other respects:
- it must not permit your organisation’s property to be used for non-charitable purposes
- it must not contain express powers for government Ministers to direct or control your organisation’s activities (for further details read the Policy Statement on Ministerial Powers) - your organisation must not be a political party and must not have as its purpose the advancement of a political party
- your organisation must provide or intend to provide public benefit.
For further details see Meeting the Charity Test .
Public benefit
To be entered onto the Scottish Charity Register and to have charitable status in Scotland, a body must be able to demonstrate that its activities provide or (if it is a body in the process of being established) are intended to provide identifiable benefit to the public or a section of the public. In looking at whether public benefit is provided we must take into account:
- how any private benefit is balanced against benefit to the public
- how any disbenefit to the public is balanced against benefit to the public
- whether there are any unduly restrictive conditions on obtaining the benefit the body provides.
For further details see Meeting the Charity Test .
Constitution or founding document
This is the document which sets out a charity’s purposes, how its income can be spent, how its charity trustees are appointed and how the charity will operate. All bodies applying for charitable status need to submit a copy of their constitution.
The type of constitution or governing document a charity has will depend on its legal structure.
- Unincorporated associations will generally have a constitution.
- Trusts will have a trust deed.
- Charities formed as companies (usually limited by guarantee) will have a memorandum and articles of association.
Sometimes a charity’s constitution may be a charter or an Act of Parliament, or some other type of document or combination of documents.
The people who are in general management and control of the charity and usually those who are part of its governing body. Depending on the charity’s legal structure they may also be known as directors, office holders, trustees or committee members
Objectionable names
An organisation cannot be entered in the Scottish Charity Register if its name is objectionable, that is:
(a) the same as, or too like, the name of a charity, (section 10(1)(a))
(b) likely to mislead the public as to the true nature of the purposes of the body or of the activities which it carries on, or intends to carry on, in pursuit of those purposes, (section 10(1)(b))
(c) likely to give the impression that the body is connected in some way to Scottish Administration, HM Government, any local authority or with any person , when it is not so connected, or (section 10(1)(c))
(d) offensive (section 10(1)(d)).
Representation as a charity
By representation we mean any public reference to the organisation being a charity, made by the organisation itself or by a person acting on behalf of the organisation. The representation may be either written or verbal. It could be made to either an individual, a group of individuals or to an external organisation. A letter to another organisation (for example a funding application or a request for rates relief) in which the organisation makes reference to being a charity would be considered to be representing itself as a charity. An internal reference, for example in a letter sent only to the members of the organisation, lacks a public element and would not be treated as being a representation. The representation need not be made in Scotland.
