Governance and legal structure
Behind the scenes, your organisation will have a structure, rules and plans. Getting these essential administrative parts aligned and working well for your group can be vital for successful funding applications as well as the long term sustainability of your group.
This section is all about the supporting structure for your group’s activities, the scaffolding that enables your on the ground delivery that allows your participants to achieve and thrive.
In this section, you’ll find resources to help you with governance, planning and impact practice. There are online modules, step by step guides, templates and videos to give you the knowledge and information you need to make your group a success.
For an overview of all you need to get started with governance, take a look at the Sported governance e learning unit.
Legal structure
Why you need a legal structure
To protect your committee members and insulate individuals from financial risk, you will need to incorporate your organisation. When you incorporate, you’ll need to choose a legal structure.
Does this mean we have to register as a charity?
No – not all community groups and beneficiary organisations are charities. There are other options which may suit your group better.
What options are there?
There are a number of different structures, take a look at the Sported governance e learning or the resources below for more details on each structure.
Legal structure resources
Getting your governance started
A quick-start guide to what your group needs to do to ensure its governance is off to the right start
Policies and necessary compliance
It’s essential to have sound policies for your group. These are a written record of your group’s commitments and procedures. It’s essential that these are understood by everyone running your organisation, and that the policies are reviewed regularly.
Check out these resources on what you need and some templates to get you started.
Policies and compliance resources
Safeguarding policies – what you need to know
Find out how you can keep your participants safeguarded and what you need in place as a group
Health and safety policy template
Adapt our Health and Safety template for your own organisation
Data, privacy and GDPR policies templates
Download and adapt our easy to use templates to establish your data protection policies
Getting your governance started
A quick-start guide to what your group needs to do to ensure its governance is off to the right start