Today on
my blog I share tips for office-bearers of registered societies on managing the
secretariat of a small, volunteer-run non profit organisation.
https://nonprofit-resources.blogspot.my/
Thinking about setting up a new non-profit organisation? The checklist below is not exhaustive, but could serve as a starting point.
1. Registration : You will need to
register your organisation as a registered society, under the purview of the Registrar of
Societies (ROS) in accordance with the Societies Act 1966. In order to
register, you will already need to have in place some (if not all) of the other
items below by the time you submit your application for registration. Visit the ROS website for more details, as well as the link to the ROS online portal through which
all applications must be made. Click on eROSes to get the landing page.
2. Executive Committee : You will need at
least six (6) other persons, who are Malaysian citizens (unless your
organisation’s constitution states otherwise), who will take up the various office
bearer positions on the Executive Committee such as the President, Vice
President, Secretary, Treasurer etc. Note that you need a minimum of seven (7)
persons in order to register with ROS. These individuals will need to provide
certain details for submission to ROS, such as name, IC number, address,
contact details etc.
3. Address: Choose a postal address wisely
as this address will be stated in the Certificate of Incorporation, as well as
the Constitution of the registered society as its official address, and this is
the address to which documents such as bank statements, paper communications
from ROS and other physical documents will be sent. If your organisation is
based at a particular premises, you could use that address. If you do not have
a physical location as yet, the official address may need to be the residential
address of the founding member, or one of the office bearers.
4. Email Address, Website, Facebook
page/group, Instagram account/Twitter account – It’s easiest to start off
with a gmail account, perhaps something easy to remember for your volunteers
and members such as [name of your
organisation]@gmail.com. Creating profiles on Facebook, Instagram and
Twitter is also really easy – the tough part is finding someone who is willing
to commit time and effort to constantly updating these social media accounts! J. As for a website, to an extent, having one seems
somewhat redundant in this day and age, as volunteers and stakeholders engage far
more on social media than with websites. But it’s still a good idea to have a
website, as you will find that corporate, government and international donors/partners
/sponsors, still do ask for the website URL as part of their due diligence
process on the registered society. So a website is really more for official
purposes.
5. Bank Account : Your organisation will
need to have its own bank account in the name of the registered society. The
account should be a current account and the signatories and mode of operation
of the account should in accordance with the relevant Articles of the registered
society’s Constitution. You will also need a chop bearing the society’s name,
in affix the chop onto cheques (though take note that cheques are being phased
out in stages by the Banks. If all transactions migrate online in future, the
issue of authorised signatories to cheques will not arise.)
6. Register of Members : As your existing
office bearers will be your first members, you should already open a
spreadsheet to serve as a Register of Members and include the details of
yourself and your office bearers. The register of members should contain
details such as the full name, IC number, residential address, mobile phone
& email address, as well as the date that the member joined and also the
date that his/her subscription will expire (if they are Ordinary Members).
Hope the above is
helpful! J Comments, questions or
requests to cover particular topics, email me at spiral1701@gmail.com.
