Establishing Spiritual and Legal Governance
Create a Constitution
Use your blueprint to set the governance of your organisation .Set the ethos and how it will be protected .Define membership rules and rights .How decisions will be made
Create a Constitution
Authority and executive powers .Limit Liabilities .Define clearly mission and purpose – objects .Rules for changing the constitution.
Maintain spiritual oversight
Benches, mountains and members .Trustees, directors, staff, employees .How will it work in practice?
Organisational Structures
What suits you? No right or wrong but you must future proof .Understand your risks – due diligence .The scale of your vision should be matched by the strongest organisational framework – do not be tempted to choose the easy option .Ensure people and assets are properly protected.
What powers do you need?
Accept donations .Employ staff or directors .Own tangible assets/land .Borrow money/mortgage/lease.
What powers do you need?
Trade – buy and sell .Contract (e.g. provide a service) .Grant/give away .Hold a bank account
Common structures – UK
Club or society .Trust .Charitable Incorporated Organisation .Charitable Company Limited by Guarantee .Limited Company
Not for Profit structures USA
Non Profit corporations .Trusts – not a separate legal entity .Unincorporated associations .Limited Liability Company (LLC)
Club or Society
Ideal for small groups with a small project .Simple to set up .Needs a constitution – committee .Personal liability .No ability to contract .Bank accounts held in personal names .Contracts done by committee members.
Trust
Formal version of a club/society .Members agree to act as a group .Can be a charity .No ability to contract .Cannot borrow .Trustees have personal liability.
Charitable Incorporated Organisation
Not a company .Incorporated through Charity Commission – simplified governance. Charity number issued on set up .Limited liability for trustees .Asset lock .Can contract and borrow .Cannot become a company .Suitable for small to medium organizations.
Charitable Company
Limited liability .Registered at Companies House and issued charity number.Legal entity – can contract, borrow and own assets .Well understood .No asset lock .Can cease to be a charity and still exist.
Limited Company by Guarantee
Private limited company .No shares, limited by a members’ guarantee .Employ .Trade .Contract, borrow and own assets .Distribute or reinvest profits .Cannot accept “donations”.
Your blueprint can help you decide
Governance and authority – long term view .Activities – services, contractual arrangements .Work with other organisations .Liability and risk .Managing assets, including money .Charitable, Social Enterprise or For Profit.
Be wise – seek advice
Lay good foundations .Humility is essential – don’t be too proud to ask .Collaborate – you may go fast alone, but you will go far together .Accept you must render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s.
Be wise – seek advice
Value advice and honour it financially – free is not always good .Have an excellence mindset.Learn from the mistakes of others .Don’t reinvent the wheel .Avoid “not invented here” syndrome.
What will see you through?
Knowing your mandates and authority .A clear vision and mission – blueprint .Clear governance – roles and responsibilities defined .A collaborative attitude – draw people to you – share .
What will see you through?
Passion and heart – determination in the face of obstacles .Good organisation, management and administration .Christian Passion, Professional Excellence – doing everything to the highest standard.
What does a blueprint look like?
What does a blueprint look like? A blueprint can be depicted as a map, or a journey, linking the activities/inputs of a ministry, programme, intervention or organisation to the outputs and intermediate and long-term outcomes experienced by members, service users, and other stakeholders.
What does a blueprint look like?
Illustrates links between the activities you deliver and the changes you anticipate creating for beneficiaries. It requires you to explore your assumptions .blueprint development is a process – a structured thinking process that allows groups to turn theories about what needs to be done into a pathway .It’s also a product – a document that illustrates the results of the blueprint process.
Developing a written blueprint – why bother?
Making good decisions and plan services – understanding the links between the things that you plan to do and how they create change (both intended and unintended) .Creates a clear strategy .Tests your assumptions about your work – and acts as a check for what you do and don’t do as an organisation – keeping you “on mission”
Developing a written blueprint – why bother?
Gets people involved – pull in different stakeholders to work together to shape and evaluate projects .Identifying opportunities – for collaboration, partnership working, developing new services – release people to their destinies! .Provides clarity for trustees, staff, users and other stakeholders – so everyone has a shared vision about what the organisation is seeking to achieve, how and for whom
Developing a written blueprint – why bother?
Building a name – a brand that speaks of your values and to the values of beneficiaries (yes, Jesus is our brand but you are his ambassadors) .Monitoring what works – monitoring ensures you know what makes a difference and what needs changing .A good blueprint will illustrate and explain everything about your project, but it must be capable of communicating your vision.
Developing a written blueprint – why bother?
A visual representation of the project you want to see and how you expect it to come about – spiritually and earthly .A benchmark for evaluation with measurable indicators of success identified (activities).An agreement among stakeholders about what defines success and what it takes to get there .A powerful communication tool to capture the complexity of your initiative.
Developing a written blueprint – why bother?
Your blueprint is likely to include a map, or series of maps, of your aims, outcomes and the activities and outputs that you believe will lead to your long-term aim .This may be accompanied by a list of assumptions and a narrative demonstrating the linkages between different elements of the model.
A note about Assumptions:
An assumption is a statement that is presumed to be true without concrete evidence to support it. In the business world, assumptions are used in a wide variety of situations to enable companies to plan and make decisions in the face of uncertainty.
Clarifying assumptions
You will have made a series of assumptions about your project’s potential to achieve its specified outcomes. .Recognising these assumptions helps you identify some of the critical factors affecting the success of your project. It will also help you to shape how you deliver your services. You will want to evaluate and track progress so it is important to document them.
Clarifying assumptions
There are different categories of assumption; the important ones are likely to be about the following: People .Operational delivery .Jurisdiction
Relational
How do different areas of authority work together – mountains, benches, staff? Do you assume everyone will have the same level of commitment and passion? Have you assumed who will take what roles and responsibilities? .What do you assume about your beneficiaries’ behaviour? .Just because people use the same words, do not assume everyone means the same thing!
Operational Delivery
Links between programme activities and the outcomes they are expected to produce – under- or over-estimating skills, resources, time needed, etc. What have you assumed about contextual or environmental factors that may influence whether outcomes are achieved? Unforeseen issues – legal, political, economic, social, opposition.
Jurisdiction
Heavenly jurisdiction doesn’t always match earthly jurisdiction .Be sure you have understood boundaries .Be aware of earthly structures that already have authority.
A note about using legislation
Get or use the right laws to create the conditions for your mandate to manifest .Use laws to create order, administration and peace .Do not try to usurp or force .Beware the law of unintended consequences.
Remember the importance of mandates first
If it isn’t established in heaven it won’t be established on earth .You are aiming to create a shadow of a heavenly blueprint on the earth .Your mandates will determine your success.
Remember the importance of mandates first
If you don’t have one, get one or get out! The mandate gives access to the resources of heaven.It produces favour on the Earth .If you accept it, you are responsible for it!