I want to open a charity organization in South Africa...?

Question

Please can you tell me step by step exactly how to do it

Thanx

Answer 1

1. Your request is excessive, but I can point you in the right direction, with the help of some webpages. You haven't given any indication of the charity's purpose, its likely size etc., so you have not done yourself any favours. Anyway, basically you need to do these things:
a) check there is no similar charity in existence;
b) get a group of supporters - you can't do it alone;
c) consider what the potential for funding is - grants (public sector and trusts), donations (businesses and wealthy individuals), other fundraising (collection boxes, special events);
d) consider how you are to undertake the charitable activities - by employees or volunteers;
e) have some formality - even if you do not have to register, you should have an appropriate name, a constitution, elected officers, meetings (including an AGM).

2. General Guidance
a) The Charity Governance Blog - it's a US site, but it discusses matters in general terms.
http://charitygovernance.blogs.com/charity_governance/2004/09/starting_a_char.html
b) Charity Commission of England & Wales - it gives some useful guidance, even though it has been produced to help UK charities which wish to register.
http://www.charity-commission.gov.uk/publications/cc21.asp#16
c) Charity Village - it's a Canadian website, which has some useful general advice as well as Canada-specific regulations.
http://www.charityvillage.com/cv/guides/guide4.asp
d) Various other US sites
(i) Foundation Center - it has a 12 stage tutorial for larger charities.
http://foundationcenter.org/getstarted/tutorials/establish/index.html
(ii) Minnesota Council of NonProfits - it has some useful general advice as well as Minnesota-specific regulations.
http://www.mncn.org/info_start.htm
(iii) Michigan State University Libraries - "This web site focuses on nonprofit directories and other web sites (over 100 in all) providing advice or information about running nonprofits."
http://www.lib.msu.edu/harris23/grants/znonprof.htm

3. Registration & Legal/Financial Aspects
a) The International Journal of Not-for-Profit Law - this is an article on registration and regulation of South African NGOs.
http://www.icnl.org/knowledge/ijnl/vol7iss3/art_1.htm
b) Companies and Intellectual Property Registration Office - this agency of the DTI administers the registration of "Associations Not For Gain" as nonprofit companies (Section 21 Registrations) in South Africa.
http://www.cipro.gov.za/products_services/co_regis_section21.asp

4. Directories of existing charities in RSA
a) CharitySA
http://www.charitysa.co.za/
b) International Marketing Council of South Africa
http://www.southafrica.info/ess_info/sa_glance/social_delivery/charities.htm