The name of your organisation
Updated September 2007
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The Charities Act says that your organisation’s name must not be offensive or mislead the public.
The first question asked on the application form for registration under the Charities Act 2005 is for the “legal name” of your organisation.
To be accepted for registration, your organisation must have a name that complies with section 15 of the Charities Act. This means it cannot be offensive or liable to mislead the public.
If your organisation is an incorporated society, a company, a charitable trust or has been established under another Act, its full “legal name” complies with the Charities Act.
What is your “legal name”?
It should be the name that is used on formal documents such as your rules, trust deed or other governing document. There may be a clause in your rules that states your full and correct “legal name”.
It is the name you are registered under if you are already an incorporated society, registered charitable trust or a company.
If your organisation is not one described above then its “legal name” is the most formal - and often the longest - name that it is known by. You should use this name as your “legal name” when you apply to us for registration.
It is important to include words like “The”, “Te”, “Trust”, “Inc”, “Incorporated”, “NZ”, or “New Zealand” if they are part of your name.
“Legal name” and the Charities Act
While the Act says that your organisation’s name must not be offensive or mislead the public it also says that names of organisations incorporated under the:
- Incorporated Societies Act 1908
- Charitable Trusts Act 1957
- Companies Act 1993
or established or constituted by another Act, comply with section 15 of the Charities Act. So, we do not review the names of these organisations for offensive or misleading criteria.
What happens if your charity has more than one name?
We ask you to include any other names your organisation is known by in your application for registration. If your application is successful, this information will be included on the Charities Register, for the benefit of the public.
What criteria do we use to decide whether your name is offensive?
We use a similar approach to the Registrar of Companies. So a name may be considered offensive if it is:
- obscene
- contrary to public policy (not acceptable to the majority of the general public, for example, a name that shows racial prejudice or includes “hate” speech)
- liable to offend a particular section of the community or a particular religion.
What criteria do we use to decide whether your name is misleading?
The Commission looks at whether your name:
- could mislead someone about your purpose because it indicates a purpose different from those stated in your rules
- implies a connection with another organisation which appears not to be the case (we will give you the opportunity to provide information to show that you do have a connection)
- is identical or similar enough to the name of another organisation already registered with the Companies office or the Charities Commission to cause confusion
- would constitute an offence against any Act, including the Flags, Emblems, and Names Protection Act 1981.
What happens if another organisation uses a similar name?
If your organisation’s name is similar to the name of an organisation that you have some connection with, please include some information about that connection with your application.
When we receive your application we check the “legal name” against the Companies Office database and the Charities Register to see if the name already belongs to, or is very similar to, an existing company, incorporated society, charitable trust or registered charitable entity.
We look at whether any similarity might be misleading and write to you for more information about your name, if we need it.
We also write to you if there is an issue that might result in your application being declined. We will clearly outline the reasons why and give you a reasonable time to respond.
The Commission advises you if it decides to decline your application after considering your response. You then have the right to appeal to the High Court.
You are able to re-apply with a different name at any time.