Registered Charities
Updated April 2010
We encourage you to use all available methods to resolve disputes internally, before contacting us.
Sometimes, disputes can occur between a charity's members, within its governing and management bodies or between the charity and a third party such as a landlord or supplier.
It is important that the officers or management of a charity resolve disputes quickly, because they can have a negative impact on how a charity operates.
On this page:
A serious disagreement, which left unresolved, can lead to a breakdown in the effective governance and day-to-day management of a charity.
The Charities Act may define officers differently to the way your rules define them.
If your organisation is a trust, your officers are your current trustees and no one else. If it is not a trust, your officers are all the members of your highest governing body and no one else. A governing body is usually appointed at an annual meeting and is often called a board or committee. An officer may be a person or a body corporate – for example, a company.
Are responsible for the day-to-day management of a charity's operation and for carrying out the decisions of the officers.
Are the document or documents that set out a charity's purposes, what it does, and how it operates. They may be its governing document, constitution, trust deed, charter, or an Act of Parliament (if the organisation was specifically set up under one).
Is a process involving an independent person appointed by the people who are in dispute. The mediator helps them reach a solution. It is a private and confidential process and as the solution is reached by agreement between those involved, it is more likely to provide a long-term resolution.
If the dispute has the potential to damage your charity it is important that you resolve it quickly and by working in the best interests of the charity.
Your charity should have set policies and procedures for resolving disputes and complaints. These may be set out in your rules or in a separate policy document. Following these written procedures should enable disputes to be resolved quickly and internally.
If there are no set procedures as described above, the process breaks down, or the written procedures need clarification, one or more of the people involved in the dispute should look for help from outside the charity.
An outside person or organisation will provide a fresh perspective and may help facilitate a quick solution.
You could consider:
You should seek help from an independent professional advisor if the dispute is about contractual or other property rights which are matters between the charity and a third party. For example:
You should also seek professional advice if the dispute is connected with a planning application or control of property development.
Employing the services of a professional mediator can be a quick and cost effective way to resolve a dispute. We have listed the contact details of some mediation services at the end of this document.
Please note that if you decide to take the matter to a disputes tribunal or a court, the tribunal or court will expect mediation to have taken place before they hear your case.
We encourage you to use all available methods to resolve the dispute before you contact us. If you wish to make a complaint to the Commission and you are sure all possible steps have been taken to resolve the matter, you should send us written details of your complaint, supported by evidence. See our information sheet Complaints for more details about how to do this.
Our focus will be on finding a workable solution to the problem.
If, after receiving your written complaint, we decide that your concerns require our involvement, we will assess the facts and determine the most appropriate course of action within the boundaries of the Charities Act.
Where information or education for the charity or another party is appropriate, we will aim to provide it and try to secure a positive outcome for the charity.
The Commission may provide information or education including:
How we provide a solution will depend on the level of risk involved to the charity's activities, beneficiaries, property or reputation and the likelihood of a successful outcome.
Once a course of action has been agreed, we expect all parties to commit to implementing the solution.
We will consider exercising our powers under the Charities Act when there is evidence of:
If the issue cannot be corrected, or the charity is not willing to comply with the Act, then formal action, including removal from the Register, is likely.
We decide the best course of regulatory action to take based on an assessment of the:
The options available to us include providing information, education and help to comply with the Charities Act, enforcement, and, as a last resort, removal from the Register.
Enforcement options include issuing warning notices, publishing notices on the charity's listing on the Register, administrative penalties, or prosecution for offences under the Charities Act.
We can prosecute an organisation if it falsely claims that it is a registered charity, or if it does not provide required information or documents to us.
We may remove a charity from the Register if:
We will inquire into any person who is engaged in conduct in breach of the Charities Act or where there is serious wrongdoing in connection with a registered charity. We do this if we consider the enquiry is reasonably necessary for the purposes of carrying out our functions and exercising our powers under the Act.
We are unlikely to investigate disputes that relate to contractual, employment, or service delivery matters.
We won't become involved if your concern is about a decision made by the officers of the charity that is within the law or within the rules of the charity.
Also, we cannot overrule a decision, including deciding policy, made by officers that is within their powers to make, simply because others do not agree with it.
Deciding policy is a key part of officers' freedoms and responsibilities, and may include:
Criminal offences and failure to comply with obligations under other legislation
Criminal offences should be reported to the Police or another relevant law enforcement agency. If charities, or anyone connected with them, are suspected of committing a criminal offence, we will refer the matter to the appropriate law enforcement agency.
Failure to comply with obligations under other legislation should be reported to the relevant government department or agency (for example the Registrar of Incorporated Societies, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Health, or the Human Rights Commission)
We won't become involved in an issue if another organisation can more appropriately deal with it. The following list includes contact details of some agencies that offer specialist help.
See these other information sheets:
Resolving disputes affecting your charity
The information on this webpage is available in PDF format for you to view, download, or print.
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