Charity Option Vote

Following the positive membership vote in August 2021 at the Annual General Meeting on the SDSA becoming a charity, the membership now need to decide on which type of charity structure to adopt.

There are two main things to consider when deciding on a charity structure:

  1. Whether the charity should be run by trustees only, or whether it should have a wider membership.
  2. Whether to have an incorporated structure or to take the simpler, but sometimes riskier, choice of being unincorporated.

For your reference, the SDSA committee have discussed this and our preferred option for the SDSA as a charity is to be run by the wider membership just as it currently does as an Association, and to remain unincorporated and to be an Unincorporated Charitable Association

If you wish to vote in person, there will be an EGM on Monday 20th December at 6pm and you can get the zoom link by emailing [email protected].

Can you please let us know your preferences in the voting form below.

    Please enter your name so that we can confirm that you are a member and entitled to vote*

    Should the SDSA as a charity be run by trustees only or have a wider membership?

    With a membership, members will be consulted when decisions need to be made. Without a membership (Trustees Only) the trustees will have full control and will make all decisions themselves.

    Should the SDSA as a charity be an incorporated organisation or remain unincorporated?

    The SDSA is currently an unincorporated Association and as such benefits from less bureaucracy but should the committee make bad financial decisions, they could be personally liable for any shortfall.

    The current SDSA committee prefer the structure this way and consider this risk to be a small risk, given what the SDSA does. If the SDSA as a charity was incorporated the bureaucracy would increase but the trustees liability would be protected from the limited liability status of the incorporated charity.

    Note: By completing and submitting this voting form you agree to your details being held by the SDSA for the purposes of administering the vote. Your details will only be held while the vote is taking place and will not be passed to any 3rd party agencies.