npo.gov.za : Non Profit Organisations Online Registration

Organisation : Department of Social Development (DSD)
Facility Name : NPO Online Registration (Non Profit Organisations)
Country : South Africa
Website : https://www.npo.gov.za/

How To Register an NPO Online?

The Register of Nonprofit Organisations (NPOs) is a voluntary registration facility that enhances the credibility of the registered NPO as it reports to a public office. The NPO Directorate, as a public office, holds information about registered NPOs for the public to access. This thus, increases the transparency and accountability of the organisation beyond its immediate role-plays.

Related / Similar Facility : Find NPO Online

This accountability and transparency improves the governance of an organisation as it is also expected that a registered NPO must comply with the requirements of the NPO Act. The NPO registration status is also a funding requirement for most donor and funding agencies. The national NPO registration facility therefore brings NPOs into a public system that allows for information about the sector to be gathered and made publicly available which in many ways increases the confidence of the public in the nonprofit sector.

To apply for registration as a NPO, organisations fill-in a prescribed application form and submit it to the Directorate for Nonprofit Organisations with two copies of the organisation’s founding document i.e. a constitution for a volunteer association; memorandum and articles of association with the company’s registration letter for a not-for-profit company; and a deeds of trust with the trustees authorisation letter for a trust. The founding document of the organisation must meet the requirements of section 12 of the NPO Act.

Steps:
Register an NPO online. It’s quicker and more convenient. Organisations such as trusts, companies or other associations established for a public purpose may apply for registration.

Step-1 : Go to the link https://www.npo.gov.za/PublicNpo/WebApplicationCase/Register
Step-2 : Fill the Online Registration Form and
Step-3 : Submit Form

Voluntary Association:
Association is an organisation established in terms of Common Law and abides in terms of the Common Law. It requires an agreement in the form of written or unwritten constitution between three or more people

Not for Profit Companies:
Nonprofit Company (NPC) is established and incorporated in terms of the Companies Act No. 71 of 2008. It is registered with the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission (CIPC) and requires memorandum of incorporation

Trust:
Trust is established and has to abide by the Trust Property Control Act (57 of 1988). It is registered with the Master of the High Court and requires the Deeds of Trust (or Trust Deeds)

Note:
The required fields will be viewable on the website as contact details for the organisations, should members of the public wish to contact the organisation.

Instructions On NPO Registration

Once the organisation is registered, it is obligated, in terms of sections 18 and 19, to submit within nine (9) months after the end of its financial year, annual reports (a narrative report, annual financial statement and an accounting officer’s report) including any changes to the organisation’s constitution, physical address and office bearers.

A thirty (30) days notice is served to all those registered NPOs whose reports are due as per requirements of section 20 of the NPO Act. Failure to comply with this notice, an organisation registration status is cancelled in terms of section 21 for the NPO Act.

Once an organisation has been cancelled, deregistered or dissolved, as the case may be, it is a criminal offence, in terms of section 29, for any such organisation to represent itself as being validly registered in terms of the NPO Act. The offence is also extended to a person(s) using the registration number of another organisation’s and making any false representation in any report submitted to in terms of this Act. A person(s) convicted for these offences is liable to a fine or to imprisonment or to both fine and imprisonment, in terms of section 30 of the NPO Act.

What is NPO?

The Nonprofit Organisations Directorate was established in terms of the Nonprofit Organisations Act 71 of 1997 to essentially administer the Register of Nonprofit Organisations in South Africa. The primary aim of the NPO Act is to create an enabling environment for NPOs, setting and maintaining adequate standards of governance and accountability by providing a voluntary registration facility for non-profit organisations.

An NPO is defined, in terms of section 1 of the NPO Act, as a trust, company or other association of persons established for a public purpose and of which its income and property are not distributable to its members or office bearers except as reasonable compensation for services rendered. Nongovernmental organisations (NGOs) and community based organisations (CBOs) are collectively known as nonprofit organisations (NPOs). In some instance, NPOs are also referred to as Civil Society Organisations (CSO).