What Are The Documents Required For NGO Registration?

A Non-Governmental Organisation or NGO is an organisation independent of government influence. It simply means that a person or a group will independently run the organisation to help the society or nation. As per the UN Department of global communication, an NGO is "a non for profit, voluntary citizens group organised on a local, national or international level to address issues in support of the public good."

NGOs are non-profitable organisations, which implies that the organisation does not work for any profit-making business. Instead, all the funds and charity are used to run the organisation and help the cause of the NGO it is working towards. These organisations work for causes like educational, medical, climate protection, human rights, helping the disabled, etc.

NGOs can be classified as-

• Orientation - The type of activities an NGO undertakes, such as activities involving human rights, consumer protection, environmentalism, health, or development.
• Level of operation indicates the level at which an organisation works; local, regional, national, or international.

Types of NGOs according to orientation-

Charity - An organisation that works to collect funds for some cause or someone in need. These organisations act as mediocre between person/group landing funds to person/group receiving funds.

Service - These organisations assist the people/group in need. Services like- healthcare, education, etc.

Participatory - Local involvement is also made by volunteers or people doing charity in money, land, materials, tools, etc.

Empowerment - It works to increase awareness regarding financial, healthcare schemes, or any general knowledge to backward people/community which could benefit them.

NGOs work to help and support people/communities/regions that lack general facilities like education, healthcare facilities, etc. It also works for other social and environmental causes. More than 31 Lakh NGOs are working for such causes in India, and more and more people are coming forward to help others.

An NGO can be opened by anyone willing to give time, energy, and service to the cause they may like to work for. NGOs can be run by a single person or a group of persons as well.

If you wish to work and help someone with fewer resources, you can also open an NGO. An NGO would help to get people's support and make them believe in you and your cause. If you have a registered NGO, then the public will believe in you and your cause and could help you in any way they would like to.

To register for an NGO, you first need some documents for registration, and it is the whole process for validation and authentication for such work.

NGO registration in India can be done under three categories -

Trust - In this category of NGO minimum of 2 members are needed as directors of the NGO. Out of 2, one must be a permanent resident of India.

Society - It is a bigger organisation than trust in which a minimum of 7 people as directors are required.

Section 8 company - It can be registered online and requires a minimum of 2 people as directors to open a section 8 company NGO.

You can choose which category you want to register your NGO according to your requirement and depend upon the cause and scale at which you would like to work.

To register an NGO, you would require some documents of directors of the organisation and an office as a working place. Here is the list of documents required for NGO registration:-

• Identity Proof - Aadhar Card, Voter ID, etc., of both the directors in case of trust or section 8 company and of all seven directors in case of society.
• Proof of residence - It is required of each director in any category of NGO.
• Passport
• Registered office address proof - If the office place is rented, you can also give rent agreement documents for verification.
• PAN of each director
• You need to fill an application form, which you can get from the government office or online if available.
• One or more witnesses depending upon the category and as mentioned in the application form.
• Digital signature certificate of directors (In case of online registration)
• Bank statements of all directors,
• Passport size photos
• Memorandum of association - It should have the organisation's name, area of operation, Register office, objective, etc.
• Rules and regulation of NGO - A document with all the responsibilities and powers of promoters, NGO aim, memberships, meetings, etc.
• KYC of each director.
• Memorandum and rules and regulations should be well drafted and attested by the Notary public, oath commissioner, gazetted officer, etc.
• Registration fees - It is applicable depending upon the category you open an NGO.

The process of registration of NGOs in India will approximately take around 15-30 days.

Also, if you feel you need to get some experience and knowledge before starting an NGO on how all these organisations work, we would recommend you go and work volunteering in an NGO working for the cause you wish and gain some experience.

FAQs

Q. Do I need to give expense records to donors as well?

Ans. It might not be mandatory to give an expense record to the donor of how you used their donation but, if you provide them with the record, then the authenticity of your organisation will not be questioned later.

Q. How can I raise funds for my organisation?

Ans. You can raise funds for your organisation by collecting money from your members. Also, you can schedule an awareness campaign about your organisation in your locality or on social media and ask people to help and donate for the cause.

Q. Do NGOs need to pay tax?

Ans. Yes, Under section 12A, all NGOs are required to pay income tax. NGOs can be exempted from paying tax if their income does not lie in the range of taxable income.

Q. Are there any tax benefits for donors?

Ans. Yes, Under section 80G, a part of the amount one contributes to an NGO qualifies for a tax deduction. The upper limit for this has been set to 10% of your total gross income. Within this too, while donations of some organisations are 100% exempt from tax, while others are 50%.

Q. Under which act NGOs in India are registered?

Ans. Non-profit NGOs are registered under these acts.

1) Indian trust act 1882.

2)Indian societies act 1860.

3) Indian companies act 1956.

Q. Where can I get more details regarding the registration of NGOs in India?

Ans. You can look at the government portal NGO Darpan (ngodarpan.gov.in) for more details regarding NGOs in India, acts and benefits of NGO registration, and detailed registration procedures. You can also look at (ngoregistration.org) for some details.

Q. When is an NGO eligible for government funding?

Ans. An NGO is eligible for government funding only after three years. However, in some cases, they are eligible after one year as well.

Q. Do I need to open a bank account under the NGO name?

Ans. Yes, you should open a bank account under the NGO name, which will make all the payments from donors easy, and they can also send money without any worry.

Q. Does an NGO have to be registered?

Ans. In principle, an NGO does not have to be registered to perform charitable welfare work. However, some specific activities can only be achieved if the NGO is registered under a country's act or the law, especially fund-raising.