Head of practice
Head of Corporate Law and Fintech Practice. Expert in the creation and reorganization of companies, support of M&A transactions, as well as legal support for opening and running a business in the EU, Asia, and North America.
Registration of a charitable fund
Someone wants to systematically help animal shelters, someone wants to finance children’s treatment, someone is building a foundation to rebuild destroyed infrastructure. Sooner or later, everyone who does a good deed seriously, and not just by a one-time transfer in stories, faces the same question: how to do it legally so that money can be received in an account, reported to donors, and not have to explain to the tax authorities where the receipts came from. The answer is the registration of a charitable foundation. The Prikhodko & Partners company provides support for such registrations from choosing the form to the first tax report, so in this material — strictly to the point about the process.
What is a charitable foundation and how does it differ from a public organization?
A charitable foundation is a legal entity created to accumulate and distribute funds for socially useful purposes: medicine, education, social protection, culture, defense. Unlike a public organization, which primarily protects the interests of its members, a foundation works for third parties — those who are being helped. This is a fundamental difference that is often confused at the planning stage, resulting in the charter having to be redrafted later.
When is the registration of a charitable foundation needed?
You can collect money on a card without any registration for a month or a year. But there is a moment when an individual ceases to cope with the scale:
- an official bank account is needed for regular receipts, rather than a personal card with suspicious activity;
- donors — companies or international organizations — require a legal entity to transfer funds;
- there is a need for tax benefits for non-profit activities;
- transparent financial reporting is needed that can be shown to inspectors and donors;
- the activity goes beyond a single fundraiser and becomes an ongoing assistance program.
If at least two items from the list already apply to you, you should have registered yesterday.
What tasks does registration solve and what risks arise without it?
Registering a foundation solves three practical tasks: it legalizes the receipt of funds, provides access to non-profit status, and builds trust — a foundation with a valid charter and public reporting raises fewer questions than fundraising through private details. Without registration, the founder risks personally: funds in a personal account are their income from the tax authority’s point of view until proven otherwise, and proving it retroactively is harder than it seems. Add to this the inability to receive grants from international donors who work exclusively with legal entities, and the issue of registration ceases to be a formality.
Organizational and legal forms of charitable organizations
In Ukraine, the legislation provides for three forms of charitable organizations, and the choice between them determines who will manage the foundation and how in the future.
| Form | Management | Who it suits |
|---|---|---|
| Charitable foundation | Founders form the property, management is carried out by the board | The most common form for systemic charitable activities |
| Charitable institution | Founders determine the goal and transfer funds, without the right to vote in current management | Suitable for targeted capital with a clear mission |
| Charitable society | A membership organization, decisions are made by the general meeting | Suitable for uniting like-minded people around a common cause |
In the practice of Prikhodko & Partners, the vast majority of clients choose exactly the foundation — management flexibility is the highest here, and reporting requirements are clearer than those of an institution.
What is included in the charitable foundation registration service?
The comprehensive service covers not only the submission of documents to the registrar but the entire chain of actions up to the moment when the foundation can legally accept funds:
- consultation on choosing the organizational and legal form and name;
- development of the charter taking into account the goals of the activity and the requirements for non-profit organizations;
- preparation of the minutes of the founders’ meeting and the registration application;
- state registration with the justice authorities;
- entering the foundation into the Register of Non-Profit Institutions and Organizations;
- assistance in opening a bank account and initial reporting support.
Documents required for registration
To start the process, you will need:
- passport data and registration numbers of the founders’ taxpayer cards;
- information about the legal address of the foundation;
- agreed name (checked for uniqueness);
- decision of the founders on creating the foundation and approving the charter;
- data about the governing body — who is included in the board.
If there are foreigners or non-resident legal entities among the founders, the list expands — and this is the nuance that often surfaces after submitting documents if not checked in advance.
How we provide the service
- Consultation. We determine the goal of the foundation, choose the form, and check the name for conflicts with already registered organizations.
- Document preparation. We develop a charter for specific activity goals, rather than copying a template from the Internet — this is exactly the part where tax problems arise later if done carelessly.
- Submission for registration. We prepare the full package and submit it to the registrar, monitoring deadlines and addressing remarks if they arise.
- Obtaining non-profit status. We submit an application to include the foundation in the Register of Non-Profit Institutions — without this step, the benefits do not apply.
- Launch support. We help open an account and deal with the first reporting (if necessary, paid separately) so that the foundation starts working and doesn’t get stuck at the paperwork stage.
Advantages of working with us
- We carry out turnkey registration — from choosing the form to non-profit status, without the need to run between instances yourself.
- We prepare the charter individually for the purpose of the foundation, taking into account the specifics of the activity — medical, educational, humanitarian.
- We check the name and documents before submission, so refusals and resubmissions are extremely rare.
- We consult on further tax reporting, rather than disappearing immediately after registration.
- We understand the specifics of working with foreign founders and international grantors.
- Prikhodko & Partners works with charitable organizations systematically, so we cover typical pitfalls at the consultation stage.
Do you want to create a charitable foundation and legally raise funds for important initiatives? Avoid bureaucratic mistakes and refusals. Contact the lawyers of the Prikhodko & Partners company for the turnkey registration of your organization — from a proper charter to opening an account!
Calculate the cost of services
1 question
Do you need advice on fund registration?
2 question
Are you planning to receive international grants or funding?
3 question
Will the founder of the fund be a resident of Ukraine?
How much time does it take to register a charitable foundation in Ukraine?
In the absence of remarks from the registrar, the entire process — from submitting documents to obtaining non-profit status — takes approximately two to three weeks. If there are foreigners among the founders, the period may increase.
Is it possible to register a charitable foundation remotely without being in Ukraine?
Yes, with an electronic signature or a power of attorney for a representative, most actions can be performed without the personal presence of the founders at each stage.
Is a charitable foundation obliged to pay taxes?
A foundation with the status of a non-profit organization is exempt from income tax, provided that the funds are used exclusively for statutory activities and are not distributed among the founders — this is the basic condition for maintaining the benefit.
You may also need:
Closing and Terminating an LLC in Europe
Read more
License for gaming machine halls
Read more
Internet casino license
Read more
Hazardous waste license
Read more
License for professional activity on the securities market in Ukraine
Read more
Legal Opinion Letter
Read more
Increase of authorized capital
Read more
Obtaining a license for passenger transportation
Read more
Obtaining a license for an educational institution
Read more
Liquidation of problematic assets in Ukraine
Read more
Obtaining a license for collection in Ukraine
Read more
Buy a financial company in Ukraine
Read morecall back
during the day
Telegram
Viber
WhatsApp
Facebook
Instagram