Charity case

If an RSC local section raises money to help those who have suffered from a natural disaster, is this allowed under the RSC's charitable status? Or could the RSC actually lose its charitable status if all of its sections are involved in such endeavours?

The questions are interesting and the answers are not necessarily obvious. 

The RSC is one of 190,000 charities registered in England and Wales. Being a registered charity brings a number of financial and practical benefits to the RSC. For example, people are more likely to offer time, energy or money to a registered charity and there are significant tax advantages. However the RSC will only remain a registered charity as long as it can prove it is worthy of this status. 

The RSC's regulator is the Charity Commission. It is the independent regulator of charities in England and Wales, and aims to increase charities' effectiveness and public confidence and trust. 

Although the RSC is registered in England and Wales, its activities are far from restricted to these nations.

In order to qualify for charitable status, all charities must have defined aims that are for the 'public benefit'. This has been a long-standing requirement, but until recently, the law simply assumed that for any charity that advances education, religion or relieves poverty, the benefit to the public 
is implicit. 

The Charities Act 2006 saw a number of changes which were significant for the RSC. The overall requirement of having aims that are for public benefit was explicitly included in the definition of a 'charitable purpose'. 

A new category of charitable purposes was also introduced: 'the advancement of the arts, culture, heritage or science'. This was an important and welcome addition that relates to the activities of 
the RSC. 

Providing proof

The RSC has long been communicating its activities through the Annual Review, website and other means. However, now charities will have to explicitly demonstrate that activities are for the public benefit. RSC Members of Council, in their annual Trustees' report, will have to ensure that the public benefit test is satisfied by a review of significant activities, along with details of the RSC's aims, strategies and achievements. 

In order to meet the legal requirements and maintain charitable status, from 2008 the RSC must also be able to demonstrate that all their aims are for the public benefit and any other activities must be small or incidental to what the RSC does. 

The RSC's aims can be expressed in a summary of the RSC's Royal Charter (see box below), and the RSC has clear strategic goals and objectives in order to effectively carry out these aims. 

Neville Reed, Director of Communication and Member Services, explains the significance of the charter: "By disseminating knowledge, advancing standards, and acting in an advisory capacity on scientific matters, the RSC's aims and purposes comply with the requirements.

"However, an important stipulation within the guidelines is that benefits must not be restricted by location, or to those with the ability to pay fees. This means the vast majority of work that the RSC undertakes must benefit the public in general. However the RSC does support the aims and objectives of fee-paying members, when they are related to advancing the science or practice of chemistry."

It is worth noting that any activities of the RSC which are for public benefit, but not outlined in the RSC's aims, do not count towards official assessment of the RSC's activities. Therefore, an RSC local section which holds an event to raise money for disaster relief, or the preservation of the RSC's historic building, Burlington House, solely for the sake of English heritage, are both laudable charitable acts, but are not within the RSC charter and would not count towards justifying the RSC's charitable status. 

However the creation of a chemistry centre at Burlington House which is open to the public, and  an online chemistry centre accessible to all, are activities which will help to fulfil the aims of the charter.

A closed club?

According to the Charity Commission's guidance, charities can charge fees, such as for membership or publications, provided that the charges are reasonable and necessary in order to carry out the charities' aims. For the RSC, revenue from membership and publishing raises the majority of the funds which enable the RSC to carry out its activities. 

Also according to the guidelines, "charities should not be seen as 'exclusive clubs' that only a few can join, since the 'public' benefit from that is very limited. The more open, outward-looking and inclusive the aims, the greater the public benefit." 

Under the new rules the RSC may be subject to more detailed assessments, hence the RSC must be clear how its aims and activities are carried out for the benefit of the public. Therefore Trustees will continue to consider what meeting the public benefit requirement really means and prioritise activities accordingly.