Organised civil society plays a critical role in building participatory democracy, in promoting a culture of human rights and in facilitating socio-economic development for millions of poor and disadvantaged people. The work of non-profit organisations (NPOs) within civil society is indispensable to the growth of democracy and socio-economic development.

Throughout the last 40 years, NPOs have played an important role in the downfall of apartheid and the transition to democracy. NPOs continue to contribute valuable resources, skills and expertise to the national building process in South Africa. Through the medium of NPOs, the State is able to implement important programmes that are vital to the development and well-being of the most marginalised and which require the flexibility of NPOs: for example, disaster intervention or home-based care which has taken on a critical role in relation to the HIV/AIDS pandemic. NPOs also facilitate the processes of consultation with larger communities, enabling an expansion of participation that various policies and legislation seek. There are examples of these around municipal planning processes and the development of water catchment management structures.

The LRC recognises that NPOs have to comply with various rigorous demands and seeks to assist these organisations to meet some of these new legal challenges. The LRC also seeks to promote good governance and accountability within the non-profit sector in order to strengthen civil society and contribute to socio-economic development in South Africa.

The specific objectives of our NPO support work are:

• To provide legal assistance and support to NPOs so that they may establish appropriate legal entities and register with the relevant authorities.
• To assist NPOs with their establishment and registration in terms of the Nonprofit Organizations Act, No. 71 of 1997.
• To provide theoretical and practical training to law graduates, candidate attorneys and other legal professionals with regard to laws that deal with NPOs.
• To promote better co-operation and co-ordination between NPOs and the State.
• To make meaningful contributions to public policy affecting the non-profit sector in terms of new legislation, including in connection with developing a more progressive tax regime for NPOs.
• To develop and disseminate resource materials for NPOs on practical legal matters that affect community-based organisations (CBOs) and NGOs alike.
• To provide insights with regard to fund-raising and the drawing up of proposals and reports.
• Conducting ‘train the trainers’ workshops to equip trainers to train rural CBOs in matters pertaining to the establishment and running of NGOs and CBOs.
• Advocating for the creation of additional mechanisms to enable and facilitate the work of NPOs.
• Monitoring the administration of the new provisions of the Income Tax Act and the Non-profit Organisations Act, No. 71 of 1997 which directly affect NGOs.

Client assistance:
The LRC also provides specific advice and assistance to NPOs on request to the extent that it is able to do so.

Training workshops:
Workshops have been conducted in Limpopo, Northern Cape, Gauteng, Eastern Cape, KwaZulu- Natal and Western Cape. The workshops have been hosted in partnership with the Non-Profit Partnership, Partners With After School Care Projects (PASCAP), Cape Child and Youth Development (CACYD) and Namakwa Katolieke Ontwikkeling (NAMCO). The objective is to strengthen the non-profit sector by holding workshops relevant to the needs of NPOs, of which at least some must be organised at venues that are more easily accessed by rural area-based organisations.

Publications:
The LRC has produced information booklets that are distributed to NPOs free of charge. Please visit the 'Documents' section in our website to download these publications.