A civil association is a non-profit organization that works with a certain objective.
The act and consequence of associating or associating are called association . This concept is also used to refer to the group of associated individuals and the entity that brings together several people who share the same objective.
Civil , for its part, is a notion that can be associated with citizenship and with that which does not belong to the orbit of the State (that is, its management is private and not state).
A civil association is a private organization that has legal status and is not profit-oriented . These associations are made up of natural persons who work together for a social , educational, cultural or other purpose.
Importance of a civil association
The importance of civil association is incalculable, in that it represents a means for citizens to get involved in the public space and regulate the actions of the government, while giving voice to the various groups of people who are victims of negligence. There is no better way to grow as a society than to shorten the distance that separates the leaders from the people , an effort that brings, among many other benefits, the acquisition of invaluable wisdom to avoid manipulation.
Although there is no shortage of messages in favor of civil associations and the benefits they can bring to coexistence in society, it is not common to expose the many challenges that their creation entails, the numerous and strict requirements that must be overcome during the start-up stage to prevent the entire effort from disappearing after a few months in a sea of legal problems.
A civil association aims to improve some aspect of the community.
How to establish it
And to create and develop a civil association, the hard work and interest of its members is not enough; If the objective is to build a stable organization capable of lasting, then they must comply with a series of obligations from day one. There are many procedures, as well as the government offices to visit, and at each step it is necessary to make crucial decisions that, little by little, shape the final structure .
It is not possible to guarantee one hundred percent the success of a civil association by following a magic recipe, but there are certain tips that can avoid headaches in the future. Perhaps the fundamental point is to bring together the right people , the group of people who are willing to genuinely dedicate themselves to the pursuit of objectives, without allowing individual interests to get in the way and generate fissures.
Broadly speaking, we can say that the steps to establish a civil association are the following: decision of the name and registration of the same in the appropriate organization; definition of the corporate purpose; decision of the type of participants; establishment of governing bodies; designation of the legal representative; preparation of the statutes and internal regulations ; definition of institutional policies; preparation of the assembly minutes.
Civil associations in different countries
The way to establish a civil association varies according to the country. Generally, the law establishes certain conditions for its formation and operation, such as the presentation of its statutes to the public administration, the existence of a minimum number of members and the development of accounting whose data is available to all members.
An example of this type of organization is the Civil Association for Equality and Justice ( ACIJ ), which was created in Argentina in 2002 with the objective of ensuring respect for the National Constitution .
The Association of Librarians of Uruguay ( ABU ) is also a civil association, whose headquarters are located in the city of Montevideo . Its purpose is to represent, defend and promote the interests of the country's librarians.
It should be noted that civil associations can be included in the group of NGOs : non-governmental organizations.