International charities and not for profit

Many charitable causes, including “environmental, social and governance” issues such as climate change, require global solutions.

Our charity law and not-for-profit team advises commercial organisations, philanthropists, charities and other not-for-profit organisations that work internationally to meet those challenges.

We can help your UK-based charity with the structure and governance of your overseas activities both to manage risk and ensure compliance with UK regulation. If your charity is based overseas, we can assist you with establishing a presence here.

Our team can help you identify the most appropriate structure for your presence in the UK.

We can advise you on your proposed operations in the UK by helping you assess whether to register as an overseas company or branch, or whether a new legal entity is required. We can help you decide on the type of entity, its governance and funding, and provide advice on UK charitable status and the tax treatment of donations.

We can assist with related operational matters such as:

• grants, contracts and other commercial arrangements
• trademark registration
• arrangements for secondees or employees
• immigration sponsorship licences
• transferring existing operations to the UK
• preparing policies and procedures to assist ongoing compliance with UK regulations such as the Bribery Act or the Modern Slavery Act

Our team can also help existing UK based charities and not-for-profit entities in structuring your presence overseas. This may include:

• advice on the appropriate governance relationships with overseas bodies including relationships with US 501(c)3 entities and dual registered charity structures
• structuring international groups, federations and associations
• funding arrangements and
• arrangements for staff and volunteers working abroad
  

Our charity solicitors work exclusively for charities and not-for-profits and several of our lawyers have experience as charity trustees, which lends us a unique insight into the challenges faced by your charity. Our team is close-knit and we have a collaborative approach to working. We pride ourselves on our ability to simplify complex issues and adapt our style to suit your needs.

Industry experience

Examples of our international work include:

• establishing a charity elsewhere in the EU because of concerns about losing EU funding as a result of Brexit
• advising UNICEF on a collaboration agreement with its national charities
• relocation of charities to and from the UK
• supporting the International Water Association with their UK governance and their international operating structure
• working on contracts between Voluntary Service Overseas and the Department for International Development
• participating in multinational collaborations and arrangements for service delivery, including for Plan International UK
• the implications of staff recruited in the UK working in other countries and staff from other countries working in the UK
• on-going work for international federations, including Hostelling International, Consumers International and United World Colleges
• helping Movember to establish an international presence in the UK
• assisting an international federation of health organisations with its relocation from London to Switzerland
• advising on the merger between Plan International and Interact
• establishing the World Dementia Council as a UK Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) and assisting the Associated Country Women of the World with incorporation

Here are some comments made about us.

Our nationally recognised charity team is highly rated in the Legal 500 directory which states that Russell-Cooke "provides service beyond normal legal advice—coordination for complex projects involving multiple advisors and useful strategic insights."
The Legal 500 (2024)

The Legal 500 says our private client team’s “advice is easy to understand and yet very sophisticated”.
The Legal 500 (2024)

Charges are based on hourly rates plus administrative charges and disbursements but we’re flexible and are happy to discuss charging rates in relation to your budget for a particular piece of work. Where there is unpredictability or for the initial stages of a project, we’ll provide an estimate of your likely legal costs and will update this as your requirements or the circumstances of the work change.

For work where we can predict or clearly anticipate the work to be done, we can also act on a fixed or capped fee basis.

We’re happy to discuss your requirements free of charge and will then provide an estimate of costs.