Creating a sports, cultural, environmental, etc. association allows you to realize projects or engage in shared activities. Here are the steps to follow to create your association.
Draft the association’s statutes
When creating an association, you must start by writing the statutes to define the operational rules within the association. For a 1901 law association, three mandatory clauses must be included in the statutes:
● the name of the association,
● the registered office,
● the activities (primary and secondary).
Additional information can also be included:
● the objectives (profitable or not),
● internal regulations,
● the obligations of the members,
● etc.
Organize a General Assembly
The second step is to organize the first General Assembly to bring together all the members of the association. This meeting is conducted in three parts:
● the approval of the association’s statutes by all members,
● the election of the first leaders/officials,
● setting up a schedule to complete the association-related formalities.
Choose the leaders and officials
If the leaders and officials of the association are not listed in the statutes, they can be appointed by the board of directors or during the General Assembly. Generally, three main members make up the board:
● the president,
● the secretary,
● the treasurer.
However, board members can be reinforced by advisors, accountants, etc., depending on the nature of the association.
When the statutes do not specify, a board member can hold multiple positions.
Draft the formalities
Completing the formalities is one of the key elements when creating an association. Not only do they provide legal capacity to the association, but they also serve as information for professionals.
This enables an association to benefit from several advantages such as grants, opening a bank account, starting activities legally, etc.
Consider insurance
Finally, even though insurance remains optional when creating an association, it offers several advantages. For associations interacting with the community, third-party insurance helps cover various damages.
Insurance mainly concerns associations with one or more vehicles or those renting a registered office.
For some associations, civil liability insurance is mandatory, especially for sports associations, travel associations, vacation centers, etc.
To summarize, creating an association is not particularly difficult if you follow the right steps.
