Just Words: A Simple Guide to Common Legal Words in the UK Charity & Non-Profit sector

Legal terms are often hard to understand, especially for those whose first language is not English. Resources that explain jargon are vital, particularly in the charity and non-profit sector where people are often working within and against legal systems to effect change. When communities have access to legal knowledge, they are better positioned to shape the law rather than merely be subject to it.

As this Sistren toolkit highlights: “Legal terminology often defines the constitution, structure, roles, and obligations within an organisation, yet it remains inaccessible to many of the very communities it seeks to serve.”

The toolkit offers a simple A-Z breakdown of common legal words and phrases for those working in and around the UK Charity & Non-Profit Sector.

NOTE: Sistren has also made copies of this guide available in Arabic, Spanish, and Tigrinya. The guide was translated using a certified translations company. The translations were then checked and updated by translators from refugee and migrant communities, to verify the accessibility of the translations for their communities. You can find these translated guides on Sistren’s Toolkits & Resources page. 

Section 1:

Overview & background 

This section covers an overview and background on: what the toolkit is; who it’s for; why it exists; who wrote it; how it should be used; and how it’s licensed.

It also covers what Sistren is with a short introduction summarising the importance of creating easy-to-understand legal resources in the context of migrant justice work.

Additionally, it has a short disclaimer around the limits to what this guide can offer, and a breakdown of its Licensing & Use permissions, outlining its Licensing under Creative Commons.

Section 2:

Just Words

This is the crux of the guide: A really useful alphabetical summary of common legal terms, alongside descriptions of what each term means in plain, easy-to-understand language.

Terms covered include:

Articles of Association; Advocacy; Assets; Asset Lock; Asset Locked Body; Association Structure; Audit; BAME; Barrister; Beneficiary; Board; Board of Directors/Board of Trustees; Capital; Campaigning; CEO/Chief Executive Officer; Charity; Charity Law; Charity Commission; Charity Number; CIC Regulator; Civil Society; Community Benefit Society (CBS)/BenCom; Community/Communities; Community-led/User-led; Community Interest Company (CIC); Companies House; Company (limited by shares or guarantee); Constitution; Co-operative; Core Funding; Corporation Tax; Directors; Dissolution; Dividends; Donation; Donor; Due Diligence; Endowment; Equity; Executive Director; Financial Conduct Authority (FCA); Fiduciary Duty; Fiscal Host/Fiscally Hosted; For-Profit; Foundation; Foundation Structure; Gift Aid; Global Majority; Governance; Governing Document; Grant; Grassroots; HMRC; In-Kind; Incorporation; Legal Personality; Legal Structure/Legal Form; Liabilities; Lived Experience; Members; Memorandum; Not for Profit/Non-Profit Organisation; Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO); Objects/Purpose; Parent Company; Personal Liability; Philanthropy; Political Activity; Pro Bono; Profit; Project Funding; Quorum; Registered Society; Regulator; Reserves; Revenue; Restricted Funds; Ringfence; Share holders; Shares; Social Enterprise; Social Sector and Social Purpose Organisations (SPOs); Sole Trader; Solicitor; Subsidiary; Stakeholders; Third Party; Third Sector; Trustees; Unincorporated; Winding-up.