ePolitix.com speaks to Ghulam Rasool, head of the Charity Commission's Faith and Social Cohesion Unit, about its work with faith-based charities.

Registering your faith based charity & place of worship with the Charity Commission

Question: What is the Charity Commission's Faith and Social Cohesion Unit?

Ghulam Rasool: The Faith and Social Cohesion Unit (FSCU), is a dedicated team within the Charity Commission which works to improve the Commission's and society's understanding of faith-based charities.

The FSCU engages with faith communities to identify and support organisations that could be but are not currently registered with the Commission and also assists faith-based charities to improve their standards of governance and accountability and thereby increase their effectiveness. My team works collaboratively to achieve and promote well run and effectively regulated faith-based charities.
The FSCU was set up in 2007, and our team is initially working with mosques and other Muslim charities. A project board including representatives of the Mosques and Imams National Advisory Body (MINAB) directs and evaluates the team's work and provides specialist advice.

How can MPs engage themselves with the work of the Faith and Social Cohesion Unit?

We know how well MPs are linked to communities in their constituencies, so it would really help us if they could highlight the FSCU's work when they engage with faith-based charities locally.

We have focused our outreach work on four areas where our research shows there are a lot of Muslim organisations: the Midlands, London, the North West and Yorkshire and The Humber.

We have some leaflets which explain the benefits of registering as a charity and can help MPs to answer questions. I am always happy to meet MPs to talk about the work we do and how they can get involved, and some MPs have kindly facilitated meetings for us with local mosque leaders, which have been a great way for us to engage. My team of outreach workers is based in our target areas, so we are happy to meet in constituencies.

Question: Can you tell us a little bit more about the Faith and Social Cohesion Unit's latest campaign aimed at mosques and Muslim organisations?

This year, the FSCU ran adverts on four satellite television channels during the festival of Ramadhan. The campaign was one part of the Commission's ongoing work with faith-based charities, and encourages mosques and Muslim organisations that may be charitable to register as charities.

Over Ramadhan many Muslim organisations and mosques around the country will have benefitted from the generosity of those in their communities. However many of these organisations don't realise that registering with the Charity Commission is a legal requirement. It also helps ensure that the donations these organisations and mosques are given go further and can enhance their reputation.

How is the Faith and Social Cohesion Unit ensuring their message reaches Muslim communities?

The Ramadan campaign is just one part of our outreach work. Our outreach staff have held numerous seminars and workshops around the country, including four workshops to train professional accountants who can then advise Muslim charities locally. We have also translated some of our key pieces of guidance into community languages such as Arabic, Bengali, Gujarati and Urdu.

I'm really pleased to say that we're seeing success - at the start of the project in October 2007, 331 mosques were registered with the Charity Commission. 18 months on, at the end of April 2009, there were 455 – an increase of 37 per cent.

How can an MP identify whether or not a mosque in their constituency should be registered as a charity?

Interesting question. Charities range from small groups meeting local needs with few resources to the well known major charities with budgets of millions. However, the legal meaning of charity does not always coincide with what people in general would consider to be a good cause. A charity is an organisation that is set up to fulfil one or more purposes that the law has recognised as charitable and which are for the benefit of the public.

Faith communities, including mosques, often provide assistance to those in need, and may provide a focus for the community in and through the place of worship or a community centre. All of this would normally be possible under the charity umbrella. Currently there are 30,000 faith based charities registered as charities with the Commission.

If an MP would like further information, we have a summary leaflet about registering as a charity (available in five languages) on our website which sets out more detail. All our publications can be downloaded from the website or you can obtain printed copies by phoning Charity Commission Direct on 0845 300 0218.

What benefits does charitable status bring?

As well as being a legal requirement for charities who meet the legal criteria, there are a number of benefits of registering with the Charity Commission. Charities registered with us:

• Have the benefit of a charity registration number and the badge/brand of charity, increasing public trust and confidence in their organisation.
• Can maximise the financial benefit of donations through Gift Aid arrangements. This means that currently for every £1 donated through Gift Aid charities can claim back up to 28p from the government.
• Benefit from generous tax breaks – they do not normally have to pay income/corporation tax, capital gains tax, or stamp duty, and gifts to charities are free of inheritance tax.
• Have access to free expert advice and tailored guidance from the Charity Commission.

I'd really encourage any mosque or Muslim charity to look into it – they could be missing out!