The Citizens Trust is a Community Benefit Society (CBS). This is a legal structure different to either a limited company or a charity.
What does that mean for members?
It is registered with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) as a not-for-profit business where each member has one share. That share entitles you to one vote in elections, and it makes sure there is a fundamental equality baked into the society – in this case, our Supporters Trust.
A CBS acts for the common good of its members and community. For us, that is:
- Manchester City supporters who are members (shareholders) of the Trust.
- The communities where our members live.
As shareholders, each member of The Citizens Trust has a say in deciding what that means. What campaigns we run, what activities we do, where we spend our funds and everything else – if you have an idea, bring it to a committee and make it happen. If you want to make sure your voice is heard, vote in elections.
As a CBS, the Trust supports the common good of our members and our communities – but what that looks like is entirely up to you!
All profits are to be reinvested into the CBS (the Trust) to provide further benefits for those two groups.
The reinvestment of profits ensures that the Trust will operate on a non-profit basis, and also differentiates it from a co-operative which pays dividends to shareholders.
Being a CBS also means our Trust has more flexibility than a charity. A charity is governed by strict laws and can only undertake activities which are exclusively (or mostly) charitable. For example, if you ran a social space as a charity, you couldn’t run a bar at the same time.
As a CBS, we can put events on, run bars or other types of fundraising that are technically trading (like selling scarves, for example) without that restriction. We can then reinvest any profits back into the Trust to support the activities members want to do!
Want to join our CBS – The Citizens Trust? Click here and then fill in our membership form today.
