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Partnership

General characteristics

Not to be confused with the legal form of partnership (which is a for-profit business structure), the term is used for any arrangement which brings together a range of different interests in pursuit of a common goal.

Ownership: partnership organisations are generally concerned with the strategic management of resources owned by others, though some may acquire their own assets. In this case ownership of the organisation rests with the members.

Charitable status: a partnership may be eligible for charitable status if it meets the usual criteria.

Examples of use

Regeneration partnerships will commonly involve local people, statutory authorities, voluntary organisations and local businesses to participate, at some level or another, in the management of resources intended to improve a specific geographical area. Other such partnerships groupings may be issue-based, e.g. drugs, mental health, community safety, promotion of sport, etc.

Legal forms used

Some partnerships are not in reality separate organisations and thus will not have a legal form, but just a set of standing orders regarding respective roles and so on. Discrete partnerships may be constituted as associations or companies limited by guarantee.

Profit distribution

None.

Participation issues

May be complex - as well as the differential participation of the partners, each will have a constituency of interest from which further participation is required or desired. The principle behind the establishment of most partnerships is to achieve maximum input from a range of different stakeholders and interests.

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