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Charities in business: Need for new governance rules and structures

Charities in business are often set up as private limited companies - but they handle public funds. Consider introducing "community interest companies" like in the UK, or other such structures.

There has been growing interest - and concern - about the extent to which charities are getting involved in business.

Business ventures are not new in the non-profit sector. For instance, some hospitals, homes for the aged and pre-school centres have long been run by charitable organisations. But what has changed in the past decade is the breadth of interest and mushrooming of such initiatives. So much so that, today, revenue-generating initiatives can be found in almost every non-profit domain, from social services to the environment, regardless of organisation size.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on April 18, 2020, with the headline Charities in business: Need for new governance rules and structures. Subscribe