(1) Legal Registration: Once all the necessary completed documents have been handed to your lawyer, including your Local Partnership's aims and objectives, it could well be registered as a Section 21 (non-profit) Company within 4 to 6 weeks. As already mentioned, you will need to supply three alternative names for your Local Partnership; the top three selected at the Leadership Convention. The Registrar of Companies will do the rest.

Other registrations that you may wish to apply for could be for Section 18A status (tax exemption) and for a Fund-raising Number.

It is important to note that the information stated in the application/s is legally binding once the registration/s have been completed and it is thus wise to consult and take advice from your lawyer.

(2) Setting up Systems and Infrastructure: The Local Partnership's Board is responsible for determining the policies and procedures that will guide all aspects of their operation. These decisions will include:

• Designation of authority for specific tasks/functions by Board Members
  
• Appointment of an Auditor


• The opening of the Local Partnership's bank account o Design and implementation of a fund-accounting system


• Establishing the physical and postal addresses


• Applying for telephone and fax numbers and possibly an E-mail address


• Agreeing on who will take on the role of contact person


• Arranging for the design of the Local Partnership's corporate identity and then the printing of the necessary stationery and any promotional brochure/s
  

(3) The Business Plan: In designating specific tasks the Board will appoint a subcommittee, chaired by the Chairperson, with the sole purpose of developing their Local Partnership's Business Plan.

Experience suggests that, taking the necessary time to consult with all the various stakeholders and gaining their input, it can take up to three months to compile a sound Business Plan, so it is advisable to commence this task immediately after the election of the Directors.

The Strategical Exercise (The path for Planning the Future) will also provide this committee with valuable input. Being a consensus document, the Business Plan will state clearly what the Local Partnership will and will not do in the course of conducting its business.

In content the Business Plan will normally consist of the following:

1. Index
2. Executive Summary
3. Statement of Purpose
4. Statement of needs
4.1 Description of needs
4.2 How the Local Partnership intends addressing the stated needs
5. Target market and client profile
5.1 Definition of market and/or service area
5.2 Target market
5.3 Client profiles
6. Specifications for projects (breaking each project into its various parts, with thorough explanations thereof.)
7. Marketing the Local Partnership's services
7.1 Outreach system
7.2 Marketing methods
8. Establishing targets and evaluation
8.1 Target definitions
8.2 Specific targets for project periods
8.3 Monitoring and evaluation system/s
9. Action Plan (listing specific key activities, linked to target dates.)
10. Human resources
10.1 Staff list, identifying experience and skills of each relative to the stated projects.
10.2 Staff allocation and development
10.3 Details on any potential "outsider" assistance on offer
10.4 Organisational structure
11. Budget
11.1 Budget on projected expenditure, inclusive of all costs such as staff, telephone, stationery, promotion, etc.
11.2 Projected income and budget on allocation of available funds.
11.3 A one year cash-flow projection, broken down by month. ATTACHMENTS: Consisting of letters of support/endorsement, registration documents, reports, ect.

(4) Staffing Policy: This is likely to be one of the first decisions to be faced by the Local Partnership Board. Will the organisation operate on a purely voluntary basis permanently, or start out voluntary and then employ some full-time staff? Or will it start off with full-time staff, and if so how is this to be funded?

Before the decision is made to employ anyone, accurate job descriptions will need to be drawn up for each position and intended compensation must conform to the broadly acceptable salary scale for the Development Sector in South Africa.

All appointments must be made via the standard procedure of advertising the post/s, screening and interviewing the applicants (via a panel), negotiations and formal offer of employment and employment contracts for the successful applicants.

Full-time staff members are normally not allowed to serve on the Board of Directors, except in an "ex-Officio" capacity.