1. International Registration draft Motivation To evolve a structure to reflect our international nature and rate of growth Issues to be addressed Chapter registration, banking and tax requirements How can the structure allow for a more collective participation? International Registration Structure options

2. International Registration draft Important issues to address Consistent banking practices Facilitate clearer and consistent tax practices –Auditing –Pull up our socks on tax filing Consistent registration and structure across all countries Consistent publicity and IP practices across countries Ability to address issues in a conclusive manner, and provide for safeguards against willful misuse of Asha resources Evolve a structure to sustain current number of chapters and the fast growth –Please see Needs and Accountability document presented at Asha-14 –Voluntary organizations often come with the misconception that lack of oversight means lack of accountability –Asha is no different: growth of Asha through the decentralized structure has perpetuated ownership (of Asha IP, ability to raise and disburse funds and decide on donors’ money) without clear accountability

3. International Registration draft Important criteria for new structure Maintain chapter freedom to support projects Maintain chapter freedom to maintain their accounts Maintain minimal Asha-wide interventions for registration, banking and tax operations Increase chapter accountability for funds raised, disbursed, chapter activities and allow for enforcement of the accountabilities. Decrease Asha-wide liabilities for chapter inefficiencies Decrease administrative overload at Asha-wide level for the functional roles (publicity, treasury, chapter coordination and fund raising) by building oversight into processes

4. International Registration draft Important criteria for new structure Clarify Asha Global and chapter roles in transactions –Eg. Signing contracts, addressing libel, etc Allow flexibility for focus beyond education as well Often chapters look for a consistent way to address issues that crop up often at the chapter level, and the role of the coordination team is sought in these matters –The decentralized structure has not allowed to recognize the historic nature of some issues, resulting in discussion of the same issues every 2-3 years –The decentralized structure misconceives lack of hierarchy to be lack of enforcement structure –Need to move on with some decisions as an organization To be true to the spirit of the process and the process as well

5. International Registration draft Homework done so far Co-ord team has held discussions on the chapter coordination calls –Long time volunteers from Abroad and India consulted on options considered in the past This has been in consideration for the past 4 years The preliminary idea has also been presented at Asha India conference, Jan 2005 –Met with a law firm, and engaged two attorney volunteers within Asha to study the options –Discussed the tax implications of Intl. registration at the chapter level with auditor Learning: –The registration and banking requirements are two independent processes –We have to evolve a structure that will combine the two, and preferably the IP sharing norms –The terms used for legal purposes are similar whether we are a for- profit or not-for-profit organization PLEASE DONOT BE ALARMED WHEN YOU HEAR TERMS LIKE “SUBSIDIARIES” and “CORPORATION”

6. International Registration draft Structure options: Multinational corporation Asha register as a multinational corporation –Pros Will solve a lot of problems related to treasury and consistency at one go –Take over all “assets” in all countries, and Asha International will be accountable for all chapters –Will get more complex as we take local laws into account –Each chapter will have independent “contracts” with Asha Global, increasing admin over heads at the Asha –wide considerably, and at chapter level as well –Starting of new chapters in new countries will involve more complex registration requirements, as each chapter will be a “wholly owned subsidiaries” –Banking and treasury requirements are quite high Can take chapters away from the core focus –Hmmm….are we a corporate NGO? Do we even want to head in that direction?

7. International Registration draft Franchise model (McDonaldisation of Asha) Asha is set up as a “holding company for the Asha franchise” and all chapters are “franchisees” for the “Asha brand” Pros –The liability is at contained at the chapter level –Each chapter follows a certain minimal model –Allows for certain degree of consistency to be enforced Cons –No synergy in this model between chapters –Too much running on drawing up too many legal documents for registration –Does not resolve our current coordination, treasury and banking problems, more of a response to a negative situation –Do we really want chapters to be franchises?

8. International Registration draft Let’s get creative and focused Legally, the registration setup is different from the banking setup Registration setup: –One Asha Global organization that has representation from across the world Can tie this to the IP that has been developed by Asha –Each country/ region has a single registered organization that is a “subsidiary” of the Global organization Eg. Asha USA, Asha Europe, Asha Canada, Asha India, etc –Multiple chapters within a country are part of their country entities by an agreement that stipulates requirements for a chapter to be part of Asha In the US, each chapter is a locally registered collective entity, but all use the same not-for-profit status Each country entity will organize as per the laws of the land, maintaining the similar structure

9. International Registration draft Proposed international registration structure Banking structure –The Asha global entity will not have to file taxes, as each country entity will file their own individual taxes. The global entity will be a zero overhead organization that will collate and publish all financials –Each country entity will have central bank accounts, with each chapter having access through a convenient setup Eg. In the US, chapters will have sub accounts with Asha US bank accounts –All country entities will have to maintain the not-for- profit, charitable status, as per the laws of the land

10. International Registration draft What does this mean for chapters? Little difference in responsibilities from the current requirements One time effort to register as per the new structure Likely overheads: –Increased needs for clear financials, project information and processes within the chapter (ideally, are required even without moving to a new structure) –Sharing of Asha-wide expenses such as credit card transaction costs, IP costs and registration cost, can be reduced through collective costs Benefits: –Long time stability due to clearer structure and processes for basic things like treasury, chapter registration and cyclical chapter dormancy issues –More legal protection against potential libel, and/or misuse problems –More distributed coordination roles across different countries Difficult for a team of 6 individuals to address all concerns and issues that are put to them, team-based coordination approach is better suited

11. International Registration draft How does the proposed structure look? Asha USA Asha SV, Seattle, NYC-NJ,… Asha UK Asha London, Oxford,.. Asha India Asha Bangalore, Bombay, Chennai, Kanpur,.. Asha Germany Asha Munich, Frankfurt, … Asha Canada Asha Toronto, Edmonton.. Asha Netherlands Asha Eindhoven, Nijmegen, … Asha Switzerland Coordination team Secretary team Secretary team members from US, India, Canada, Europe,.. Publicity team Publicity team members from US, India, Canada, Europe,.. Treasury team Treasury team members from US, India, Canada, Europe,.. Projects team Projects team members from US, India, Canada, Europe,.. Asha Australia (when revives) Asha Melbourne, Sydney,.. Asha Singapore