Richmond Council for Voluntary Service 
Membership Criteria and Rules 2006 

Introduction

Please read through the following Richmond CVS Membership Criteria 
and Rules which have been developed to strengthen understanding and 
expectations between Richmond CVS and its members 

1.Membership is open to voluntary and 
community and not for profit organisations 
of any size within the borough of Richmond 
which can be recognised by the RCVS Board 
of Trustees as supporting its charitable aims 
and mission statement. 

2.There is an annual membership fee, which 
is set on a sliding scale according to annual 
income. 

3.To be eligible for membership to RCVS, 
your organisation must fulfil the following 
criteria: 

• Your organisation must be a self-governing 
body of people who work together 
voluntarily to take action for the benefit of 
the community, and established otherwise 
than for financial gain. 
• Your organisation must share RCVS values 
and accept the RCVS Code of Conduct. 
• Your organisation does not have to be a 
registered charity, but if it is not, the aims, 
objectives and methods of the working of 
your organisation must be written down in a 
publicly available document. 
• Your organisation should be open to all 
members of the community with interests 
relevant to your publicly stated aims. 
• You should have a stated policy in 
existence on equal opportunities, or have a 
commitment to develop such a policy. 
• Organisations undertaking and/or affiliated 
to party political activity are not eligible for 
membership. 
In addition, consideration will be given to 
the length of time that your organisation has 
been functioning and its financial situation. 

4. Membership entitles organisations to 
vote at general meetings and to nominate 
people for election to the Board of Trustees. 

5. Members have the right to access RCVS 
staff for advice and information and to 
participate in RCVS convened consultations, 
forums and meetings. 

6. Membership also entitles organisations to 
use RCVS services and facilities as agreed 
by the Board of Trustees. These currently 
include receiving one copy of the quarterly 
RCVS newsletter; access to training and 
conference events, use of the Volunteer 
Centre; access to RCVS library and resources, 
e.g. meeting rooms and photocopying. 

7. Members are expected to input to the 
work of the RCVS by attending the AGM, 
contributing their views and keeping the 
organisation informed of issues affecting 
the voluntary and community sector locally. 

8. RCVS reserves the right to reject an 
application for membership. 

9. RCVS reserves the right not to renew 
membership if circumstances change and 
the organisation no longer fulfils the criteria 
on which original membership was granted. 

10. A full membership list will be published at 
the AGM. 

In the event of 8 or 9 occurring RCVS will advise the applicant 
of the reasons for its decision. 

actively supporting the voluntary and community sector locally