David Wilcox

Even though the idea of “organising without organisations” is fashionable among social media enthusiasts, there may come a time when you have to get a bank account, pin down how decisions are made, and how to enter into contracts. You may have to incorporate.
One of the ideas pitched to Social Innovation Camp to take the pain out of deciding on the legal structure, and how to tailor it for your enterprise, was One Click Organisations. Although the team led by Charles Armstrong didn’t win, they are pressing ahead with the project:

One Click Orgs is building a website where groups can quickly create a legal structure and get a simple system for group decisions. We think social enterprises, collectives and activist groups have better things to think about than obscure legal clauses.The One Click Orgs platform will give you:

• A constitution written in plain english
• An official legal structure so your group can open a bank account
• A list of group members that’s automatically kept up to date
• A voting system to help make group decisions
• A record of every decision that’s been made
• Easy ways to modify the constitution as your group develops

If you are interested in helping or testing, contact Charles here. There’s a hack day on June 14 for some hands-on practical work.
Meanwhile Social Innovation Camp Scotland have announced the six winning ideas that will be developed June 19-21 at the Saltire Centre, Glasgow. There’s some cracking good ideas among the other 127 that weren’t chosen – but that may not stand in their way. SI Camp is a great example of how a mix of competition and collaboration helps everyone move forward with light-touch organising.