Public benefit organisations may include:
- non-governmental organisations,
- legal persons and organisational units operating on the basis of provisions on the relation of the State to the Catholic Church in the Republic of Poland, on the relationship between the State and other churches and religious associations, and on guarantees of freedom of conscience and religion, if their statutory purposes include public benefit activities,
- joint stock companies, limited liability companies, and sports clubs being companies operating under the provisions of the Act of 25 June 2010 on sport (i.e. Journal of Laws of 2017 item 1463), which do not work to achieve a profit and allocate all of their income to the implementation of statutory objectives and do not allocate profit to be divided among their shareholders and employees,
that have been working for public benefit for at least two years and meet all the following requirements:
1.
direct statutory activities to the general community or a specific group, provided that the group is separated due to particularly difficult circumstances or material situation in relation to society – in the case of associations their statutory activity cannot be limited only to activities for the benefit of its own members.
2.
such organisations may run a business only as an additional activity in relation to public benefit activities,
3.
organisations which allocate their surplus of revenues over costs, i.e. the income of the organisation, to public benefit activities,
4.
have a statutory collegiate supervisory and inspection body, separate from the management body and not subject to its internal control or supervision, while the members of the supervisory and inspection body:
- may not be members of the governing body or be married to them, in cohabitation, in a relation of kinship, affinity or official subordination;
- cannot be convicted by a valid sentence for an intentional offense prosecuted by a public prosecution or fiscal offense;
- may receive, for the performance of their functions in such body, reimbursement of reasonable costs or remuneration in an amount not higher than the average monthly remuneration in the enterprise sector announced by the President of the Central Statistical Office for the previous year,
5.
the members of the management body were not convicted by a valid sentence for an intentional offense prosecuted by a public prosecution or fiscal offense,
6.
the organisation’s statute (or other internal acts, e.g. if the organisation applying for a public benefit organisation status does not act on the basis of the statute, but other documents) must prohibit:
- granting loans or securing liabilities of the organisation’s assets towards its members, members of bodies or employees and persons to whom members, members of the bodies and employees of the organisation are married, live in cohabitation or are in a lineal relationship of kinship or affinity, collateral relationship or affinity to the second degree or are related in terms of adoption, care or guardianship, hereinafter referred to as “close relatives”,
- transferring their property to their members, members of bodies or employees and their relatives, on terms other than in relation to third parties, in particular if such transfer is free or on preferential terms;
- use property for members, members of bodies or employees and their relatives on terms other than in relation to third parties, unless this use is directly related to the statutory purpose;
- purchase goods or services from entities in which members of the organisation, members of its bodies or employees and their relatives participate, on terms other than in relation to third parties or at prices higher than market prices.
The status of a public benefit organisation is granted when such information is entered into the National Court Register at the request of the organisation concerned.
