What is a voluntary association (任意団体)? Put simply, it is a group of individuals who come together for a common cause. It is not incorporation (which is more expensive and complex), so it doesn't create “famichiki” as a legal entity — we are all still acting as individuals — but it does come with helpful features. We must establish a charter governing how the group operates, how it is funded, and how its leaders are chosen.

How will this help us? First, it will allow us to create a famichiki bank account. 🏦 This lets us clearly separate organizational funds from personal funds, and control of the account can be transferred smoothly when there is a change in personnel.

We have drafted an organizational charter that will govern how the organization operates. Although we are still a group of individuals and not a corporation, the charter, once approved by the membership, acts like a contract. So, for example, if there were ever a problem with the use of funds, there would be a clear legal avenue to seek relief. This hasn’t been a problem to date, but putting rules in place strengthens the organization and provides peace of mind for our donors 💛

To form a voluntary association, we must hold a General Meeting each year and provide information about the group’s finances and activities. This increases transparency and gives members a voice in how famichiki is run. For example, the General Meeting must approve the charter and any major revisions to it.

The organization’s charter is available at flockofcats.xyz/content/files/…, and we will be holding our first General Meeting on Dec 20, 2025, on Zoom. The agenda includes approving the charter, approving the spending plan for the upcoming year, and approving the admin team. The proposed admin team is: @pippa as representative director, @FlockOfCats as treasurer, @piepants as administrator, @lukas as administrator, and @savvykenya as moderator