Registration in the Register of Non-Profit Organisations
Last updated: 2 August 2024.
In order to be registered in the Register of Non-Profit Organisations, you must first be registered in the Central Coordinating Register for Legal Entities. Here you can register in both registries simultaneously.
No organisation is obliged to register in the Register of Non-Profit Organisations, but every organisation meeting the conditions has a right to register.
If you wish to register an organisation in The Register of Non-Profit Organisations, you can do this by submitting the form Coordinated register notification.
Why register in the Register of Non-Profit Organisations?
Organisations which are registered in the Register of Non-Profit Organisations can
- participate in the Grassroots allotment programme, which is a system making it possible for persons participating in games through Norsk Tipping to give a percentage of the stake to a non-profit organisation
- receive VAT-compensation, that means, they can apply to receive compensation for VAT they have paid for goods and services.
There may also be public or private assistance schemes which require registration in the Register of Non-Profit Organisations.
Registration in the Register of Non-Profit Organisations is free of charge. There is also no annual fee for being registered here.
In order to register in the Register of Non-Profit Organisations, the organisation must be doing non-profit activities. A non-profit activity implies, among other things, that the activity cannot generate earnings. Only associations, foundations or limited companies can be registered. The organisation must have a board.
It is a requirement that the organisation is registered in the Central Coordinating Register for Legal Entities. The registrations can be done at the same time.
Activities which are not based on earnings are considered to be non-profit
Non-profit activity is run by
- non-financial (idealistic) associations
- general foundations that do not distribute funding or that exclusively distribute funding for non-profit activities
- commercial foundations that exclusively distribute funding for non-profit activity
- limited companies that exclusively distribute funding for non-profit activity
Activities not considered to be non-profit include
- activities organised by the state
- activities based on principles for cooperative societies, and covered by the Cooperative Societies Act
The enterprise must be registered in the Central Coordinating Register for Legal Entities before it can be registered in the Register of Non-Profit Organisations. You can register in both registries simultaneously in the form Coordinated register notification.
Online registration
The fastest way to register is to use the Coordinated register notification.
In the online solution, you need to have the documentation available either as electronic documents or scanned documents.
Form to download
If you wish to send us the form and the documentation by post, you will find a form for download in in our form catalogue.
You are required to submit the articles of association in order to register in the Register of Non-Profit Organisations, but it is optional to register them. If the association chooses to register its’ statutes, it also undertakes a duty to submit the articles of association each time they are changed.
If the articles are to be registered, they must at least contain information regarding the association’s
- name
- activity
- annual meeting
- board and the election of the board
- changes in the articles of association
- termination
The organisation must provide information about category or area of activity that fits the activity the enterprise is running. Have a look at the list of available categories.
Documents you must attach if you are registered in the Central Coordinating Register for Legal Entities and would like to register with the Register of Non-Profit Organisations
- the articles of association
- minutes showing the election of the board unless this information is already registered
Documents you must include if you want to register both in the Central Coordinating Register for Legal Entities and the Register of Non-Profit Organisations
- the articles of association
- the memorandum of association showing that the association has been founded
- the minutes from the annual meeting/documentation showing the election of the board
For most non-profit associations, it is optional to register accounting information
If you choose to register such information, you will be required to submit annual accounts to the Register of Company Accounts every year.
The requirements for these annual accounts are different and simpler than what is laid down in the Accounting Act. Details of these rules are available in the regulations regarding the Register of Non-Profit Organisations.
If the association chooses to take on reporting of annual accounts, the end date of the fiscal year must be stated.
Please note that foundations, limited companies and associations with a general accounting obligation in accordance with the Accounting Act, cannot make use of these special regulations. These must submit annual accounts to the Register of Company Accounts according to ordinary regulations.
Only central levels of non-profit organisations with several organisational levels (regional and/or local levels) are required to report affiliations to the Register of Non-Profit Organisations. This means that a non-profit organisation, which is the central level of a non-profit organisation, must register the organisational links it has with local and regional levels in its organisation.
When your association applies for registration in the Register of Non-Profit Organisations, you may also apply for participation in the Grassroots allotment programme, if the terms of participation according to regulations regarding the grassroots allotment are met.
Here you can read more about the Grassroots allotment programme.