Running a nonprofit in Belgium means living by a calendar few founders planned for. General assemblies to convene, accounts to approve and file, changes to publish, registers to keep up to date. For small teams focused on their mission, the legal and governance side of an ASBL or AISBL can feel like a maze.
Pro Publico brought a group of Belgian nonprofit leaders around the table in Brussels to work through that maze together. The format was simple: lunch, a focused seminar, and generous time for questions based on an idea by Alix Degrez and Antoine Druetz, highly experienced lawyers in advising nonprofits across Belgium who recently joined Liedekerke to launch a practice fully dedicated to the non-profit sector.
A seminar built on real questions
Rather than set the agenda alone, we asked participants to shape it. In the weeks before the event, nonprofit leaders were invited to send us the one question they most wanted answered about running an association in Belgium. Places were free but limited, and submitting a question was the way to enter the draw for a seat.
Those questions fed directly into the session, “One Year in the Life of an A(I)SBL” led by Alix and Antoine. Hosted at Association Place in Etterbeek, the seminar followed the legal and governance cycle of a Belgian association as it typically unfolds over twelve months.
Following the year, step by step
Instead of treating nonprofit law as a list of rules, the lawyers organised it around the calendar of a standard year. The session covered:
- the Belgian legal framework for ASBL and AISBL;
- core principles of good governance, compliance and transparency;
- the roles and responsibilities of the board of directors, the general assembly and members;
- managing changes to directors, members and the registered office;
- decision-making and statutory procedures in law and in practice;
- financial governance, from accounts and budgets to financial planning;
- documentation, filings and communication with authorities and stakeholders;
- ongoing compliance, risk management, internal policies, insurance and transparency obligations.
Each topic came with practical examples drawn from the speakers’ experience advising associations, so participants could see where obligations fall in the year and where organisations most often slip.
What participants told us
We asked everyone who attended for feedback, and the response was strongly positive. The calendar-based structure was the element participants valued most. Framing dense legal material around the rhythm of an association’s year made it concrete and easier to act on. Respondents also highlighted the expertise and clarity of the two presenters, and several said it was among the most useful events they had attended in Brussels.
The Q&A stood out. Participants appreciated being able to bring specific, case-based questions and leave with precise answers. The mixed audience, from newly registered associations to long-established ones, proved an asset rather than a challenge: newcomers gained a full map of their obligations, while experienced leaders found answers to the harder edge cases. Alix and Antoine came prepared with printed slides, which were highly appreciated by everyone as a useful reference to take back to the office.
The questions that remain
The session also surfaced the topics nonprofit leaders want to explore further. The most frequently raised were:
- directors’ liability;
- banking and insurance;
- fiscal sponsorship;
- branches and cross-border operations;
- managing surpluses and reserves;
- UBO register requirements;
- sharing resources between associations;
- data protection beyond the GDPR;
- advocacy and regulatory compliance.
This list is a snapshot of where Belgian civil society feels least certain, and it is shaping our work.
Taking it international
The conversation did not stop in Brussels, it rather opened up during European Pro Bono Week organized by the European Pro Bono Alliance. Once again on a pro bono publico basis, Alix and Antoine brought the same knowledge to an international audience in an online webinar co-hosted with the PILnet, the Global Network For Public Interest Law. The session titled “Operating a Belgian Nonprofit” drew the attention of many outside of Belgium.
That interest reflects a wider trend. More and more international organisations are choosing Brussels as their base, often as an AISBL, to be close to the EU institutions and their networks. For many, Belgian nonprofit law is unfamiliar territory. The questions raised online echoed those from April, and the speakers stayed on beyond the scheduled time to answer them.
The beginning of a longer journey
Both sessions are early steps in a longer project: the Practical Guide for Belgian Nonprofits. Pro Publico is coordinating the Guide with a group of law firms contributing pro bono, organised in thematic working groups. Together they will cover the full lifecycle of a Belgian association: choosing a legal form and incorporating, governance, compliance, tax, employment and volunteers, funding, advocacy and data protection, through to dissolution.
The Guide is built around what civil society actually needs. A questionnaire to Belgian nonprofits and the questions raised at both sessions are shaping its content, so that it answers what organisations ask rather than what lawyers assume they need.
The first edition will lay the foundations. The Guide is designed as a living resource, to be expanded and refined in later editions, and could eventually support a legal health check tool for Belgian nonprofits. We have already received much interest in this tool, and we will share it as soon as it is ready.
Get involved
If you lead an association in Belgium, we would like to hear the questions you are still wrestling with. Write to us at [email protected]. If your organisation needs legal support on a specific matter, you can submit a request through our form; we review every request and look for a suitable pro bono partner.
If you are a law firm interested in contributing expertise to the Guide or to future sessions, we would be glad to talk.
Our thanks go to @Alix Degrez and @Antoine Druetz of Liedekerke for their outstanding professionalism and experience offered freely in the service of public interest, to the PILnet team comprised of @Laura Szűcs, @Anastassiya Miller, @Iraida Zakharevich and @Giulia Patane, and to every participant who brought a question to the table. @Francesco Zatelli