Association statutes
§ 1 Name and Registration
The association founded on 23.4.2021 bears the following name “soft power”. The association shall be entered in the Register of Associations. From the time of registration the association shall bear the suffix “e.V.”. The registered office of the Association shall be in Berlin. The financial year of the Association shall be the calendar year.
§ 2 Purpose of the Association
The association shall exclusively and directly pursue charitable purposes within the meaning of the section “Tax-privileged purposes” of the German Fiscal Code (AO). The purpose of the association is the promotion of art and culture in the sense of § 52 paragraph 2 No. 5 AO. The purpose of the statutes is realised directly and independently, in particular through the following activities: Creation of framework conditions for versatile event formats of contemporary cultural practices, on the one hand by making the approx. 140 m2 project space of “soft power” (Teilestr. 11–13, 12099 Berlin, 3rd floor) available to artists of various disciplines, on the other hand by actively involving the public (by inviting them to exhibition and event formats); Presentation of current positions of cultural workers in the form of exhibitions and other artistic formats in the project space of “soft power” (Teilestr. 11–13, 12099 Berlin, 3rd floor); Organisation and independent realisation of exhibitions, concerts, projects in the field of art education and political education work (e.g. workshops, readings, symposia or seminars by and with invited artists, authors, academics, activists, educational workers) and other forms of work and public presentation; Promotion of interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary dialogues between cultural practitioners and other fields, as well as with the public, by conducting workshops and other publicly accessible, dialogue-based formats; Publishing the results of work in print, on the soft power website, in social media and by producing special formats (e.g. editions).
§ 3 Charitable Activity
The association shall act selflessly; it shall not primarily pursue its own economic purposes.
§ 4 Use of Funds
All funds of the association may only be used for the purposes set out in these statutes.
Contributions or shares in the profits of the association to members of the association are excluded.
§ 5 Prohibition and Benefits
Benefits to persons in the form of expenditure or disproportionately high remuneration, which is alien to the purpose of the association, is excluded.
§ 6 Registration and Membership
Only natural persons may become members of the association. Membership must be applied for in writing. The Board shall decide on acceptance. In the case of minors, the application for membership must be submitted by their legal representatives. Members may resign from the association subject to a period of notice. The deadline is 3 months before the end of the year. Members whose behaviour grossly violates the interests of the association may be excluded from the association. The annual general meeting shall decide on the exclusion of the members concerned. Membership ends with the death of a member or with the expiry of membership. The resigned or expelled member has no claim against the association's assets.
§ 7 Membership Fees
The annual membership fees shall be determined by the Board by a simple majority of votes. The Board shall be authorised to issue rules on membership fees.
§ 8 Patron Members and Patron Membership Fee
Patron members/Supporting members are extraordinary members. They shall pay an annual membership fee, the amount of which shall be determined by the Board. The association shall not be obliged to provide any service in return. The patron membership fee shall be transferred annually to the Association's account by bank transfer or, with the consent of the sponsoring member, collected by SEPA direct debit mandate.
§ 9 Organs of the Association
The organs of the Association are as follows: the annual Members’ Meeting, the Board of Directors.
§ 10 Annual Members’ Meeting
The general meeting is concerned with the following matters: election, recall and dismissal of the Board of directors; Resolutions on amendments to the statutes and on the dissolution of the association, on association regulations and guidelines; Resolutions on the establishment of individual departments.
other tasks, as far as they arise from the statutes or according to the law.
The ordinary general meeting shall be held once a year. Furthermore, an extraordinary members’ meeting must be convened if the interests of the association require it or if at least 1/3 of the members request the convening in writing, stating the purpose and the reasons. General meetings shall be convened by the Board in writing by e-mail, stating the agenda. The invitation period for each general meeting is: 2 weeks. The chairpersons of the meetings shall be the members of the Board. Every general meeting that has been duly convened has a quorum regardless of the number of members actually present. Resolutions of the general meeting shall be passed by a 3/4 majority of the valid votes cast. Any amendment to the statutes or the purpose of the association shall require a majority of 3/4 of the valid votes cast. Furthermore, the resolutions of the general meeting shall be recorded in the minutes. The minutes shall be signed by the chairperson of the meeting. Motions can be made by: any adult member, by the Board of directors.
§ 11 Voting rights and eligibility
All ordinary members, including the Board, have the right to vote. Extraordinary members (patron members) have no voting rights. They still have the right to participate in the general meeting and the minority right (to call a general meeting according to § 37 BGB). The legal representatives of underage members have the right to vote until the minors reach the age of 18.
§ 12 Board of directors
The Board in the sense of § 26 BGB consists of 4 persons. They represent the association judicially and extrajudicially. Each member of the Board is authorised to represent the association individually. The extent of the Board's power of representation with effect against third parties is not limited. Remuneration for work and time expended (activity remuneration) to a member of the Board is permissible, provided that the entire Board has agreed to such remuneration in advance.
§ 13 Duties and Responsibilities of the Board
The Board shall be responsible for all matters of the association, unless otherwise provided for in the statutes. This includes in particular the following business tasks: The preparation and conduct of general meetings; The implementation of resolutions in the general meetings; Deciding on applications for admission and exclusion of members; Ensuring an orderly financial situation, The timely payment of all taxes, fees and dues.
§ 14 Election of the Board
The Board shall be elected in the general meeting. Only members of the association may become members of the Board. The members of the Board shall be elected for a period of 3 years. A Board member remains in office until a new election is held. In the event of premature resignation of a Board member, the full Board shall appoint a replacement Board member until the next general meeting. Upon termination of membership in the association, the appointment of the Board member shall also end.
§ 15 Inability of Board Members to serve
If a member of the Board is permanently prevented from attending, another member of the Board shall take over her duties on an interim basis until the next general meeting at which a new election is to be held. The assignment of tasks shall be made in agreement between the Board and the Board member taking over the tasks.
§ 16 Dissolution, accrual of the Association's assets
The association may be dissolved by a 3/4 majority of the valid votes cast. The dissolution of the association can only be decided in the general meeting to be specially convened. The meeting shall be convened at least in text form with a notice period of 2 weeks. The general meeting has a quorum if at least half of the voting members are present. Liquidators are the 4 members of the Board. Resolutions on the future use of the assets may only be carried out after the approval of the tax office. In the event of the dissolution of the association or the cessation of tax-privileged purposes, its assets shall go to a legal person under public law or to another tax-privileged body for the purpose of promoting cultural purposes.
§ 17 Effectiveness
The statutes in their present form were adopted by the general meeting of the “soft power” association on 23.4.2021 and shall come into force after entry in the register of associations.
Berlin, 23.4.2021