Registrar of Societies, Department of Civil and National Registration (DCNR)

The Registrar of Societies, part of the Department of Civil and National Registration, registers non-profit societies and NGOs in Botswana. These include charities, community organisations, religious groups, professional bodies, burial societies, sports clubs and political parties. The Registrar can refuse, cancel or deregister societies, approves changes to names and constitutions, and collects annual returns.

A society needs at least twenty members. Applicants send a letter of intent with supporting documents to any Civil and National Registration office, and the Registrar then issues Form A (in triplicate), a membership list and guidelines for drafting the constitution. Once the documents pass screening, the Registrar issues a certificate and the approved constitution, normally within fourteen days. Since the 2022 amendments, registration is electronic through the government portal. All existing societies had to re-register online by February 2024 or be deregistered automatically. New certificates are valid for twelve months and must be renewed each year, and societies file annual returns (P50) with financial information. The Registrar has cancelled societies that did not file annual returns.