Articles of association

§ 1 Name and registered office of the association, financial year

(1) The association bears the name “Edu-Vita International e. V.”

(2) The association has its registered office in Zwickau.

(3) The financial year is the calendar year.

§ 2 Purpose, non-profit (charitable) status of the association

(1) The association, with its registered office in Zwickau, pursues exclusively and directly charitable purposes within the meaning of the section “Tax-privileged purposes” of the German Fiscal Code (Abgabenordnung).

(2) The purpose of the association is:

• the promotion of education, school and vocational training, including student assistance;
• the promotion of development cooperation;
• the promotion of international understanding, tolerance in all areas of culture, and the idea of understanding between nations;
• the promotion of nature conservation and landscape management within the meaning of the Federal Nature Conservation Act and the nature conservation laws of the federal states, of environmental protection, including climate protection, coastal protection and flood protection;
• the promotion of civic engagement in support of charitable, benevolent and religious purposes.

The purposes set out in the articles of association may be realised both in Germany and abroad.

The purpose of the articles of association is realised in particular through:

• supporting and promoting the operation, equipment and maintenance of schools and medical facilities,
• promoting sustainable education by imparting knowledge and skills for self-help, sustainable use of resources and compliance with applicable human rights,
• sustainable nature, environmental and species conservation projects in cooperation with local, regional, national or international partners,
• national and international research and educational partnerships with universities, colleges, schools or hospitals as well as other scientific and non-profit organisations,
• information and awareness-raising work to promote development cooperation and international understanding,
• the procurement of financial donations, grants and contributions from natural and legal persons for the purposes set out above and, where applicable, the forwarding of such funds to another tax-privileged body or legal entity under public law, in Germany or abroad, which is required to use these funds to realise the tax-privileged purposes stated above.

(4) The association acts selflessly; it does not primarily pursue its own commercial purposes.

(5) Funds of the association may only be used for the purposes set out in the articles of association. Members do not receive any benefits from the association's funds.

(6) No person may be favoured by expenses that are unrelated to the purpose of the association or by disproportionately high remuneration.

§ 3 Acquisition of membership

(1) Any natural or legal person may become a member of the association.

(2) The board decides on the admission of members at its own discretion, based on a written application for admission. The application for admission must be signed by both chairpersons of the board. For minors, the application must be submitted by their legal representatives. A refusal of membership does not need to be justified.

(3) The general meeting may appoint honorary members on the recommendation of the board.

§ 4 Termination of membership

(1) Membership ends upon death, resignation or exclusion.

(2) Resignation must be declared in writing and may only take effect with three months' notice to 31 December of a financial year.

(3) Exclusion is carried out by resolution of the general meeting if the member a) culpably damages the reputation or interests of the association in a serious manner, or b) is more than three months in arrears with the payment of membership fees and has not paid the arrears despite a written reminder with a warning of exclusion. The member must be given the opportunity to comment on the reasons for exclusion at the general meeting. These reasons must be communicated to the member at least two weeks in advance.

§ 5 Rights and obligations of members

(1) Members have the right to use the facilities of the association and to attend meetings. Each member has equal voting and electoral rights at the general meeting.

(2) Every member has a duty to promote the interests of the association, in particular to pay their membership fees regularly and, as far as lies within their power, to support the life of the association through their involvement.

§ 6 Membership fees

(1) Every member is required to pay an annual membership fee, due in the first quarter of the respective calendar year.

(2) The amount and due date of the membership fees are set out in the Membership fee regulations.

§ 7 Bodies of the association

The bodies of the association are the board and the general meeting.

§ 8 Board

(1) The board consists of two chairpersons, one deputy and the treasurer.

(2) Each member of the board represents the association individually.

(3) Board members generally act in a voluntary capacity. The general meeting may resolve to grant board members reasonable flat-rate remuneration for their activities. Expenses (travel costs, material costs) may be reimbursed upon proof.

§ 9 Duties of the board

The board of the association is responsible for representing the association pursuant to § 26 of the German Civil Code (BGB) and for conducting its business. In particular, it has the following duties:

• a) convening and preparing general meetings, including drawing up the agenda,
• b) implementing resolutions of the general meeting,
• c) administering the association's assets and preparing the annual report,
• d) admitting new members.

§ 10 Appointment of the board

(1) The members of the board are elected individually by the general meeting for a term of five years. Only members of the association may be board members; membership of the board ends when membership of the association ends. Re-election or early removal of a board member by the general meeting is permitted. A board member remains in office after the expiry of their regular term until their successor is elected.

(2) If a member leaves the board prematurely, the remaining members of the board are entitled to elect a member of the association to the board until a successor is elected by the general meeting.

§ 11 Deliberation and resolutions of the board

(1) The board meets as required, but at least twice a year. Meetings are convened by the chairpersons, or by the deputy if they are unavailable. A notice period of one week should be observed. The board has a quorum if at least two members are present. Resolutions are decided by a majority of the valid votes cast. In the event of a tie, the vote of the chairpersons decides, or that of the deputy if they are unavailable. If the chairpersons cannot reach consensus, the deputy's vote decides.

(2) The board's resolutions must be recorded in minutes. The minutes must be signed by the minute-taker as well as by the chairpersons, or by the deputy or another board member if they are unavailable.

§ 12 Responsibilities of the general meeting

The general meeting is responsible for decisions on the following matters:

• a) amendments to the articles of association,
• b) the setting of membership fees,
• c) the appointment of honorary members and the expulsion of members from the association,
• d) the election and removal of board members,
• e) receipt of the annual report and the discharge of the board,
• f) the dissolution of the association.

§ 12 a Discharge of the board

(1) The general meeting decides annually on the discharge of the board for the past financial year.

(2) The discharge is based on the board's report and the treasurer's report.

(3) By granting discharge, the general meeting approves of the board's conduct and waives any claims for compensation arising from breaches of duty that were known to the members at the time of the resolution.

(4) Discharge is granted by resolution with a simple majority of the eligible members present.

(5) Discharge is granted to the board as a whole.

§ 13 Convening the general meeting

(1) The board must convene an ordinary general meeting at least once a year, preferably in the first quarter. The invitation is issued in writing with a notice period of one week and must state the agenda.

(2) The board sets the agenda. Any member of the association may submit a written request to the board to add an item to the agenda no later than five days before the general meeting. The board decides on such requests. The general meeting decides by majority of the votes of the members present on agenda items that were not taken up by the board or that are raised for the first time at the general meeting; this does not apply to motions concerning amendments to the articles of association, changes to membership fees, or the dissolution of the association.

(3) The board must convene an extraordinary general meeting if the interests of the association require it, or if at least a quarter of the members request this in writing, stating the purpose and reasons.

§ 14 Resolutions of the general meeting

(1) The general meeting is chaired by at least one of the board chairpersons, or by the deputy if they are unavailable, and, if the deputy is also unavailable, by a chairperson elected by the general meeting.

(2) The general meeting has a quorum if at least a third of all members of the association are present. If there is no quorum, the board is obliged to convene a second general meeting with the same agenda within four weeks. This meeting has a quorum regardless of the number of members present. This must be pointed out in the invitation.

(3) The general meeting passes resolutions by open vote with a majority of the votes of the members present. If, in elections, no candidate achieves a majority of the votes of the members present, the candidate who receives a majority of the valid votes cast is elected; if there are several candidates, a runoff vote is held. Resolutions on amendments to the articles of association, changes to the association's purpose, or the dissolution of the association require a majority of three quarters of the members present.

(4) Minutes must be taken of the proceedings of the general meeting and the resolutions passed, to be signed by the minute-taker and the chairperson of the meeting.

§ 14 a Resolutions outside the general meeting

(1) Resolutions of the general meeting may also be passed outside a meeting by written or electronic circular procedure.

(2) This requires that all members receive the proposed resolution in text form (letter, fax, e-mail) and that a reasonable period is set for casting votes.

(3) A resolution is valid if at least half of the eligible members cast their votes and the required majority is achieved.

(4) The result of the vote must be communicated to all members without delay and recorded in the minutes of the resolution.

(5) For particularly important resolutions (for example, amendments to the articles of association, dissolution of the association), passing resolutions outside the general meeting is excluded.

§ 15 Dissolution of the association, termination for other reasons, loss of tax-privileged purposes

(1) In the event of the dissolution of the association, the chairpersons of the board and the deputy are jointly authorised liquidators, unless the general meeting appoints other persons.

(2) In the event of dissolution or winding-up of the association, or upon the loss of tax-privileged purposes, the association's assets pass in equal shares to the following associations and organisations, which must use them directly and exclusively for charitable purposes:

• SOS-Kinderdorf e. V.
• TARGET e. V. Rüdiger Nehberg

(3) The foregoing provisions apply accordingly if the association's legal capacity has been revoked.

Zwickau, December 2025