Collaboration Agreement & Joint Activity Plan – Non-profit Organizations | Word/PDF/Excel

Collaboration agreement and joint activity plan for non-profit organizations is a document package in Word, PDF, and Excel for two Swedish non-profit organizations that want to carry out a concrete joint activity. The package helps the parties to formulate defined commitments, specify cost limits, control mandates, and monitor results.

Important to note: The organizations' bylaws, decisions, and authority to represent must be checked before anyone binds the organization. The template does not create a general power of attorney, does not grant the right to automatically transfer membership registers, and is not intended to form a new legal entity. Complex grant, personnel, tax, or data protection circumstances require additional documentation.

When is the product suitable?

For a limited collaboration between two existing organizations, for example, a joint theme day, local information campaign, or coordinated non-profit activity. Unlike a general cooperation agreement between companies, the documents are specifically focused on organizational mandates, joint activity planning, functional roles, and separate financial decisions.

The documents – file by file

Excel tool with nine tabs

Excel contains Overview, Collaboration, Parties, Activities, Resources, Finances, Decisions, Risks, and Read Me. The formulas compile the number of registered collaborations, proposed versus approved costs, actually paid expenses, budget deviation, activity status, and open deviations. The registers and status selections are prepared for 200–300 rows depending on the tab.

Excel cannot verify whether the representative is authorized, whether agreements have been entered into properly, whether a cost can be legally allocated, whether an organization has complied with GDPR, or whether an activity is legally approved. The tool contains no customer/membership registers and no macros.

Workflow – from agreement to termination

1. Identify both organizations, check current bylaws and documented authorities.
2. Describe the joint activity, period, responsibilities, and the tasks each organization undertakes.
3. Specify your own budget caps, available resources, cost allocation, and who actually gets to approve orders.
4. Assess separately whether personal data will be processed; do not share membership registers based solely on the collaboration agreement.
5. Check that the same agreement version and appendices have been accepted by the correct representatives of both organizations.
6. Follow up on planned, decided, completed, and verified activities separately.
7. Document changes and termination, return resources, and reconcile actual costs.

Legal prerequisites

A non-profit organization can normally be bound by agreements entered into by an authorized representative. Actual authority follows, among other things, from bylaws and decisions. See the Swedish Tax Agency's guidance on the administration of non-profit organizations and the Contracts Act (1915:218), especially provisions on offers, acceptance, and power of attorney.

If the organizations are to process personal data, responsibility, purpose, and legal basis must be assessed concretely. In the case of actual joint personal data responsibility, there are special requirements in GDPR Article 26. This package is not a personal data processing agreement or a completed Article 26 arrangement. See IMY's guidance for organizations and GDPR in full text.

Frequently asked questions

What is a collaboration agreement?

A document where two actors state a common purpose and the obligations that each actually accepts. The legal meaning is determined by the content, the parties' authority, and the circumstances.

Can a project manager sign for both organizations?

Not automatically. Each organization must have an authorized representative or a valid power of attorney for the legal act.

Will the organizations automatically be jointly liable for payment?

Not simply by planning an activity. It depends on which concrete obligations have been agreed upon and the actual legal situation. Therefore, explicitly state responsibility and budget caps.

Can participant or membership lists be shared?

Not solely because a collaboration agreement has been written. All processing and sharing of personal data requires a separate GDPR assessment. This package contains no rules that in themselves allow personal data transfer.

Are the PDF files fillable?

The PDF versions are searchable and printable, but not verified as interactively fillable. The Word versions are intended for editing.

Are the agreements in English?

No. The main documents and the Swedish guide are in Swedish. The English User Guide explains how the package is used and does not imply adaptation to foreign law.

Related documents

• Delegation order and decision mandate for non-profit organization – clarifies who may make and implement decisions.
• Event plan and staff schedule – complements a joint arrangement.
• Cooperation agreement between companies – an alternative for a different type of commercial collaboration.

Sources and version

Swedish Tax Agency · SFS 1915:218 · IMY · GDPR (EU) 2016/679.

Version 1.0. AI-assisted source review 2026-11-02. No documented external legal review. Swedish jurisdiction. The final ZIP file will later be manually linked to Shopify Digital Products before the product is published.