When handling legal matters, The Autism Network are equipped with legal tools and support that helps them to operate efficiently. However, in keeping with their mission of inclusiveness and accessibility, we offer our expertise with clarity on how The Autism Network can utilize legal insights to further their work in a simple and clear manner. As important as it is to always be mindful of inclusivity, The Autism Network’s activities always need some level of structure that requires the use of contracts. But what does an amendment to a contract template entail? In its most basic form, a contract template includes: It’s common for The Autism Network to be in a situation where they have to partner with another organization or sponsor to run an event or share resources, in which case, they’ll need an amendment made to a contract template. To go about reviewing an existing contract and amending it, you would have to: Consider a basic example of The Autism Network Singapore needing to amend an agreement to be a sponsor for an Autism Advocacy programme. First, you’ll review the existing contract template, and then you’ll arrive at the specific terms that require an amendment. This could be something like “we’ll be sponsoring 10% of the 5000 sets of pamphlets” rather than “we’ll be sponsoring 10% of the 5000 sets of pamphlets and will be organizing a give-away too”.
The Autism Network Singapore may face a few challenges when they decide to amend existing contracts in order to keep things consistent. For an example, one challenge could be when they have to enter into agreements initiating unexpected new collectives and partners. In this case, they might want to consider seeking assistance from their general counsel or another lawyer experienced in non-profit organizations.
In this case, let’s say The Autism Network Singapore is slowly expanding and they need to amend their existing contract template to include writing some terms from scratch (i.e. they don’t have an existing contract template that allows them to enter into this kind of arrangement). The first step is working with the person who is responsible for the new ongoing terms that need to be drafted to find out what is needed, and then drafting the relevant terms. Let’s say The Autism Network Singapore wants to support an event held by another local community organization, this could be in the form of sending out promotional materials or sharing information through their own upcoming events. In this case, they will want to only amend specific terms rather than utilising a new one to avoid confusion. This means they will review the existing agreement and see if there are terms they will need to alter to fulfill the new commitment (e.g. date, time, venue) and communicate it clearly to the other party. Overall, as with all legal tools, effective communication is the best way to ensure that any amendments to your organization’s contracts and contracts themselves are easily understood.
Lastly, there are ways for The Autism Network Singapore to make their legal documents more transparent and accessible to a diverse audience just by refining simple areas on their end.
The Autism Network can also try referring to the following article, Perfecting the Contract Amendment: Key Templates and Strategies which outlines a few strategies that may work for them when amending existing contracts.
For more information on contract amendments, you can visit Cornell Law School.