A nonprofit organization (NPO) is an organization that uses surplus revenues to achieve its goals rather than to distribute them as profit or dividends. States in the United States defer to the IRS designation conferred under United States Internal Revenue Code Section 501(c), when the IRS deems an organization eligible.^[1]

While not-for-profit organizations are permitted to generate surplus revenues, they must be retained by the organization for its self-preservation, expansion, or plans.^[2] NPOs have controlling members or boards. Many have paid staff including management, while others employ unpaid volunteers and even executives who work with or without compensation (occasionally nominal).^[3] Where there is a token fee, in general, it is used to meet legal requirements for establishing a contract between the executive and the organization.

Designation as a nonprofit and an intent to make money are not related in the United States. This means nothing can be conferred by the declaration. It is unclear whether or not this holds outside of the U.S. In the United States, such inference is the purpose of the Internal Revenue Code, Section 501(c). The extent to which an NPO can generate surplus revenues may be constrained or use of surplus revenues may be restricted.

Nature and goals[link]

Some NPOs may also be a charity or service organization; they may be organized as a not-for-profit corporation or as a trust, a cooperative, or they exist informally. A very similar type of organization termed a supporting organization operates like a foundation, but they are more complicated to administer, hold more favorable tax status and are restricted in the public charities they support.

Legal aspects[link]

NPOs have a wide diversity of structures and purposes. For legal classification, there are, nevertheless, some elements of importance:

• Economic activity.
• Supervision and management provisions.
• Representation.
• Accountability and auditing provisions.
• Provisions for the amendment of the statutes or articles of incorporation.
• Provisions for the dissolution of the entity.
• Tax status of corporate and private donors.
• Tax status of the foundation.

Some of the above must be, in most jurisdictions, expressed in the charter of establishment. Others may be provided by the supervising authority at each particular jurisdiction.

While affiliations will not affect a legal status, they may be taken into consideration by legal proceedings as an indication of purpose.

Most countries have laws which regulate the establishment and management of NPOs, and which require compliance with corporate governance regimes. Most larger organizations are required to publish their financial reports detailing their income and expenditure publicly. In many aspects they are similar to corporate business entities though there are often significant differences. Both not-for-profit and for-profit corporate entities must have board members, steering committee members, or trustees who owe the organization a fiduciary duty of loyalty and trust. A notable exception to this involves churches, which are often not required to disclose finances to anyone, including church members.

Formation and structure[link]

In the United States, nonprofit organizations are formed by filing bylaws and/or articles of incorporation in the state in which they expect to operate. The act of incorporating creates a legal entity enabling the organization to be treated as a corporation by law and to enter into business dealings, form contracts, and own property as any other individual or for-profit corporation may do.

Nonprofits can have members but many do not. The nonprofit may also be a trust or association of members. The organization may be controlled by its members who elect the Board of Directors, Board of Governors or Board of Trustees. Nonprofits may have a delegate structure to allow for the representation of groups or corporations as members. Alternatively, it may be a non-membership organization and the board of directors may elect its own successors.

The two major types of nonprofit organization are membership and board-only. A membership organization elects the board and has regular meetings and power to amend the bylaws. A board-only organization typically has a self-selected board, and a membership whose powers are limited to those delegated to it by the board. A board-only organization's bylaws may even state that the organization does not have any membership, although the organization's literature may refer to its donors as "members"; examples of such organizations are Fairvote^[4][5] and the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws.^[6] The Model Nonprofit Corporation Act imposes many complexities and requirements on membership decision-making.^{[citation needed]} Accordingly, many organizations, such as Wikimedia,^[7] have formed board-only structures. The National Association of Parliamentarians has generated concerns about the implications of this trend for the future of openness, accountability, and understanding of public concerns in nonprofit organizations. Specifically, they note that nonprofit organizations, unlike business corporations, are not subject to market discipline for products and shareholder discipline of their capital; therefore, without membership control of major decisions such as election of the board, there are few inherent safeguards against abuse.^[8][9] A rebuttal to this might be that as nonprofit organizations grow and seek larger donations, the degree of scrutiny increases, including expectations of audited financial statements.^[10]

Tax exemption[link]

In many countries, nonprofits may apply for tax exempt status, so that the organization itself may be exempt from income tax and other taxes. In the United States, to be exempt from federal income taxes the organization must meet the requirements set forth by the Internal Revenue Service.^[11]

Australia[link]

In Australia, nonprofit organisations can be categorized variously: Unincorporated Associations, Co-operative Societies, Incorporated Associations, Not-for-profit Companies, and Trusts. A Nonprofit organisation in Australia can have a number of legal formats depending on the needs and activities of the organisation in question. As a legal entity, the organisation may be a co-operative society, a company limited by guarantee, an incorporated association or society by the Associations Incorporation Act 1985 or an incorporated association or council by the Commonwealth Aboriginal Councils and Associations Act 1976.^[12]

Canada[link]

Canada allows nonprofits to be incorporated or unincorporated. Nonprofits may incorporate either federally (under Part II of the Canada Corporations Act) or provincially, by widely varying provincial legislation. Many of the governing Acts for Canadian nonprofits date to the early 1900s, meaning that nonprofit legislation has not kept pace with that governing for-profit corporations, particularly as regards corporate governance. Federally and in some provinces (such as Ontario), incorporation is by way of Letters Patent, and any change to the Letters Patent (even a simple name change) requires formal approval by the appropriate government, as do by-law changes. Other provinces (such as Alberta) permit incorporation as of right, by the filing of Articles of Incorporation or Articles of Association.

During 2009, the federal government enacted new legislation repealing the Canada Corporations Act, Part II - the Canada Not-for-Profit Corporations Act. This Act is expected to be proclaimed in the autumn or winter of 2011. It allows for incorporation as of right, by Articles of Incorporation; does away with the ultra vires doctrine for nonprofits; establishes them as legal persons; and substantially updates the governance provisions for nonprofits. Ontario also overhauled its legislation, adopting the Ontario Not-for-Profit Corporations Act during 2010; pending the outcome of an anticipated election during October 2011, the new Act is expected to be proclaimed early during 2012.

Canada also permits a variety of charities (including public and private foundations). Charitable status is granted by the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) upon application by a nonprofit; charities are allowed to issue income tax receipts to donors, must spend a certain percentage of their assets (including cash, investments and fixed assets) and file annual reports in order to maintain their charitable status. In determining whether an organization can become a charity, CRA applies a common law test to its stated objects and activities. These must be:

• The relief of poverty;
• The advancement of education;
• The advancement of religion; or
• certain other purposes that benefit the community in a way the courts have said is charitable^[13]

Charities are not permitted to engage in political activity; doing so may result in the revocation of charitable status.

Hong Kong[link]

The Hong Kong Company Registry provides a memorandum of procedure for applying to Registrar of Companies for a Licence under Section 21 of the Companies Ordinance (Cap.32) for a limited company for the purpose of promoting commerce, art, science, religion, charity, or any other useful object.^[14][15]

Finland[link]

In Finland, "rekisteröity yhdistys", given the abbreviation ry, denotes a registered association. This is done at a cost of 100 Euro. The association is required by law to keep a list of members. It must also hold an AGM and at least 3 members are required to initiate it, a secretary, chairperson and treasurer being the usual format.

India[link]

In India, NPOs are known commonly as Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs).^[16]

They can be registered in four ways:

1. Trust
2. Society
3. Section-25 Company
4. Special Licensing

Registration can be done with the Registrar of Companies(RoC).

The following laws or Constitutional Articles of the Republic of India are relevant to the NGOs:

• Articles 19(1)(c) and 30 of the Constitution of India
• Income Tax Act, 1961
• Public Trusts Acts of various states
• Societies Registration Act, 1860
• Section 25 of the Indian Companies Act, 1956
• Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, 1976

South Africa[link]

In South Africa, charities issue a tax certificate when requested by donors which can be used as a tax deduction by the donor.^[17] 1. Non Profit Organisation are registered under Non Profit Organisation Act in South Africa ; 2. Trust are registered by the Master of the High Court of the Republic of South Africa; 3. Section 21 Company registered under the Company's Act as amended in the Republic of South Africa;

All classified as Voluntary Organisations, All must be register for Tax South Africa Revenue Services "SARS" notice of incorperation and signature is needed

United Kingdom[link]

In the UK, many nonprofit companies are incorporated as a company limited by guarantee. This means that the company does not have shares or shareholders, but it has the benefits of corporate status. This includes limited liability for its members and being able to enter into contracts and purchase property in its own name. The goals ("objects") of the company are defined in the Memorandum of Association when the company is formed. The profits of the company (also referred to as the trading surplus) must be invested in achieving these goals and not distributed to the company's members.^[18]

Since the Companies act 2006, nonprofit companies may be formed as a Community Interest Company (CIC). These are forms of company limited by guarantee or company limited by shares but with special conditions and are intended specifically to ensure that the profits and assets of the company are used for public good, even when managed for (limited) profit.^[19]

A charity is a nonprofit organisation that meets stricter criteria regarding its purpose and the method in which it makes decisions and reports its finances.^{[20][dead link]} For example, a charity is generally not allowed to pay its Trustees. In England and Wales, charities may be registered with the Charity Commission.^[21] In Scotland, the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator serves the same function. Other organizations which are classified as nonprofit organizations elsewhere, such as trade unions, are subject to separate regulations, and are not regarded as "charities" in the technical sense.

United States[link]

For a United States analysis of this issue, see 501(c) and United States Charitable Organization.

After a recognized type of legal entity has been formed at the state level, it is customary for the nonprofit organization to seek tax exempt status with respect to its income tax obligations. That is done typically by applying to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), although statutory exemptions exist for limited types of nonprofit organizations. The IRS, after reviewing the application to ensure the organization meets the conditions to be recognized as a tax exempt organization (such as the purpose, limitations on spending, and internal safeguards for a charity), may issue an authorization letter to the nonprofit granting it tax exempt status for income tax payment, filing, and deductibility purposes. The exemption does not apply to other Federal taxes such as employment taxes. Additionally, a tax-exempt organization must pay federal tax on income that is unrelated to their exempt purpose.^[22] Failure to maintain operations in conformity to the laws may result in an organization losing its tax exempt status.

Individual states and localities offer nonprofits exemptions from other taxes such as sales tax or property tax. Federal tax-exempt status does not guarantee exemption from state and local taxes, and vice versa. These exemptions generally have separate application processes and their requirements may differ from the IRS requirements. Furthermore, even a tax exempt organization may be required to file annual financial reports (IRS Form 990) at the state and federal level. A tax exempt organization's 990 forms are required to be made available for public scrutiny.

Belgium[link]

By Belgian law, there are several kinds of nonprofit organisations:

• Vereniging zonder winstoogmerk (Dutch, abbreviated vzw) or Association sans but lucratif (French, abbreviated asbl).
• Internationale vereniging zonder winstoogmerk (Dutch, often abbreviated ivzw) or Association internationale sans but lucratif (French; often abbreviated aisbl) for international nonprofit organisations.
• Stichting van openbaar nut (Dutch, abbreviated son) or Fondation d’utilités publique (French, abbreviated fup).

These three kinds of nonprofit organisations are in contrast to a fourth:

• Feitelijke vereniging (Dutch language) or Association de fait (French language) an informal organization, often started for a short-term project, or managed alongside another NPO which does not have any status in law, so cannot purchase property etc.(association sans personnalité morale).

Japan[link]

In Japan, an NPO is any citizen's group that serves the public interest and does not produce a profit for its members. NPOs are given corporate status to assist them in conducting business transactions. As of February 2011, there were 41,600 NPOs in Japan. Two hundred of NPOs were given tax-deductible status by the government which meant that only contributions to those organization were tax deductible for the contributors.^[23]

Problems experienced by NPOs[link]

Capacity building is an ongoing problem experienced by NPOs for a number of reasons. Most rely on external funding (government funds, grants from charitable foundations, direct donations) to maintain their operations and changes in these sources of revenue may influence the reliability or predictability with which the organization can hire and retain staff, sustain facilities, create programs, or maintain tax-exempt status. For example, a university that sells research to for-profit companies may have tax exemption problems. In addition, unreliable funding, long hours and low pay can result in employee retention problems. During 2009, the US government acknowledged this critical need by the inclusion of the Nonprofit Capacity Building Program in the Serve America Act. Further efforts to quantify the scope of the sector and propose policy solutions for community benefit were included in the Nonprofit Sector and Community Solutions Act, proposed during 2010.

Founder's syndrome is an issue organizations face as they grow. Dynamic founders with a strong vision of how to operate the project try to retain control of the organization, even as new employees or volunteers want to expand the project's scope or change policy.

Resource mismanagement is a particular problem with NPOs because the employees are not accountable to anybody with a direct stake in the organization. For example, an employee may start a new program without disclosing its complete liabilities. The employee may be rewarded for improving the NPO's reputation, making other employees happy, and attracting new donors. Liabilities promised on the full faith and credit of the organization but not recorded anywhere constitute accounting fraud. But even indirect liabilities negatively affect the financial sustainability of the NPO, and the NPO will have financial problems unless strict controls are instated.^[24]

Examples[link]

In the United States, two of the wealthiest nonprofit organizations are the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which has an endowment of $38 billion,^[25] and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute originally funded by Hughes Aircraft ^[26] prior to divestiture, which has an endowment of approximately $14.8 billion. Outside the United States, another large NPO is the British Wellcome Trust, which is a "charity" by British usage. See: List of wealthiest foundations. Note that this assessment excludes universities, at least a few of which have assets in the tens of billions of dollars. For example; List of U.S. colleges and universities by endowment.

Measuring an NPO by its monetary size has obvious limitations, as the power and significance of NPOs are defined by more qualitative measurements such as effectiveness at performing charitable missions.

Some NPOs which are particularly well known, often for the charitable or social nature of their activities performed during a long period of time, include Amnesty International, Oxfam, Rotary International, Carnegie Corporation of New York, Nourishing USA, DEMIRA Deutsche Minenräumer (German Mine Clearers), FIDH International Federation for Human Rights, Goodwill Industries, United Way, ACORN (now defunct), Habitat for Humanity, Family Promise, Teach For America, the Red Cross and Red Crescent organizations, UNESCO, IEEE, INCOSE, World Wide Fund for Nature, Heifer International, Translators Without Borders and SOS Children's Villages.

However, there are also millions of smaller NPOs that provide social services and relief efforts to people throughout the world. There are more than 1.6 million NPOs in the United States alone.

There are also examples, for instance in Ireland of NGO umbrella organisations bringing about a degree of self-regulation in the NGO sector.

Internet[link]

Many NPOs often use the .org or .us (or the CCTLD of their respective country) or .edu top-level domain (TLD) when selecting a domain name to differentiate themselves from more commercial entities which typically use the .com space.

In the traditional domain noted in RFC 1591, .org is for "organizations that didn't fit anywhere else" in the naming system, which implies that it is the proper category for non-commercial organizations if they are not governmental, educational, or one of the other types with a specific TLD. It is not designated specifically for charitable organizations or any specific organizational or tax-law status, however; it encompasses anything that is not classifiable as another category. Currently, no restrictions are enforced on registration of .com or .org, so one can find organizations of all sorts in either of these domains, as well as other top-level domains including newer, more specific ones which may apply to particular sorts of organizations such as .museum for museums or .coop for cooperatives. Organizations might also register by the appropriate country code top-level domain for their country.

Other terminology for the sector[link]

Instead of being defined by “non” words, some organizations are suggesting new, positive-sounding terminology to describe the sector. The term “civil society organization” (CSO) has been used by a growing number of organizations, such as the Center for the Study of Global Governance.^[27] The term “citizen sector organization” (CSO) has also been advocated to describe the sector — as one of citizens, for citizens — by organizations such as Ashoka: Innovators for the Public.^[28] A more broadly-applicable term, "Social Benefit Organization" (SBO) has been advocated for by organizations such as MiniDonations.^[29] Advocates argue that these terms describe the sector in its own terms, without relying on terminology used for the government or business sectors. However, use of terminology by a nonprofit of self-descriptive language that is not legally compliant risks confusing the public about nonprofit abilities, capabilities and limitations.^[30]

Education[link]

• Centre for Social Investment, Heidelberg University "Nonprofit Mangagement & Governance"
• University of Applied Sciences Osnabrück "MA in Non-Profit Organizations"
• international association of professional certification,(iaopc)
• FH Bonn Rhein Sieg - MBA in NGO Management
• University of Geneva - CAS in NPO Management

See also[link]

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• Snyder, Gary R., Nonprofits: On the Brink : How Nonprofits have lost their way and some essentials to bring them back, 2006.
• P. Hartigan, 2006, 'It's about people, not profits', Business Strategy Review, Winter 2006

External links[link]

• Nonprofit Resources at the Open Directory Project
• Non-Profits LibGuide resources from the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign Library
• Our Community resources for the Australian non-profit sector
• Danone Chair of Social Business - European Business School Wiesbaden
• References */ Eugene Fram & Vicki Brown, Policy vs.Paper Clips: How Using the Corporate Model Makes a Nonprofit Board More Effective & Efficient - Third Edition (2011), Amazon Books,Create SpaceBooks.

Wilfried Zaha

Personal information
Full name	Dazet Wilfried Armel Zaha[1]
Date of birth	(1992-11-10) 10 November 1992 (age 19)
Place of birth	Bouaké, Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire
Height	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Playing position	Winger
Club information
Current club	Crystal Palace
Number	16
Youth career
	ASEC Mimosas
2007–2009	Crystal Palace
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
2009–	Crystal Palace	81	(7)
National team‡
2011	England U19	2	(0)
2012–	England U21	1	(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 13:45, 28 April 2012 (UTC). † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 23:44, 29 February 2012 (UTC)

Dazet Wilfried Armel Zaha (born 10 November 1992) is a footballer who plays for Crystal Palace as a winger.

Club career[link]

Crystal Palace[link]

2009-10[link]

Zaha was given his debut at home to Cardiff City on 27 March 2010 by then caretaker manager Paul Hart with a late 10 minute cameo role.^[2]Zaha was fully involved in reserve team matches at the end of the 2009-2010 season and showed that he has the potential to become a key player for the first team, with his pace and quick feet.

2010-11[link]

He quickly progressed through the ranks at Crystal Palace and became a key member of the first team during the 2010–11 pre-season friendlies. On 7 August, he scored his first senior goal in a 3–2 win over Leicester City and assisted the third goal when his shot was parried for Alan Lee to finish from close range.^[3] Speaking after this match, Palace defender Paddy McCarthy praised Zaha and compared him to Victor Moses. Zaha assisted Kieron Cadogan in the home game against Queens Park Rangers, James Vaughan in the away game at Watford F.C & finally Owen Garvan in the home game against Watford F.C.^[4] On 12 April 2011, he was sent off in the 95th minute against Leicester City for an alleged stamp on Patrick van Aanholt but it was later rescinded.^[5]

2011-12[link]

Zaha started the 2011-12 season in great form grabbing two goals in a League Cup game at home to Crawley Town. Zaha grabbed his 1st assist of the season when he set-up the first of two goals in the League Cup second round tie against Wigan Athletic on 13 September, crossing for Darren Ambrose to score. Zaha scored his third goal in the 2011-2012 League Cup opening the scoring at home to Middlesbrough F.C. on Tuesday 20 September in the third round tie and later added his 2nd assist of the season by setting up the second goal in a 2-1 win. On 27 September 2011 Zaha scored the first of 3 goals in a 3-1 to help Palace fight back against arch rivals Brighton and Hove Albion at the Amex Stadium, finally winning the game 3-1. Which nearly got Zaha a England Call-up. The next league game Zaha got himself a 3rd assist of the season by setting up Glenn Murray against West Ham United. Away to Watford F.C on Saturday 15 October, Zaha scored to help Palace to a 2-0 victory. In the quarter final of the League Cup on November 30 away at Manchester United Zaha played a vital part in the 2-1 win and grabbed his 4th assist of the season setting up Darren Ambrose to score the first goal in another 2-1 League Cup win. Zaha then notched his 5th assist of the season by assistng Glenn Murray away to Nottingham Forest on 10 December sliding the ball through for the striker to finish. On 30 January Bolton Wanderers made a £5million bid for Zaha, which Crystal Palace rejected. They then made an improved bid of £7million, which was also rejected. Big name top division clubs such as Manchester United and Liverpool FC had talks with manager Dougie Freedman about signing the youngster, but both clubs decided to wait until the summer transfer window. Zaha played against Brighton and Hove Albion on the same day as Bolton Wanderers had bid, winning a penalty that was converted by Chris Martin. On 14 February 2012 Zaha scored his 6th goal of the season away to Bristol City. 4 days later Zaha scored his 7th goal of the season at home to Watford F.C in a 4-0 victory. On 10 March 2012, Zaha was sent off for an off the ball incident with David Edgar in a 1-1 draw away at Burnley.^[6] On 21 April he scored in a 2-2 draw with Reading, in a game that saw Reading secure the Championship title.^[7]

Honours[link]

• 2011 Crystal Palace Young Player of the Year
• 2011/2012 Football League Young Player of the Year
• 2012 Crystal Palace Young Player of the Year

International career[link]

His success over the course of his first full season resulted in a call-up to the England under-19 side for their game against Germany in February 2011. He was called up to the under-21 team on 23 February 2012.^[8] He made his debut in a 4-0 win against Belgium on 29 February, assisting Henri Lansbury for the third goal.^[9]

Club career statistics[link]

As of 28 April 2012.

International career statistics[link]

As of 29 February 2012.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Wilfried Zaha career stats at Soccerbase

Ellie Goulding
Goulding performing at Lincoln Hall, Chicago, U.S., March 30, 2011.
Background information
Birth name	Elena Jane Goulding
Born	(1986-12-30) 30 December 1986 (age 25) Hereford, Herefordshire, England
Origin	London, England
Genres	Indie pop, electropop, synthpop, folktronica
Occupations	Singer-songwriter, guitarist, pianist, drummer
Instruments	Vocals, guitar, drums, piano, clarinet, mandolin, tambourine
Years active	2007–present
Labels	Neon Gold, Polydor, Cherrytree, Interscope
Associated acts	Starsmith, Frankmusik, Diana Vickers, Gabriella Cilmi, Little Boots, Tinie Tempah, Erik Hassle, Lissie, Mumford & Sons, Skrillex,Swedish House Mafia, Lupe Fiasco, DJ Daaar
Website	elliegoulding.com

Elena Jane Goulding (born 30 December 1986),^[1] known professionally as Ellie Goulding, is an English singer-songwriter. In 2010 she became the second artist to both top the BBC's annual Sound of... poll and win the Critics' Choice Award at the BRIT Awards in the same year, following Adele's win of both in 2008. After signing to Polydor Records in 2009, she released her first EP in 2009, An Introduction to Ellie Goulding, followed by her debut studio album Lights in 2010. Her album debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart and has sold over 650,000 copies in the UK. "Lights" was released in America March 8th 2011, where the title track has been certified platinum by the RIAA (excess of 1 million units sold) ^[2].

Goulding is a soprano,^[3] and her musical style has been compared to that of Kate Nash, Meiko, Lykke Li and Tracey Thorn.^[4]

Background and personal life[link]

Goulding was born and brought up in a small town near Hereford, Herefordshire, the second of four children.^[5][6] She began playing the clarinet at the age of nine, and at 14 began learning guitar. She attended Lady Hawkins' School in Kington, where she won a main part in a school production, the Wizard Of Oz, as the scarecrow. She started songwriting at the age of 15 and while in college she won a singing competition.^[7]

After commencing a drama course, politics course, and an English course at the University of Kent,^[8] where she was exposed to electronic music, she developed her sound on the track "Wish I Stayed" with the help of Starsmith and Frankmusik. Starsmith went on to become her chief collaborator and primary producer of Lights. After two years at Kent, she was advised to take a gap year to pursue singing,^[9][10] and moved to West London.^[11]

She is a keen runner, running six miles every day, and in 2010 announced plans to run a marathon.^[6] In support of her second EP, Run Into the Light, she invited a small number of fans through her Facebook pages, to run with her in seven different cities on her UK tour,^[12] and has announced that she will be doing the same across Europe and the United States. Goulding is considered to have an impressively athletic physique.^[13][14][15]

Music career[link]

Early career[link]

Signed to Polydor Records in September 2009,^[9] Goulding's debut single, "Under the Sheets", was released digitally in the United Kingdom on 15 November 2009,^[16] peaking at number fifty-three on the UK Singles Chart.^[17] In October 2009 she toured the UK supporting Little Boots,^[18] and appeared on Later... with Jools Holland, performing "Under the Sheets" and "Guns and Horses".^[19] "Wish I Stayed" was available as a free download as the Single of the Week on iTunes Store UK from 22–28 December 2009.^[20]

[edit] 2009–11: Lights and Bright Lights

Before the release of her debut studio album, Goulding won the BBC Sound of 2010 poll, which showcases the critics, broadcasters and music industry insiders' top choices for rising stars and artists for the coming year.^[21] She also won the Critics' Choice Award at the 2010 BRIT Awards, which prize made her the second artist to win both in the same year.^[22]

Goulding performing in Amsterdam on 17 September 2010.

Goulding's debut album Lights was released in March 2010, reaching number one on the UK Albums Chart and number six on the Irish Albums Chart.^[23][24][25] Its singles, "Starry Eyed", "Guns and Horses" and "The Writer" peaked at numbers 4, 26, and 19 respectively.^[17] The album has sold over 650,000 copies in the UK as of April 2012.^[26] In August 2010, Goulding released a second EP, Run Into the Light, containing remixes of songs from Lights. The album was supported by Nike and was released through Polydor as a running soundtrack in an effort to get Goulding's music taken up by the national running subculture.^[12]

In November 2010, Lights was re-released as Bright Lights, with six new tracks added. It was originally announced that the lead single from Bright Lights would be the new edit of the title track with a release scheduled for 1 November 2010.^[27] Yet this was scrapped to allow her cover of Elton John's "Your Song" to be released in conjunction with the John Lewis Christmas 2010 advertising campaign in the UK.^[28] The single became Goulding's highest-charting single to date, reaching number two on the UK Singles Chart.^[17] The song also charted in some European countries in early 2011.^[29]

Goulding toured in support of Lights and supported Passion Pit in March 2010 and John Mayall during his British tour in May 2010.^[30] During the summer she performed at a number of festivals. On 29 May she performed at the Dot to Dot Festival in Bristol.^[12] She performed a set on 25 June at the Glastonbury Festival 2010 on the John Peel Stage.^[31] Her third EP was a live recording of part of her set at the iTunes Festival 2010.^[32] The whole set was ultimately included as bonus content on the iTunes version of Bright Lights.^[33] She made her T in the Park debut on 11 July.^[34] She played on the Nissan Juke Arena at the 2010 V Festival in late August.^[35] In September she was part of the line-up at Bestival 2010 on the Isle of Wight.^[36] In support of the album in Europe she performed on the first day of Pukkelpop in Belgium, at the Open'er Festival in Poland and at Benicàssim in Spain.^[37] A track from Lights, "Every Time You Go", was featured in the Vampire Diaries episode "Founder's Day", "Your Biggest Mistake" appeared in an episode of The Inbetweeners.^[38] and "Believe Me" appeared in an episode of 90210. She began a tour of the United States and Canada in February 2011 to coincide with the release of the American edition of Lights.^[39] In August/September 2010 the singer was an opening act on Irish alternative rock band U2's U2 360 Tour in Munich, Germany, Vienna, Austria, and Zurich, Switzerland.^{[citation needed]}

In January 2011 it was announced that the title track from Lights would serve as the second single from Bright Lights.^[40] In early 2011 she recorded an original song for the film Life in a Day. Goulding was placed at number five on Rolling Stone's annual hot list in February 2011.^[41] In February 2011 she returned to the BRIT Awards where she was nominated for Best British Female and Best British Breakthrough Act, but lost out to Laura Marling and Tinie Tempah, respectively.^[42] Previously she had performed at the BRITs launch party where the nominations were announced.

She also played live at Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in April 2011.^[6] Goulding made her American television debut on Jimmy Kimmel Live on 7 April 2011 performing "Starry Eyed". She appeared as the musical guest on the 700th episode of the Saturday Night Live, broadcast 7 May 2011 and hosted by Tina Fey.^[43][44] She served as one of many live performers at the wedding reception of Prince William and Kate Middleton on 29 April 2011 singing her rendition of "Your Song" for the couple's first dance as well as her hits "The Writer" and "Starry Eyed" and several of William and Kate's personal favourites.^[45] She was introduced to Prince William by Tinie Tempah at a music festival during the summer of 2010. Goulding performed, for the second consecutive year, at Radio 1's Big Weekend on Saturday 14 May.^[46]

Goulding headlined the 2011 Wakestock Festival in Wales, performing on 8 July.^[47] In August she, again, performed at V Festival for her second year in a row.^[48] Following the re-release of Lights and the American release of the album, Goulding said she would soon begin work on a second studio album with an expected release in September 2011.^[49]

On 6 August 2011, Goulding performed at Lollapalooza in Chicago.^[50] Goulding performed at the annual Nobel Peace Prize Concert on 11 December 2011 in Oslo, Norway, where she also served on a panel discussion with Amy Lee of Evanescence and Janelle Monáe.^[51] On 1 December 2011, Goulding performed at the White House during the National Christmas Tree lighting ceremony, alongside the likes of Big Time Rush and will.i.am.^[52] On 18 January 2012, Goulding performed "Lights" on Late Show with David Letterman.^[53]

2011–present: Second studio album[link]

In February 2011, Goulding told the Daily Star that she had plans to release a follow-up to Lights sometime in 2012, commenting, "I'm not going to go away for ages. It'll be out this year or the start of next."^[54] The following month, when asked about the album's musical direction in an interview with gossip website Dean Piper's World, Goulding stated, "It's started to sound very dark and very weird. This album is going to be even more emotional [...] I wanted to make it so there is hope. I want to make an effect whether it's happy or sad."^[55] In April 2012, Goulding stated that she hoped the album would be released in October 2012.^[26] That same month, her single Lights was certified platinum in the United States by the RIAA ^[56].

Work with other artists[link]

Goulding co-wrote "Love Me 'Cause You Want To" for Gabriella Cilmi's second album, Ten, and three songs, "Remake Me + You", "Notice" and "Jumping Into Rivers", for Diana Vickers's debut album, Songs from the Tainted Cherry Tree.^[57] Her song "Not Following" was used by German singer Lena on her debut album My Cassette Player.^[58] Goulding was featured on rapper Tinie Tempah's single "Wonderman" from his debut studio album Disc-Overy. Goulding's "Under the Sheets" was also remixed by American rap duo Chiddy Bang, featured on their 2010 mixtape Air Swell, and by DJ Frenzy (F^K Y3AH! Breaks Mix). Frankmusik, who produced Goulding's song "Wish I Stayed", told Digital Spy he hoped to collaborate with her on his second album, Do It in the AM.^[59] "Lights" was remixed by Bassnectar, which appears on his 2011 album Divergent Spectrum.

On 19 September 2011, it was announced that Goulding would open for Katy Perry on her "California Dreams Tour", replacing Jessie J due to a foot injury.^[60][61]

On 14 December 2011, Mika announced that Goulding had involvement in his upcoming album The Origin of Love.^[62]

Goulding collaborated with American electro artist and producer Skrillex on a song titled "Summit", included on his 2011 EP Bangarang.

Discography[link]

• 2010: Lights

Tours[link]