2007-06-05 02:33:36 · 4 answers · asked by Jill G 1 in Business & Finance ➔ Careers & Employment ➔ Government & Non-Profit
You do not need any special credentials, unless you have been barred by some conviction or plea agreement.
You will want to consult with an attorney, and especially with a CPA who specialized in non-profit organizations. Since these can be hard to find, you could start by calling other small non-profit groups, such as women's shelters, homeless shelters, or local environmental trusts to get referrals and discuss the process they went through to attain non-profit status.
The process isn't hard, and you can begin operating before the work is done. You won't be able to get funding from most state grants or charitable foundations until you've attained your non-profit status.
As I remember, the requirements are few and simple:
1) establish the corporation
2) no ownership structure
3) appropriate corporate bylaws
4) provision for appropriate disolution
5) acceptable charatible purpose
BUT, Don't trust anything about this list. Laws change and memories (my memories) fade.
2007-06-05 03:00:29 · answer #1 · answered by Carl M 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
No, but so many people want to start a nonprofit and you don't have to. You can go to a nonprofit that's doing similar work and ask them to be your fiscal sponsor. That means that, rather than waiting six months or more and paying fees to the IRS to get your tax-deductible status, you start doing the work. Whatever money you raise goes through the fiscal sponsor and they give it to you. They might charge you a fee of a few percent to do the bookkeeping, but it's worth it until you're taking in about $25,000 a year, and then you can get your own status. Otherwise, the paperwork will exhaust you. Thousands of people apply for the tax-deductible status and then never do anything with the organizations.
2007-06-08 19:30:37 · answer #2 · answered by Katherine W 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No. However, before you file for tax exempt status with the feds (IRS), you must complete your state's nonprofit business paperwork to become a nonprofit.
2007-06-08 12:29:12 · answer #3 · answered by Nicki 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You have to apply for tax-exempt status from the IRS.
http://www.irs.gov/charities/article/0,,id=136196,00.html
2007-06-05 02:44:51 · answer #4 · answered by Homer J. Simpson 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋