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how to start a non-profit organization  in 2021 otherwise known as a 501 c 3   organization so a nonprofit organization is  a business entity in which your main goal   is to not make a profit but rather to make  money in order to expand on a social cause so   a social cause could be something like  feeding the homeless or helping out victims   of harsh circumstances but of course as tax  professionals we cannot ignore that having   a non-profit has some incredible tax benefits  for its owners for example 501 c 3 organizations   are completely tax exempt which allows them to use  more money towards their desired social causes so   you pretty much win in both ways okay you save  money on taxes and at the same time you're able   to support your favorite social calls so in this  video what i want to do is show you exactly how to   start a non-profit organization step by step stay  tuned hey there i'm sean with life accounting the   accounting company that saves people from high  taxes and low profits we make a lot of videos on   how to get started the type of business entities  that you may want to look at selecting as well as   how you can maximize your tax planning strategy  so if you like content like that please click   that like button and subscribe to our channel  to support us out and continue to grow yourself   right so why start a non-profit organization well  if your goal is to support a cause for the long   term then you're going to need an organization  because you get a lot of great benefits for   starters your ability to receive funding from  sources like grants are significantly increased   because once people see that you are an  established 501 c 3 then two things start   to happen first the level of trust in your  organization goes up because setting up a   non-profit organization is not easy and secondly  and probably more important when people actually   donate to you and give you money then they can  actually use that donation as a tax write-off   which is considered a charitable donation on  their tax returns so it becomes a win-win for   everyone so you get a donation and they get a tax  write-off or a tax deduction for example i believe   google gives up to ten thousand dollars for  non-profits to advertise their causes on google   and then google is able to write off that expense  another great benefit of nonprofit organizations   is that you get limited liability protection which  is basically the same type of protection that you   would get when you own something like an llc right  you get limited liability protection which usually   means that if your nonprofit were to get sued then  your personal assets are protected against any   claim about your non-profit a third and powerful  benefit of owning a non-profit organization   is your ability to hire there are thousands no  millions of people who just want to do good and   are willing to work for free and then on top of  that there are many companies that are willing to   give you a discount on their products or their  services in order to support a cause that they   believe in and that ability to raise what i would  call time is sometimes even stronger than your   ability to raise money and of course from our tax  planning perspective the biggest biggest benefit   of having a non-profit is being able to have a tax  exemption status once you incorporate your 501c3   which basically means that the corporation or the  nonprofit doesn't have to pay any taxes all right   so let's go ahead and talk about how to start a  non-profit organization step by step starting with   step number one ask yourself six big questions who  what when where why and how so starting with who   who will be involved because when you  incorporate a non-profit organization   depending on the state that you live in you may  be required let me repeat you may be required   to have a certain amount of directors or people a  part of your nonprofit organization for example in   the state of georgia your nonprofit must include  at least three directors not related to each other   on the other hand if you are starting a nonprofit  organization in the state of california then you   need at least three directors not related to  each other you also need a president a secretary   in a treasurer or some type of cfo so in  georgia you need three people in california   you're required to have six people but hey the  main point here is that you want to make sure   you have enough people on board required to start  your non-profit the next big question is what so   the number one mistake i see people making is just  simply thinking because they have a non-profit   money is just going to fall from the sky and  they're going to be able to do anything they   want to do but listen raising money is hard and  running an organization is even harder so you want   to think very carefully when you're incorporating  your business and thinking about your business   plan what's your budget what's your admission  and why why why would someone donate to you   as opposed to another non-profit organization  so big big things to consider here the next   question to ask yourself is when i know i know  right most people when i say win they say right   now but getting your non-profit incorporated  the right way takes a lot of time you're going   to have to work with your state and get articles  of incorporation which i'm going to go over in a   few steps in a minute and you're going to want  to apply for your tax exemption status now all   of this can take a few weeks up to a few months to  finalize so just make sure you're considering that   when you think about your timeline now the next  two questions to ask yourself are where and why   and i'm just going to assume if you're watching  this video that you know exactly where you want   to be established and you know why you're doing it  but of course if you haven't then stop and think   before you get incorporated and the last question  to ask yourself is how okay and this goes back to   having a great business plan but what i want you  to do is think hard about how you want things to   go because again running a non-profit is hard it  takes a lot of time and if you're not prepared to   manage it then you need to come up with a plan all  right moving on to step number two choose a name   for your nonprofit organization now chances are  if you're watching this video then you're probably   already excited about starting your non-profit  organization and i'm willing to bet that you've   likely thought of a name as well hey sean  look i'm drowning in non-profit business names okay so i just have two quick tips for  naming your non-profit organization   tip number one choose a name that identifies  with your cause so for example when you hear   a non-profit name like the american cancer society  it's very clear what they stand for and what they   help with right it's something around cancer  so make sure that whatever name that you choose   people can easily identify what your organization  stands for so number two once you have a name   in mind make sure that it's not taken so what  you're going to want to do is run a name search   using your state tools such as going to your  secretary of state website and then doing a name   search you can also use some federal tools to  do a name search or you can run a domain search   or a website url search to see if there are any  websites with the same name that you are thinking   about when it comes to your nonprofit now the  next step is all about how to actually get your   nonprofit incorporated but before we go on let  me just take a moment to ask you are you enjoying   this video so far if you are awesome please do  us a huge favor and hit that like button below   it helps our channel out a lot and it also  spreads this video around to more people who   want to learn how to start their non-profit  organization moving on to step number three   get incorporated so getting your non-profit  incorporated is very similar to getting   really any business incorporated even when you're  setting up a business like an llc or a limited   liability company now regulations do vary greatly  from state to state so the steps that i'm about to   share with you right now shouldn't be taken  as a substitute for competent legal counsel   and please always do your own research okay even  if you have legal counsel i would still advise   doing your own research okay so when you're filing  for your articles of incorporation also called   certificate of incorporation in some states  you're going to want to do the following one   get a registered agent so your registered agent  can be you or someone else that you appoint it can   even be an outside third party team like a legal  team that you've hired now the registered agent is   mainly responsible for sending and receiving any  legal documents so what you're going to want to do   is put that register agent's information such as  their address email number full name of course etc   when you're actually filing for your articles of  incorporation the second thing you're going to   want to do is select your officers and directors  so as i mentioned earlier some states may require   you to have a certain amount of officers and  directors and while you're filing your nonprofit   you will need to list the names of those officers  and directors so of course make sure you have   their full names and their contact information  such as their email address their number   and their physical address where you're ready to  get incorporated three you may need to provide   a certificate of disclosure so this is simply a  document that basically confirms there has been   no failure on the part of the nonprofit or any  of its directors or officers to disclose all the   important information this could be things such as  reports forms statements or other documents filed   by the non-profit number four you may need to  provide proof of a corporate name now this of   course is pretty self-explanatory and usually  something that is easily done especially if   you are filing your non-profit online they'll  do all the work for you pretty much and five   and finally you're gonna have to pay fouling fees  okay again pretty straightforward but of course   filing fees vary from state to state depending  on where you decide to file your nonprofit   but in order to get your articles of incorporation  you're going to have to pay some filing fees   now in addition to these five things it may  also be beneficial for you to include bylaws   or an operating agreement for which the nonprofit  organization will be managed just in case you end   up having a legal issue with any of your directors  or managers or co-owners inside of that operating   agreement you may want to adopt policies such as  a conflict of interest or compensation policies so   that everything is laid out as clear as possible  now once you have completed your articles of   incorporation then after a few weeks you should  be approved and then you're ready to move on to   step number four step number four file for federal  tax exempt status that 501 c3 status all right so   this is a big one and probably the most important  aspect of starting a non-profit organization so   when you're ready to file for federal tax exempt  status for your nonprofit there are several forms   that you can choose from each form has a different  fee associated with using them but please   please please do not choose a form based on the  filing fees okay just because one form is cheaper   than another form does not mean it's the right fit  for you so again do your own research or seek out   legal console for deciding which form that you  need to choose now one of the most popular ways   to apply for that tax exempt status is to use  form 1023-ez this is a form for organizations   with gross receipts less than 50 000 or have  assets under management of under 250 000 dollars   of course as you grow beyond those financial  thresholds you may need to reapply using something   like a regular form 1023 okay another important  note is that whoever is filing these forms   must have a registered account with the irs along  with filing for this exempt status you're going   to want to file for form ss4 so that you can  get a federal employer identification number or   ein for sort which will basically be required if  you want to set up a bank account hire people um   your use it for paying staff and other non-profit  identification measures so that's how you file for   your tax exempt status now let me be clear that  not every application is accepted the irs will   review they're going to make sure you fit some  requirements and they may possibly correspond with   you which would mean they're asking more questions  or requesting more documentation now after all   that the process of receiving a determination  letter from the irs may take anywhere from a   few weeks to several months and as of right now  as of july 2021 while i'm recording this video   we are seeing a lot of delays coming from the irs  and sometimes after weeks of waiting you still may   need to submit additional information to the irs  for them to be able to make an official ruling on   your application now once you do hear back from  the irs determining that your 501c3 has been   obtained then congratulations your non-profit  is set up but there is still one more step   that i want you to be open to taking step number  five keep up with your state filings compliance   and ongoing reporting one of my all-time favorite  quotes is from stephen covey when he says   think with the end in mind so of course i don't  want to leave you with just how to get started   but i also want to let you know what it takes  to maintain your nonprofit in the months and   years that followed so many states and local  governments will require you to complete more   filings to receive recognition as a tax exempt  entity so remember in the last step we applied for   federal exempt status so now we need to let the  state know the good news here is that usually when   the federal government recognizes your nonprofit  as tax exempt the state will follow suit but you   still have to go through some additional filings  and fees for local compliance such as registering   before you start any fundraising you may need to  register before engaging in any type of lobbying   you may need to secure permits and licenses for  things such as the goods and services that your   nonprofit provides so let's say for example  that you are serving food you might need a   license for that if you are helping children  you may need a license for that or if you're   hosting an event in a certain public area then  you may want to go out and get a permit for that   also to improve your tax status you're going to  want to file for tax exemption at the state level   so you can avoid doing things like paying property  taxes or sales taxes so overall if you want to   keep your nonprofit in a healthy position what i  want you to do is think about these four things   one you need to set up your internal processes so  stuff like how you're gonna hire staff how you're   gonna manage your money through your accounting  system okay two you need to keep track of all   your regular activity such as the board meetings  that you're having with the key officers and the   directors that are a part of your organization  third key you need to report taxes with hell   every single quarter which includes your federal  taxes your state taxes and possibly even local   taxes and then four you also need to keep up with  annual reporting so some of the things you need to   report annually is your form 990 you also need  to file an annual tax return of course and you   want to make sure you're renewing your nonprofit  and paying your renewal fees all right so now   that you made this far i have one additional  bonus tip for you and that is to ask yourself   do you need a non-profit organization because  you may not depending on what your goals are so   ask yourself some of these questions are you just  trying to help out one person or a small group of   people are you just trying to put on an event to  raise awareness or raise a little bit of money   is it just a one-time tax write-off like you  just made a lot of money you're looking for a   huge tax write-off if the answer to any of these  questions is yes then you need to reconsider if   you need to go about incorporating a non-profit  because for example you could put on a big event   help out a lot of people support a cause and still  get a huge personal tax deduction for doing so   however of course if your goal is more long term  like you want to help people for many many years   to come then of course starting a non-profit  organization can be a great option for you   alright so that's it for this video guys i would  love to talk to everyone in the comment section so   if you enjoyed it please write us a comment  access any questions you want or just share   your overall feedback and let's talk about it all  right we have two more videos that are coming up   next so if you haven't checked those out already  make sure you do and i'll see you over there you