When do you need a 501C 3?
This allows you to have tax free status so that donated goods are a tax writeoff for your donors. More important, it allows you to fundraise and pursue grants and corporate donations. The two major things that will drive this decision are wheter to pay staff and how much space you need.
YOU REALLY SHOULD HAVE A GOOD LAWYER THAT KNOWS NON-PROFIT LAW IN YOUR STATE LOOK ALL YOUR DOCUMENTS OVER. If you go down this road, you will need a lawyer from time to time anyway to bounce things off. Ideally, you get a lawyer or CPA with non-profit ability on your board or as your start up officers.
If you need to rent space, this quickly becomes a problem. If you decide to pay salaries, this is your first issue.
The process takes from 6 weeks to a few months if the forms are prepared well. But first you need a set of Bylaws (check the Web for samples) and 4 officers. Make sure your financial officer is someone you would trust with your own personal checkbook.
You do need to have 4 officers to incorporate: President, VP, Treasurer and Secretary
- Get your EIN number. This takes a few minutes and can be done online
- Incorporate in your state - which requires you to have Articles of Incorporation and Bylaws (boilplate for the most part) and officers.
- File the 501C3
- Wait for the ruling