Nonprofit Help Guides

In short, yes. As with the other types of corporations, most states require nonprofit corporations to hold meetings of the directors and voting members, if any. Check your particular state’s statutes as well as your nonprofit bylaws for other meeting requirements. On the other hand, non-corporate business entities, such as sole proprietorships, part...

Often, the choice between entity types is relatively straightforward. Organizations seeking to provide charitable, educational, religious, literary, or scientific services to their communities typically need to obtain nonprofit status in order to become eligible to receive funds from government and private foundations in the form of grants and donat...

Nonprofits that qualify under section 501(c)(3) of the IRC become exempt from paying federal income taxes. This qualification is also necessary to receive tax-deductible donations and many grants. Although donations received prior to the nonprofit qualifying for tax-exempt status are not tax deductible, they become retroactively deductible once the...

Very few states require that the articles of incorporation be filed in person, and even then, it is only required in a few states for those who wish to expedite the filing time. These days most states accept the articles of incorporation via mail or fax, and many are also now offering online filing portals....

Meeting minutes are used to record all items discussed and resolutions passed at board meetings. Maintaining these records is much more than a mundane formality. Minutes play an important function in helping the business show how important decisions were made and which members voted for what. Corporations are required to keep these records in order...

Income earned by normal for-profit C corporations is taxed twice: once at the entity level and then again at the personal level when that income gets disbursed to shareholders and employees. However, nonprofit corporations that qualify under section 501(c)(3) of the IRC are exempt from paying federal income tax and are eligible to receive tax-deduct...

The short answer is no; there is no requirement that you be a U.S. citizen or resident to start a nonprofit corporation. In practice, it may be difficult to run a corporation from abroad; however, there is no legal requirement that the incorporators be citizens or maintain residency, and the process for incorporating for foreigners is the same as fo...

Nonprofit corporations are organized under state law for a "public benefit," meaning for a purpose other than earning profits. They typically aim to benefit the public or specific public groups by providing charitable, educational, religious, literary, or scientific services. Nonprofit corporations range from small local charities to large nationwid...

“EIN” stands for Employer Identification Number and is required by the IRS for tax identification purposes for any business with employees as well as businesses falling under a few other categories. Specifically, the IRS requires that a business obtain an EIN if it: has employees; operates as a corporation or partnership; withholds taxes on income o...

Nonprofit corporations that obtain tax-exempt status with the IRS are exempt from paying federal income tax and may also have a number of other tax exemptions available at the state and local levels. The following is a brief overview of how other common business entities are taxed. Sole proprietorships – Profits are taxed once as the sole proprietor...