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After confirming a Board of Directors, what are the next steps for registering a nonprofit?

#nonprofits #financial-planning #event-planning #organization #board #science #registration #nonprofit #Texas

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Matthew’s Answer

Hire a lawyer. Doing a non-profit is far more complicated to setup than for-profit. Beside state legal requirements, you got fairly complicated federal requirements, like with the IRS. If you plan to have employees, there are unique compliance issues for non-profits, particularly if the non-profit will be operating out the state of Texas.

This would be one of the first tasks of your board: a committee action to search, interview and recommend the lawyer. You will have to go thru the same process for accountant.

Legally if there are legal or criminal problems, it goes on the heads of the board, then the CEO. The Board should be active on this.

For-profit corps are easy to set up and you have flexibility. Get the non-profit foundation wrong, back to the back of the line or worse.
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Natasha’s Answer

If you have formed your board of directors, that probably means you have already thought about budget and finance. The talents of your first team members/colleagues/employees should strike a balance between financial acumen (budget, proposals, funding, procurement) and mission execution (programs, stakeholder relations, membership growth, communications, business development).


Stay well,
Natasha
Thank you comment icon Hi Natasha, this is good advice but it doesn't directly answer the student's question. What is the next step for them to register their non-profit? Gurpreet Lally, Admin
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Melissa’s Answer

I've added some potential next steps below in case that helps! There's no limit to what you can do next, but the trick is pacing yourself and activating your volunteers to implement some of the early planning and development.

Melissa recommends the following next steps:

Attain nonprofit status with the IRS
Create a strategic plan
Create a fundraising plan
Communicate your mission
engage volunteers
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Dusie’s Answer

In addition to what others have said, a nonprofit is a business and as such needs to be incorporated in the state where you plan on doing business. I agree with Matthew that finding a lawyer to help you navigate the various legal and administrative requirements of setting up a nonprofit would be a good plan. You might be able to find one who would give you pro bono counsel because he/she cares about the mission of your nonprofit. Here also on the Council of Nonprofits website, you can find resources on how to set up a nonprofit: https://www.councilofnonprofits.org/tools-resources/how-start-nonprofit
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