What’s Required To Run A Nonprofit?

With so many wonderful causes in need of support these days, there is a constant need for funding. Though many companies and businesses seek to do their good work through a triple bottom line approach that takes good works as an afterthought, some entrepreneurs may want to pursue a more conscientious and intentional route to supporting the pursuits meaningful to them.

Understanding the nonprofit designations

There are many forms of nonprofit available, but each is guided by the general principle of distributing profits to charities or causes in place of shareholders or employees. A nonprofit may be oriented towards a scientific, religious, educational or charitable pursuit. Sometimes this support goes towards organizations outside of the company, while other nonprofits like to enfold that aspect of their work into the company. Here are some of the ways a company can qualify as a nonprofit:

• The state regulates the creation of nonprofits. You need to choose a nonprofit corporate structure via New York’s regulations. The state lumps nonprofits into religious and non-religious categories.
• File a Certificate of Incorporation.
• Choose a board of directors who can help to guide the company to where it needs to go. 
• Apply for sales tax exemption. This filing can be done through a 501(c) application.
• Create bylaws for the organization. These policies are essential as the governing documents of your organization.
• Request a nonprofit status from the IRS. You also have to get a New York State tax identification number and account.

Finding a better way to do business

A nonprofit is a fruitful intersection of business and a more community-oriented impact goal. A nonprofit can be a tricky structure to form no matter the scale of your intended business. If you’d like to explore the options for setting up a nonprofit, familiarize yourself with the additional steps to forming this business organization.