How to Start a Nonprofit in Arkansas

The nonprofit sector in the Natural State is composed of 12,000 organizations, employs 9% of the population, and generates over $17 billion in annual revenues (Independent Sector). The continuous growth of the state’s third sector is crucial to its ongoing health and prosperity. If you’re an Arkansas resident looking to bring more opportunities to the Land of Opportunity but don’t exactly know where to start, look no further: ExemptMeNow knows just what to do to bring you one step closer to starting your nonprofit.Incorporating your nonprofit as a public benefit corporation, mutual benefit corporation, or religious corporation is the first step to forming a nonprofit in Arkansas. Filing for incorporation can be completed online at the Arkansas Secretary of State’s website. Currently, the cost of incorporating a nonprofit in Arkansas is $50.00.In order to complete the incorporation process, your organization must have at least one initial officer and his or her address, the necessary purpose and dissolution clauses compliant with IRS regulations, and Registered Agent, which could be any person or entity located in Arkansas. The Registered Agent is responsible for all business filings at the state level and generally serves as a representative to the organization.

A Faster, Easy Way to Start Your Nonprofit in Arkansas

Now you have your Arkansas nonprofit corporation, you can use your state information and federal EIN to open a bank account for your nonprofit. However, setting up your nonprofit in Arkansas is just part of the process of becoming a formal tax-exempt organization. The next step is to file for a federal tax exemption using either IRS form 1023 or 1023-EZ.The average nonprofit takes 100+ hours of time and often several thousand dollars in professional fees to create. In the past, you were faced with locating, understanding, and filing the forms yourself or hiring an expensive attorney who likely doesn’t specialize in nonprofits.ExemptMeNow is the only secure, fully automated, online platform for creating your Arkansas Nonprofit Corporation.