How to Start a Nonprofit in Illinois

Illinois has made a lot of great accomplishments like inventing the ice cream sundae and Twinkies. It is also home to the Nabisco factory and where Popeye, the cartoon, was created. As far as nonprofits go, as of 2016, Illinois was home to 60,277 nonprofit organizations and employed around 11% of Illinois workforce. To start your own nonprofit in Illinois, just follow these two easy steps.

1. Start by choosing your initial directors
   1. You must have 3 or more members of your board of directors when starting your nonprofit. A physical address of each director is required in order to file the proper paperwork. You must also have at least one incorporator who is 18 years or older.
2. Prepare and file your nonprofit’s Articles of Incorporation
   1. Filing your nonprofit’s Articles of Incorporation with the Illinois Secretary of State is the first step to becoming a fully functioning, high performing tax-exempt organization. You must have a registered agent and he or she must be a current resident of Illinois. When filing for Articles of Incorporation you will need a mission statement, corporation’s purpose, dissolution clause, primary address that is the corporation’s physical address, and the name and address of each incorporator and initial director. The filing fee is $50.

A Faster, Easy Way to Start Your Nonprofit in Illinois

Now you have your Illinois 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 Illinois 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 Illinois Nonprofit Corporation.