How to Start a Nonprofit in Iowa

Iowa’s vast landscape is filled with not only cornfields but over 26,000 nonprofit organizations. Employing over 11% of the state’s workforce and generating over $20 billion in annual revenues (Independent Sector), Iowa is reliant upon its nonprofit sector for delivering necessary community services and elevating the voices of the people they serve.Before incorporating your nonprofit as a domestic nonprofit corporation with the Iowa Secretary of State’s office, you must choose a name and select three initial directors to serve on your nonprofit’s board. To ensure that the proposed name of your nonprofit is available, you can perform a name search on the Secretary of State’s website as well.Selecting your initial board of directors is the next preliminary step before incorporating your new nonprofit. You should select at least three people to serve on your board initially. While it is ultimately up to you and your board to decide what the titles and responsibilities of each member will be, selecting a President, Secretary and Treasurer is a good starting point.A nonprofit board President presides over all board meetings and is generally responsible for supervising all activities related to the organization. The Secretary of the board typically maintains minutes of all board meetings and communicates important announcements to members of the board. The Treasurer acts as the Chief Financial Officer of the board, supervising financial decisions, maintaining accurate financial records, and filing taxes annually on behalf of the nonprofit.Once you have a unique name and three outstanding individuals committed to the mission and vision of your nonprofit, you’re ready to incorporate! The cost of incorporating a nonprofit in Iowa is $20.00.Below are the minimum requirements for incorporating a nonprofit in Iowa:

1. The corporation must have a registered agent or a person who lives in Iowa who represents the organization. The registered agent’s name and address must be included in the application.
2. The name and address of the corporation’s board members.
3. A statement regarding the distribution of the corporation’s assets should it dissolve.

A Faster, Easy Way to Start Your Nonprofit in Iowa

Now you have your Iowa 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 Iowa 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 1023EZ.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 Iowa Nonprofit Corporation.