How To Start a Nonprofit in New York

The Empire State, home to The Big Apple or The City That Never Sleeps-- whatever you’d like to call it, New York has so many names because of how influential it has been on the American and global economy. As far as nonprofits go, there are just below 100,000 nonprofits organizations in New York state. They range anywhere from art organizations to faith-based communities, bringing in a total of just under $200 B in revenue per year (NYCON)!Here’s all the essentials to starting your New York Nonprofit:

1. Create a mission statement
   1. A mission statement is required when filing for tax-exemption status. A mission statement must include a purpose and dissolution clause (which sets out the details on how a company plans to dissolve or terminate their business if needed).
2. Choose initial directors
   1. You must have three or more board of directors in order to gain tax-exempt status. The physical address of each member of the board of directors must be known, however it is not required to share their social security numbers.
3. Prepare and file your nonprofit’s Articles of Incorporation
   1. The corporation must designate SOS as agent for service of process. It is required that an organization has a mission statement, purpose, dissolution clause and a primary physical address (including the county). The filing fee is $75 by mail.
      1. “Special Not-For Profit Corporation” may be required to file additional statements of information. Check out Article 14 to learn more about this type of corporation.
4. Some organizations may need approval from a state official, department, board, agency or other government body. View the full list to see if your corporation falls under any of the categories. After receiving the necessary approval, you must attach the form to your Certificate of Incorporation when filing.

A Faster, Easy Way to Start Your Nonprofit in New York

Now you have your New York 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 New York 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 New York Nonprofit Corporation.