How to Start a Nonprofit in Vermont

Home to our two favorite brothers, Ben and Jerry and over 4,000 nonprofit organizations, Vermont is a great place to start your nonprofit. Vermont keeps things simple and provides online incorporation services. As is the case with all nonprofits, you must file for incorporation at a state level and file for 501(c)(3) status at a federal level. We’ll focus on the important first step of getting started as a nonprofit corporation in Vermont. We’ve broken the process into 3 easy steps.

1. Filing for Incorporation
   1. Pick your name.
      1. Vermont looks for individuality-- if the name is too similar to an existing corporation, it will be rejected. So, make sure your organization’s name is unique.
      2. The name must include one of the following:
         1. "corporation" (Corp)
         2. "incorporated" (Inc)
         3. "company" (Co)
         4. "limited" (Ltd)
   2. Pick your initial 3 members of the Board of Directors
      1. Your board of directors acts as the governing body of your nonprofit. Vermont requires that you select three initial directors in order to incorporate your nonprofit. These individuals could serve in the respective roles of President, Secretary, and Treasurer.
         1. President: The President presides over board meetings and generally supervises all activities related to the nonprofit.
         2. Secretary: The Secretary maintains board meetings minutes and is responsible for communicating important information to board members.
         3. Treasurer: The Treasurer acts as the Chief Financial Officer of the nonprofit, supervising the charge and custody of all funds, maintaining adequate financial records, and filing annual tax returns on behalf of the nonprofit.
   3. Select a Registered Agent
      1. A registered agent is a medium between the organization and the government-- the legal points of contact
      2. In Vermont, they can be either an individual person or a business that is registered with the Vermont Secretary of State.
      3. You must provide their address in the filing as well.
   4. Provide an address, email address, and an optional mailing address (if applicable)
   5. Provide payment for $125 filing fee.
   6. Renewal
      1. To keep your incorporation status, you must re-register every 2 years
2.  Bylaws
   1. In Vermont, each organization must write and enact bylaws. These are used simply to maintain organization and authority within the organization.
   2. While these bylaws are not filed with the state, they are helpful in establishing your board of directors and ensuring that all members are maintaining their responsibilities.
   3. Bylaws can also help to outline solicitation distribution.

A Faster, Easy Way to Start Your Nonprofit in Vermont

Now you have your Vermont 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 Vermont 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 Kentucky Nonprofit Corporation.