Chapter Fourteen Resources

Chapter Fourteen of the Idealist Guide to Nonprofit Careers provides advice for people who are thinking about starting their own nonprofit organization. Here are some supplementary resources to those included in the chapter. Please note: These resources are primarily geared toward readers interested in starting a nonprofit organization in the United States.

Updated information! Please note that on 9 September 2008, the IRS changed the regulations surrounding the determination of whether new 501(c)(3) organizations qualify as "public charities" or "private foundations" (See Step five in Chapter Fourteen of the Idealist Guide to Nonprofit Careers). According to the IRS website, "Under the new regulations, a new 501(c)(3) organization will be classified as a publicly supported charity, and not a private foundation, if it can show that it reasonably can be expected to be publicly supported when it applies for tax-exempt status." For more information on the new regulations, visit www.irs.gov/charities/charitable/article/0,,id=185568,00.html.

Starting your own nonprofit

• The Nonprofit FAQ is one of the most comprehensive resources for any topics related to nonprofits, including starting one. The Nonprofit FAQ is the work of Put Barber, a contributor to The Idealist Guide to Nonprofit Careers (and the author of Chapter Fourteen). In particular, the Start-up section of Idealist's Nonprofit FAQ has many more items discussing various aspects of this topic. See www.idealist.org/if/i/en/faqcat/21-74.
• The Foundation Center's 12-step tutorial to starting a nonprofit organization is at http://foundationcenter.org/getstarted/tutorials/establish/.
• The IRS's FAQ section about applying for tax-exemption status is available at www.irs.gov/charities/article/0,,id=96590,00.html.
• This IRS offers document includes a step-by-step review of the application process for becoming a tax-exempt organization at www.irs.gov/charities/charitable/index.html.
• The IRS website offers useful "Life Cycle" sections with regulatory insights on the start-up, maintenance, and termination of different types of nonprofit organizations. For 501(c)(3)s, see www.irs.gov/charities/charitable/article/0,,id=122670,00.html. For 501(c)(4)s, see www.irs.gov/charities/nonprofits/article/0,,id=156354,00.html.
• Retired IRS agent Sandy Deja offers a comprehensive resource for preparing Form 1023 through her website www.form1023help.com.
• BoardSource has a handy list of questions about and steps for starting a nonprofit organization at www.boardsource.org/dl.asp?document_id=17 (PDF).
• The Center for Nonprofit Management's resources on what it takes to start your own organization are at www.cnmsocal.org/Services/publications.html.
• Free Management Library has many articles about the process of starting a nonprofit, covering topics from assessment to avoiding Founder's Syndrome as the organization matures, at www.managementhelp.org/strt_org/strt_np/strt_np.htm.
• Connecticut Nonprofit Information Network's articles about starting a nonprofit, including resources to read before you begin, are at www.ctnonprofits.org/pages/NonProfitResources/StartNonProfit.asp.
• The Society for Nonprofit Organizations' list of frequently asked questions about starting a nonprofit is available at www.snpo.org/resources/startup.php.
• About.com's list of resources and articles regarding the many steps involved in starting a nonprofit is at http://nonprofit.about.com/od/nonprofitbasics/For_Beginners.htm.