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." See more information on the new regulations.

Starting your own nonprofit

• The Foundation Center's 12-step tutorial to starting a nonprofit organization
• The IRS's FAQ section about applying for tax-exemption status
• This IRS document includes a step-by-step review of the application process for becoming a tax-exempt organization
• The IRS website offers useful "Life Cycle" sections with regulatory insights on the start-up, maintenance, and termination of different types of nonprofit organizations. See information about 501(c)(3)s and 501(c)(4)s.
• Retired IRS agent Sandy Deja offers a comprehensive resource for preparing Form 1023 through her website
• BoardSource has a handy list of questions about and steps for starting a nonprofit organization
• The Center for Nonprofit Management's resources on what it takes to start your own organization
• 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
• Connecticut Nonprofit Information Network's articles about starting a nonprofit, including resources to read before you begin
• The Society for Nonprofit Organizations' list of frequently asked questions about starting a nonprofit
• About.com's list of resources and articles regarding the many steps involved in starting a nonprofit