Читать книгу Nonprofit Kit For Dummies - Stan Hutton, Beverly A. Browning - Страница 26

IN THIS CHAPTER

Weighing the benefits and drawbacks of starting a nonprofit

Starting your nonprofit the right way

Embracing the understanding of nonprofit ownership

Surveying the different types of nonprofit organizations

Knowing the difference between nonprofit and for-profit corporations

Enlisting a fiscal sponsor to help you provide a service or complete a project

Maybe you’ve been thinking for years about starting a nonprofit organization, or maybe an idea to solve a social problem or provide a needed service has just popped into your head. It might be time to make your idea a reality. But before you file the incorporation papers, you need to consider the positive and not-so-positive factors that can make or break your new organization. As with opening any business, starting and managing a nonprofit organization isn’t a simple matter.

Take a look at the economy around you. Are existing nonprofit organizations in your community thriving, or are they struggling to find financial and volunteer support? In addition, are you equipped to manage money and raise funds — which isn’t an easy task even when business is booming — and can you inspire others to work with you whether they’re board members, staff, or volunteers?

In this chapter, we pose some questions that you should think about (and answer) before you begin the process of incorporating and applying for tax exemption. If some of your answers point to the conclusion that your idea is worth pursuing but you want to test the idea first, we suggest that you consider using a fiscal sponsor. As we point out later in this chapter, the benefits of fiscal sponsorship are many.

A nonprofit, in this book, refers to a type of corporation that has been recognized by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) as exempt under section 501(c)(3) of the IRS Tax Code and is described as a public charity. Later in this chapter, you can read about other kinds of nonprofits, to nail down the distinct attributes of these 501(c)(3) tax-exempt public charities.

Check out File 2-1 at www.wiley.com/go/nonprofitkitfd6e for a list of web resources related to the topics we cover in this chapter.