After you identify the pros and cons of starting and maintaining a nonprofit, you should arrange a meeting with your accountant and attorney. Just like any business venture, this type of work requires planning, money, risk and dedication. Your advisers should be able to guide you through the issues associated with running a 501(c)(3). Of course, a couple of the questions that come to my mind immediately include: Are you ready to start chasing the same charitable “dollar” that all other nonprofits are chasing, and is there an existing charity that serves the causes close to your heart that you can partner with?

First off, you need to make sure that your organization qualifies as a nonprofit organization. A nonprofit is an organization whose primary objective is to support some issue or matter of private interest or public concern (such as the arts, charities, education, politics, religion, research or some other endeavor) for noncommercial purposes. A 501(c)(3) nonprofit is exempt from income and (sometimes) property tax, and is able to receive taxdeductible charitable contributions. Before you spend your money, at least consult an attorney who is experienced in the area of nonprofit law so that you do not make one of the many major mistakes that people make when they try to incorporate by themselves. If you meet the criteria to apply for taxexempt, public charity status, obtain Form 1023 (application) and Publication 557 (detailed instructions) from the local IRS office or IRS website. There is a filing fee that depends upon the size of the organization’s budget. The application is an important legal document and although it is not required, it is advisable to seek the assistance of an experienced attorney when preparing it. There are many other steps necessary to set your organization up. A good website for researching these steps is www.wikih o w. c o m / S t a r t - a - 5 0 1 c 3 - Nonprofit-Organization. Filling out the forms and filing the application may not take long, but successfully setting up all the infrastructure for your organization may take quite a while.