Starting a Nonprofit Organization

Disclaimer:  we do not vouch for the reliability of the information you receive from other websites; rather, we want to give you a sampling of the information available to you on the Web.  Please be a cautious consumer!

Do you really want to start a nonprofit organization?  What are the questions you need to ask of yourself and others?  What should you have in place before you begin to provide services or begin a grantwriting program?  The links below will take you to sites (in a new window) that can help you answer these questions:

The Foundation Center's section on Establishing a Nonprofit Organization is excellent.  The section describes the 12 tasks you will need to accomplish to start a nonprofit organization:  http://fdncenter.org/learn/classroom/establish/index.html

The Minnesota Council of Nonprofits has a great page on starting a nonprofit organization.  There is a checklist of forms you'll need, templates for bylaws and articles of incorporations, a list of alternatives to consider, and a discussion of the stages of development that a nonprofit goes through:  http://www.mncn.org/info_start.htm.

About.com's nonprofit section has information about starting a nonprofit, including a definition of "nonprofit," how to start a nonprofit, and frequently asked questions about the subject:  http://nonprofit.about.com/library/weekly/aa120402.htm?once=true&PM=ss11_nonprofit

Dr. Charity has info on starting a new nonprofit, including links to the government forms you'll need:  http://www.drcharity.com/npstart.html

The Free Management Library has a section on starting a nonprofit organization:  http://www.mapnp.org/library/strt_org/strt_np/strt_np.htm

Also check out their page of great links about business planning for nonprofits: http://www.mapnp.org/library/plan_dec/bus_plan/bus_plan.htm

Here's a great outline of a business plan for nonprofit organizations from the

Community Technology Center Network:

http://www.ctcnet.org/resources/dir/index.php?sid=220082972&t=sub_pages&cat=19

Network for Good has a helpful FAQ section dealing with new nonprofits:

http://www.networkforgood.org/offsiteframe/?siteURL=http://www.nonprofit-info.org/npofaq/keywords/1l.html

Whatcom Nonprofits also has a page on starting a nonprofit organization:  http://www.whatcomnonprofits.org/start.html

The Grantsmanship Center has a helpful page on starting a nonprofit corporation:  http://www.tgci.com/magazine/96summer/tobe1.asp

Form1023Help:  Helpful information about filing for 501(c)(3) status:  http://www.form1023help.com/

Information from the IRS about exemption requirements for nonprofit organizations:  hhttp://www.irs.gov/charities/charitable/index.html

Here's great article from the Free Management Library about Founder's Syndrome (read this!):  http://www.managementhelp.org/misc/founders.htm

How to develop a mission statement (from the Drucker Foundation):

http://www.pfdf.org/leaderbooks/sat/mission.html

Self-assessment tool from the Leader-to-Leader Institute (formerly the Drucker Foundation)  The Drucker Foundation Self-Assessment Tool provides a process for nonprofit organizations to clarify mission, define results, set goals, and develop a focused plan.

The National Center for Charitable Statistics has a wealth of good information about nonprofits and philanthropy, as well as good definitions of nonprofit terminology:  http://nccs.urban.org/

The Free Management Library has a helpful section on finances for nonprofits:  http://www.mapnp.org/library/finance/np_fnce/np_fnce.htm

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