<p>My friend and I want to start a nonprofit for tutoring lower income kids in our school district. We're pretty determined and dedicated to the cause, and we know there's going to be a lot of paperwork involved but we don't mind dealing with it. However, we're both going to be juniors next year, and since the setup of the nonprofit is somewhat of a lengthy process, we think a realistic goal would be having it up and running by around December of this year. We're definitely going to be committed during this school year and as seniors as well, but do you all think that we are too far into our high school careers already to be starting a 501(c)(3) that will actually be effective and make and impact on the community?
Thanks!</p>
<p>Do you really need to incorporate as a 501c3 to do this? Can you operate under the auspices of another group or thru a school? </p>
<p>It takes a minimum of 9 months for the IRS to review your firm 1023 for the 501c3 exemption. That’s after you incorporate in your home state, write by laws, and form officers and a board. </p>
<p>And oh yes, it costs about $800-1000 in fees to do this. </p>
<p>I would seriously rethink about an easier way to accomplish your tutoring goal.</p>
<p>Errr… That’s “form 1023”</p>
<p>I don’t think it’s possible to tutor other kids in our school district through our school itself because the clubs and organizations at our school are required to stay on campus grounds. I’m not really sure what other groups would be able to take us under their wings. Are you familiar with any nationwide or statewide (if you live in Texas like we do) organizations that would be willing to do such a thing?</p>
<p>And does it really take a minimum of 9 months? I did some research and this is what I found:
"Typically, IRS 501(c)(3) approval takes between 2 and 12 months, inclusive of likely written follow-up questions. " (From [How</a> long does it take for the IRS to approve 501(c)(3) status? | Foundation Group](<a href=“http://www.501c3.org/frequently-asked-questions/how-long-does-it-take-for-the-irs-to-approve-501c3-status/]How”>http://www.501c3.org/frequently-asked-questions/how-long-does-it-take-for-the-irs-to-approve-501c3-status/))</p>
<p>Thanks again!!</p>
<p>Why don’t you call churches that serve the lower income neighborhoods and see what extant after school tutoring opps exist. Call a lot of them. If none can be found, ask if anyone would be willing to assist you. Then organize volunteers.</p>
<p>The idea of NFP status deals with revenue, donations and corporate structure. What revenue does tutoring these kids even require? Your time to “set up the org” is better spent at a desk, in front of a kid.</p>
<p>I have to admit that “founders of NFPs” brings out a very negative image in mind when we’re talking about the context of college admissions… advance your ad hoc service org. Drop the NFP label. </p>
<p>Those of us who sit on actual NFP boards knows that 99.9% of what HS students call NFPs are just resume padding.</p>
<p>I kind of have to agree that spending all that administrative time and effort incorporating to help kids, instead of actually helping the kids, is really taking your eyes off the prize.</p>
<p>Try churches. Try Boys’ and Girls’ Clubs. Somebody would welcome some well-intentioned high school kids who want to help younger kids with their homework.</p>
<p>I’ve actually had that same thought; it sounds like creating the NFP would take so much time and energy that it would distract us from the real goal that we have at hand. And we definitely aren’t doing this just to give ourselves an edge on college apps.
Thank you all for the advice; we’ll try calling churches and other community organizations to see if they’re interested. Just in case we can’t find one, though, would it be feasible (and legal?) to just organize a group of student volunteers from our high school and coordinate tutoring sessions with the lower income middle schools in our area? I’m just worried that we’ll need to be under some official umbrella to do so, which is why I figured we needed to start a nonprofit in the first place (liability issues and stuff? Plus, I think we’d have to be connected with the administrations of the schools we tutor at, and I’m pretty sure they can’t just let a group of high school kids into their classrooms, however noble the cause may be).</p>
<p>Ask the principals at some middle schools. They’ll know better than I would what the school district(s) in your part of Texas might allow. If you can identify a group of high school students who want to help, a local middle school might help you through the red tape.</p>
<p>Here is what IRS says - they are currently assigning agents to April applications (and EVERYONE has a procedural problem it seems). For my most recent set up, it took me a good 2 months to gather all the initial data and write by laws, etc etc and complete the form 1023. And I am familiar with the process. You don’t need a lawyer or accountant, and you can figure it out yourself, but it is not a form you will knock out in a weekend.</p>
<p>[Where</a> Is My Exemption Application?](<a href=“http://www.irs.gov/Charities-&-Non-Profits/Where-Is-My-Exemption-Application]Where”>Where's My Application for Tax-Exempt Status? | Internal Revenue Service)</p>
<p>Does your school have NHS? They do tutoring in our district.</p>
<p>ik this thread was active about a year ago,</p>
<p>but I was just wondering if anyone knew a way to have like a small organization (that is charitable/nonprofit and operates with a website) without getting the nonprofit status (which costs a lot of money and takes a long time and lot of paperwork)</p>
<p>^ I think you can do what you want, the reason to get non profit status is, I believe, mainly to be able to raise money, have a bank account, make donors eligible for tax deductions and so forth. If you just want to DO something there’s nothing stopping you from simply doing that, making a web site etc.</p>
<p>It sounds like you want to start an ad hoc org to accomplish a limited amount of goals. Then there’s no reason to set up a corporate structure. That’s needed if the org needed to purchase/rent/secure items and services, pay for insurance, attract funding. NFP status and incorporating are not necessary for many ad hoc level efforts</p>