<p>idonteatsushi-</p>
<p>You don’t have to establish a formal charity in order to start helping people. You can organize as a club and get going today. Look around for organizations doing the kind of work you’d like to help with and ask how you can assist them. Many groups love to have people organize drives for items they need or do fundraising so they can purchase them.</p>
<p>If you decide you want to go ahead with registering as a nonprofit the first thing you need to do is write a formal mission statement. This is where you say exactly what your organization’s purpose is and how you expect to go about it. </p>
<p>Next you’ll need a board of trustees (3 people minimum) willing to help you. You’ll need to write up Articles of Organization and bylaws and file them with your state. You should have these documents reviewed by a lawyer. It’s important that you get these right because they will determine the shape of your organization and whether your group will be eligible for tax deductibility.</p>
<p>Once you are approved as a charity in your state the next step is to register as a 501(c)(3) organization with the IRS. The advantage to registering with the IRS as a charity is that it makes contributions tax deductible. The disadvantage is that the process is time consuming and expensive. The minimum registration fee alone is $300 and you’ll have to do a ton of complicated paperwork, including annual reports and tax returns.</p>
<p>There are many other steps (getting an EIN, bank account, registering the name, etc.) but these are the big ones. As you can see, unless you have a lot of help and plan to continue your group well into the future you’re likely to be better off organizing your group as a community service club without the formal trappings of a 501(c)(3).</p>