Verify anything load-bearing here before you file. Federal rules are stable; state fees and thresholds are not.
IRS
- Charities and Nonprofits hub — https://www.irs.gov/charities-and-nonprofits
- Publication 557, Tax-Exempt Status for Your Organization — https://www.irs.gov/publications/p557
- Form 1023 and instructions — https://www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/about-form-1023
- Form 1023-EZ eligibility worksheet — https://www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/about-form-1023-ez
- Form 1024 (c6 and others) — https://www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/about-form-1024
- Form 5768, § 501(h) lobbying election — https://www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/about-form-5768
- Lobbying and political campaign activity guidance — https://www.irs.gov/charities-non-profits/lobbying
- Unrelated business income tax — https://www.irs.gov/charities-non-profits/unrelated-business-income-tax
- Public charity vs private foundation status — https://www.irs.gov/charities-non-profits/charitable-organizations/public-charities
- Tax Exempt Organization Search (look up peers’ 990s) — https://apps.irs.gov/app/eos/
Statutes
- 26 U.S.C. § 501(c)(3), § 501(c)(6), § 501(h), § 170, § 162(e), § 512–514 (UBIT), § 527(f), § 4958, § 6033(e), § 1202 (QSBS) — https://uscode.house.gov/
State
- Secretary of State for your chosen state — formation forms, fees, annual reports.
- Attorney General charities bureau — registration, annual filings, audit thresholds. New York: https://www.charitiesnys.com/ · California: https://oag.ca.gov/charities
- Delaware Division of Corporations — https://corp.delaware.gov/
- Multistate charitable solicitation overview — https://www.multistatefiling.org/
Useful secondary sources
- Council of Nonprofits, state-by-state guides — https://www.councilofnonprofits.org/
- Bolder Advocacy (Alliance for Justice), on lobbying limits and c3/c4 pairs — https://bolderadvocacy.org/
- National Council of Nonprofits, fiscal sponsorship primers.
- Public Counsel and similar legal-aid nonprofit formation guides.
Reminder
This repository is a research summary produced by Ethical Tech CoLab for its own planning and shared publicly in case it is useful. It is not legal or tax advice and no attorney–client relationship arises from reading it.