How to Start a Nonprofit in Idaho

Idaho is known to be the “gem” of the West, and its booming nonprofit sector certainly adds to the state’s wonder. Employing 8.4% of the workforce and generating over $5 billion in annual revenues (Independent Sector), nonprofits are essential to Idaho’s advancing solutions to statewide challenge and contributing to the vibrancy of the state’s communities. Before incorporating your nonprofit as a domestic nonprofit corporation with the Idaho Secretary of State’s office, you must choose a name for your nonprofit and select three initial directors to serve on your nonprofit’s board. To ensure that the proposed name of your nonprofit is available, you can perform a name search on the Secretary of State’s website as well. Selecting your initial board of directors is the next preliminary step before incorporating your new nonprofit. You should select at least three people to serve on your board initially. While it is ultimately up to you and your board to decide what the titles and responsibilities of each member will be, selecting a President, Secretary and Treasurer is a great place to start. A nonprofit board President presides over all board meetings and is generally responsible for supervising all activities related to the organization. The Secretary of the board typically maintains minutes of all board meetings and communicates important announcements to members of the board. The Treasurer acts as the Chief Financial Officer of the board, supervising financial decisions, maintaining accurate financial records, and filing taxes annually on behalf of the nonprofit. Once you’ve chosen a name for your organization and at least three committed individuals to serve on your board, you’re ready to incorporate your nonprofit! Applications should be sent to the Secretary of State’s office. The cost of incorporating a nonprofit in Idaho is $30.00.You are required to disclose the following information when incorporating a new nonprofit in Idaho:

1. The name of the corporation; the word “corporation” should be included in the name.

2. The purpose(s) for which the corporation is being organized.

3. A physical Idaho address that serves as the corporation’s registered office.

4. Names and addresses of initial board members; there must be at least 3 to form a nonprofit corporation in Idaho.

5. The corporation’s mailing address.

6. A statement pertaining to the distribution of the corporation’s assets upon dissolution.

A Faster, Easy Way to Start Your Nonprofit in Idaho

Now you have your Idaho nonprofit corporation, you can use your state information and federal EIN to open a bank account for your nonprofit. However, setting up your nonprofit in Idaho is just part of the process of becoming a formal tax-exempt organization. The next step is to file for a federal tax exemption using either IRS form 1023 or 1023-EZ. The average nonprofit takes 100+ hours of time and often several thousand dollars in professional fees to create. In the past, you were faced with locating, understanding, and filing the forms yourself or hiring an expensive attorney who likely doesn’t specialize in nonprofits. ExemptMeNow is the only secure, fully automated, and online platform for creating your Idaho Nonprofit Corporation.