Helping You Help Others

Start an Arizona Nonprofit Corporation

You’ve got a great idea about how you can make a difference in the lives of others. You’ve got a plan and people on board that want to help. The first step is to form an Arizona nonprofit corporation.

At Neal Law Firm we want to help you help others. We offer a comprehensive Arizona nonprofit corporation formation service that includes all the fees and costs associated with setting up the organization.  Here’s what we’ll do:

  1. Answer any questions you may have about forming your Arizona nonprofit corporation.
  2. Help you pick out a name for your nonprofit organization, or check to see if the name you want is available.
  3. Advise you about picking the right officers and board members. (This is important if you want your organization to be tax exempt. Having the right people involved from the get go can save you from having to amend your company documents later, saving you money.  See my article about our 1023 preparation service for when you’re ready to move ahead with the next step to get your tax exempt status.)
  4. Prepare custom drafted Articles of Incorporation which we will file with the Arizona Corporation Commission to form your company. This is the organization’s foundational document and required by Arizona Revised Statutes § 10-3202. If you want your organization to be tax exempt, we will include the provisions required by the IRS.  If you want your organization to be tax exempt and are thinking about forming the organization yourself, do not use the Arizona Corporation Commission’s fill in the blank Articles of Incorporation. The form does not include the IRS required language for organizations who want to tax exempt.  See our blog post about this.
  5. Prepare a Certificate of Disclosure for the corporation’s incorporator to sign. This is required by Arizona Revised Statutes § 10-3202(D).
  6. File the Articles of Incorporation and Certificate of Disclosure with the Arizona Corporation Commission to form your Arizona nonprofit corporation. We will prepare the Cover Sheet required by the ACC and pay the $75 expedited filing fee.
  7. Email you a copy of the approved Articles of Incorporation and publish the Articles in an approved newspaper. We will pay the publication fee of approximately $175 (for organizations with their principal place of business in Maricopa County, organizations outside Maricopa County may be an additional fee). Publication is required by Arizona law pursuant to Arizona Revised Statutes § 10-3203(D). Once the Articles have been published for the required amount of time, we will obtain the Affidavit of Publication, email it to you and send the Affidavit of Publication to be sent to the Arizona Corporation Commission for filing.
  8. Prepare Bylaws for the new corporation. Bylaws are required under Arizona law. See Arizona Revised Statutes § 10-3206. If you want your organization to be tax exempt, we will include the provisions the IRS is going to look for.
  9. Prepare the corporation’s Organizational Resolutions. Resolutions are similar to minutes and are required by Arizona Revised Statutes § 10-3205. The Resolutions will approve the people you want to be on the Board of Directors and the officers of the corporation. The Resolutions will also adopt the company’s Bylaws and the policies listed below.
  10. Prepare the organization’s Conflicts of Interest Policy. If you want to be tax exempt, you will need to submit this with your IRS Form 1023 (Application for Recognition of Exemption Under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code).
  11. For organizations that want to be tax exempt, we also include the following documents: Document Retention and Destruction Policy; Executive Compensation Policy; Joint Venture Policy; Travel and Expense Reimbursement Policy; and Whistleblower Policy.

It is important to remember that just because you formed a nonprofit corporation doesn’t automatically mean you are tax exempt.  Once your organization is formed, the next step for organizations that want to be tax exempt is to file your Form 1023 (Application for Recognition of Exemption Under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code). We can help you with this when you’re ready. Learn more about our IRS Form 1023 preparation service.

Find out more about what Neal Law Firm can do for your charity.

Need Help?

Schedule Your Consultation!

Get Started