Route: Start a nonprofit
A nonprofit is created in your state and recognized by the IRS, so this route has a state part and a federal part. The federal part is the same in all fifty states. Choose your state below. In every open state route, each step and each fee is checked against the official sources named on the step itself. States open one by one, as their rules are verified.
Choose your state above
The route opens for your state. The federal part of it (the EIN, 501(c)(3) recognition, the yearly Form 990) is the same in all fifty states; the state part opens at the depth your state is verified.
Every year after that
- Florida annual report, $61.25. File on Sunbiz between January 1 and May 1. Florida gives nonprofits no late-fee shortcut: a corporation that still has not filed by the fourth Friday of September is dissolved by the state, and bringing it back costs more than the report.
- IRS Form 990 return, free. Small nonprofits file the 990-N postcard online. Miss three years in a row and the IRS revokes the 501(c)(3) status automatically, with no hearing.
- Donation registration renewal, every year. It renews annually even when your registration is fee-exempt.
Your government total on the free path
$345
State filing $70 plus the IRS fee $275 for the short Form 1023-EZ. Every paid service on this route is optional convenience; the official path costs the same for everyone.
Sources for the Florida state part and the federal part, checked November 2026: Florida Department of State, Division of Corporations fee schedule (Sunbiz); IRS instructions for Forms 1023 and 1023-EZ and the IRS user fee table; Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Solicitation of Contributions. RunUSA is a guide, not a law firm: for a decision that binds your organization, the official source on the step is the final word.
Your route from here
The whole route, in order. The federal steps are complete, with fees and deadlines. The state steps name exactly what your state decides and where it is set, so nothing waits as a surprise. Your state's exact numbers arrive here as soon as its rules are verified against its official sources.
1. Check the name
Your state decidesYour Secretary of State keeps the business register, and the search is free. The name must be distinguishable from organizations already registered.
Ask RunUSA to open my state2. Registered agent
Your state decidesEvery state requires an agent with a street address in the state where official mail reaches a real person in business hours. Your own address works if someone is there; a commercial agent runs about $125 a year.
Ask RunUSA to open my state3. Articles of incorporation
Your state decidesThis filing creates the organization. Your state sets the form and the fee, and this is the first number RunUSA verifies for each state.
Ask RunUSA to open my state4. Get the EIN
Federal · FreeThe IRS issues the organization's tax ID online in minutes and never charges for it. Sites asking $50 to $300 for an EIN are selling a free form. Without it: no bank account and no federal filings.
Apply free at IRS.govDone for you · Coming soon5. Bylaws and the first board meeting
Federal · FreeInternal documents, filed nowhere. The IRS application asks how the organization is governed, who decides, and how money is approved.
Done for you · Coming soon6. 501(c)(3) recognition
Federal · $275 or $600Form 1023-EZ costs $275 when gross receipts stay at $50,000 or less and assets at $250,000 or less; everyone else files the full Form 1023 at $600. File within 27 months of formation and the exemption reaches back to the formation date. Without it, donations are not tax-deductible for donors.
File at Pay.govDone for you · Coming soon7. Donation registration
Your state decidesMost states require registration before asking the public for donations, and many exempt small volunteer organizations. Your state charity office sets the rule, the fee and the exemption.
Ask RunUSA to open my state8. State tax exemptions
Your state decidesWhere offered, an exemption certificate lets the organization buy for its mission without sales tax. Your state revenue department issues it.
Ask RunUSA to open my state9. Open the bank account
FreeBring the EIN letter, the articles and the bylaws. Organization money stays separate from personal money from day one.
Done for you · Coming soonEvery year after that: Form 990 to the IRS, free (three unfiled years in a row and the status is revoked automatically), your state's yearly report, and the donation registration renewal where your state requires one.
File Form 990 at IRS.gov
Write your state to getrunusa@gmail.com and it moves up the verification queue.