<aside> What’s this about? Incorporation is the legal process by which an organization is formed as a separate legal entity from its owners. Corporations (whether nonprofit or not) must be incorporated.
What do I need to do? Once you’ve confirmed your name, business structure, charitable purpose, registered agent, bylaws, and board of directors — and held your first board meeting — file the necessary paperwork.
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Databases
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Incorporation is the legal process by which an organization is formed as a separate legal entity from its owners.
Whether or not your organization needs incorporating depends on the business structure you’ve chosen (see Understand your business structure for more information).
If you’re looking to register a nonprofit corporation, you’ll need to incorporate.
In order to incorporate your organization, you’ll need to have the following in place:
In order to complete the incorporation process, we recommend using a specialist, like Harbor Compliance or Clerky.
Harbor Compliance can quickly prepare and submit the required filings to form a corporation in any state — you just need to provide the elements listed above.
If the board’s whole job is upholding the charitable purpose of the nonprofit, then can you change the charitable purpose later?
Yes, you can change the purpose of your nonprofit down the line. The process typically involves several steps, including: