The following article gives a very useful description of the realities of starting yet another new nonprofit.

Before starting a nonprofit business, there is some preliminary "business" thinking that you really should do. Doing this thinking now can save you -- and maybe your employees and clients -- a great deal of anguish.

What Do You Mean by "Starting a Nonprofit"?
Get Clear About the Purpose (the Mission) for Your New Organization
Perhaps the best way to really clarify to yourself what you intend to accomplish by starting a new nonprofit is to write a basic mission statement for your organization. You'll soon need this mission statement anyway if you plan to incorporate your nonprofit (more about incorporation a little later on). The following guidelines may be helpful to you when writing your first, basic mission statement.

1. At is most basic, the mission statement describes the overall purpose of the organization. It addresses the question "Why does the organization exist?"

2. The statement can be in a wide variety of formats and lengths, ranging from a few sentences to a few pages. At this stage in the development of your nonprofit, it might be best to keep your mission statement to at most about half a page.

3. When writing the mission statement, try include description of what you think will be the new nonprofit's
a) primary benefits and services to clients
b) groups of clients who will benefit from those services
c) values that will guide how your nonprofit will operate
d) how you'd like others to view your nonprofit

4. It's often useful to refine the first, basic mission statement by adding or deleting a sentence or a word from the mission statement until you feel the remaining wording accurately describes the purpose of the new nonprofit organization.

 Think About What Kind of Nonprofit You Want to Start
The phrase "starting a nonprofit" can mean several things. Read the following very basic information to begin thinking about what you mean when you set out to "start a nonprofit". Keep your mission statement in mind when thinking about each of the following. (There will be more specific guidance later on when you read the next subsection Variety of Checklists to Reference When Formalizing Your New Nonprofit.)

You can be a nonprofit organization just by getting together with some friends, eg, to form a self-help group. In this case, you’re an informal nonprofit organization.

You can incorporate your nonprofit so it exists as a separate legal organization in order to a) own its own property and its own bank account; b) ensure that the nonprofit can continue on its own (even after you’re gone); and c) protect yourself personally from liability from operations of the nonprofit. You incorporate your nonprofit by filing articles of incorporation (or other charter documents) with the appropriate local state office. (An incorporated nonprofit requires a board of directors.)

If you want your nonprofit (and if you think your nonprofit deserves) to be exempt from federal taxes (and maybe some other taxes, too), you should file with the IRS to be a "tax-exempt" organization. (The IRS states that you must be a corporation, community chest, fund, or foundation to receive tax-exempt status. Articles of association may also be used in place of incorporation.) (Probably the most well known type of nonprofit is a the IRS classification of 501(c)(3), a “charitable nonprofit’.) (Being tax-exempt is not the same as being tax-deductible.)

Depending on the nature of your organization, you may also granted tax-deductible status from the IRS. Publication 526 lists the types of organizations to which donations are deductible. So, for example, you could start a nonprofit that is incorporated, tax-exempt and eligible to receive tax deductible donations.

The particular steps you take when starting your nonprofit depend on your plans for your organization, including the nature of its services. They also depend on how the IRS interprets the nature of your organization, including its services.

Consider Fiscal Sponsorship to Jump Start Your Organization
In some cases, you might find and work with another nonprofit organization that will act as your fiscal sponsor. A fiscal sponsor might be useful to you if your nonprofit:
1) Does not have sufficient resources to handle startup costs and fees
2) Does not have sufficient skills initially to manage your finances
3) Will address a community need and then no longer need to exist.

Do You Need a Lawyer to Start Your Nonprofit? You can do much of the work yourself to get incorporated and/or tax-exemption and/or tax-deductibility, but you should have some basic guidance and advice from a lawyer who understands nonprofit matters. For example, in the USA, it's very important how you characterize your plans when filing for incorporation with your state and/or for tax-exemption and/or tax-deductibility with the IRS -- otherwise, your new organization may be deemed a for-profit or you may have to pay federal taxes (among other taxes) on your income. In addition, there are various reports and filings you may have to submit. A nonprofit-knowledgeable lawyer can help you a great deal. Ask other nonprofits for references to good lawyers.

Nonprofit Incubators - Business incubators are usually facilities that help businesses share resources as low-cost means to getting started. You may have a nonprofit incubator in your community. Contact the local office of the National Council of Nonprofit Associations to find out. The following links will give you an overview of business incubators.

What is a business incubator?

The following are a variety of checklists to help you proceed through the various steps to formally start your nonprofit. It'll help a great deal if you've done some preliminary planning -- if you haven't, the above link Preparation for Planning a Business Venture will help you.

You might glance through a variety of the checklists to get an impression of what needs to be done and to select the checklist that you believe is most useful to you. The topic Nonprofit Taxes will be useful reading after you've reviewed the following checklists.

Various Online Checklists for Starting a Nonprofit Organization
1. Here's a comprehensive, narrative description of the steps: How to Start a Nonprofit Organization

2. Here's another checklist with the information BoardSource's "Q & A" and Start a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization
. These are very basic overviews of the major steps to start a nonprofit.

3. You might also see How to Start a Nonprofit. It mentions several of the same steps, and adds references to more forms needed by the IRS.

4. Once you've got a basic sense of the major steps to form a nonprofit, review Eve Rose Borenstein's comprehensive and sound advice about Legal Needs Relative to Nonprofit and/or Tax-Exempt Status of New Organizations in the USA. This information is quite complete and covers incorporating, nonprofit vs tax-exempt, qualifying for tax-deductible dollars, how to apply for tax-exempt status, and much more. Also see her sample Articles of Incorporation. (NOTE: There are more samples of articles of incorporation, along with bylaws, at Articles of Incorporation at Corporate Bylaws.)

The Nonprofit FAQ provides similar information that's worth reviewing as well, to enhance what you've learned so far. They summarize many resources in Where to Start.

The Starting a Nonprofit

Table of Reminders for Registering Your New Nonprofit in the U.S.
The following table depicts the important steps required to register your new nonprofit. These steps are also mentioned across many of the checklists referenced above. These steps also assume that you chose not to seek Fiscal Sponsorship.

Draft mission statement draft a brief mission statement that describes the charitable purpose of your new organization; your board should soon review it during strategic planning and authorize the statement

Recruit board members (if you plan to incorporate in your state) recruit at least enough board members to meet state requirements for a corporate board (contact state attorney's office); if you don't plan to incorporate, consider an informal advisory board to help guide you 

Get a lawyer to help you file articles of incorporation (if you plan to incorporate), application to IRS for tax-exemption (if you plan to seek exemption from federal taxes); you can do most of the work yourself, but at least have a lawyer review the materials before submission; will eventually need special expertise to review personnel policies

Get banker and bank account get a bank account; seek bank that understands needs of new, small nonprofit 

Get accountant get an accountant or other finance expert to help you set up basic bookkeeping system; when you get a board treasurer, then he/she can be very helpful in this regard 

Get insurance agent you may need liability insurance, property insurance, and when you hire staff: worker's compensation, health and life insurance benefits, etc. 

Draft articles of incorporation and get board approval these specify legal description of your organization and power to the board; you'll need to draft these only if you plan to file for incorporation with your state; the Board should approve the Articles before submission

Draft bylaws and get board approval these specify how the board will operate and configure the staff; some states require these; some of this information will be in the Articles if you file Articles; the board should approve the bylaws 

File for incorporation with state register for incorporation including submitting your drafted and approved Articles (if you plan to incorporate); may need to submit bylaws, too; also find out what various reports the state wants from nonprofits secretary of state or secretary of commerce
file for federal tax-exempt with IRS apply for tax-exempt status (to be exempt from paying federal taxes); board should approve this filing before submission;
here
get state tax exemption from state once you get IRS exemption, file for any state tax exemptions state attorney, attorney general or secretary of commerce
Get property tax exemption from city once you get IRS exemption, file for any state tax exemptions local city tax assessor

Get solicitation license if you plan to solicit funds, your city may require a solicitation license local city offices

Something to Avoid: Founder's Syndrome
Founder's Syndrome occurs when an organization operates according to the personality of someone in the organization (usually the founder) more than it operates according to the mission of the organization.