Guide to Starting a Nonprofit Organization

School: Southern New Hampshire University - Course: ACC 325 - Subject: Accounting

I am a full-time student earning my BS in Accounting, with a concentration in forensic accounting. I also work full-time in the public sector as the construction project financial manager for my department. I just started this position on Halloween, so there's still a lot to learn about what I'm doing. I would like to establish my hypothetical nonprofit in Maine. I feel like this would best benefit me if I were to start a nonprofit in the future, as this is the state in which I would do so. According to this week's reading, each state has varied incorporation laws, so it's important to double-check the requirements for your state. But the first three steps I would need to accomplish are: choose a name that is not in use or misleading, designate a resident agent and address, and state a clear purpose for the entity. Looking specifically at the state of Maine, I would first need to apply for a reservation of name, which costs $5, then recruit a Board of Directors, and then draft both mission and vision statements (MANP 2022). At the federal level, I would need to organize documents such as the NFP's articles of incorporation. After that I would need to create a set of bylaws, and request an employer identification number (Reck 2022). In short, the beginning of starting an NFP involves alotof paperwork. Sources MANP. (2023).Starting a Maine nonprofit.Maine Association of Nonprofits. Retrieved from:https://www.nonprofitmaine.org/starting-a- maine-nonprofit## Reck, J. (2022)Accounting for governmental & nonprofit entities, nineteenth edition.McGraw-Hill Education: New York, NY. Next, after reviewing the Final Project Guidelines and Rubric for this course, consider the kind of nonprofit you think you would like to establish for your final project. Continue your initial post by providing the state that your nonprofit will be established in. What are the first three steps that you would need to take to establish your nonprofit? Make sure

to share both federal and state requirements and refer to this week's readings to help inform your response. When responding to your peers, select those who are located in a different state than yours. How do the requirements to establish a nonprofit in your peer's state differ from the requirements in your state?