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Participate in a workshop - Connect
Find funding, resources, network and more - Tools
What you need to know - Projects
Community Partnerships- Cal Endowment - Building Healthy Communities
- Encore Fellows Program
Civic Ventures program matching highly experienced professionals with nonprofit organizations in the Sacramento & Sierra regions - Generosity Project
- Placer Collaborative Network
- Strengthen Our Community
A leveraged media campaign to educate, connect and resource the community in support of the region’s nonprofit sector. - Website Development Project
- Previous Projects
- About the Center
Basic Steps for Starting a California Nonprofit
A simple outline of the steps to becoming a nonprofit
Get Ready, Get Set
Read this free booklet to learn what you need to know before starting a nonprofit
If you are thinking of starting a nonprofit organization, download and read Get Ready, Get Set. This free booklet covers everything you need to know before starting a nonprofit. Find answers to all of your basic questions.
Incorporating a Social Enterprise: a Simple Legal Guide
The pros and cons of various legal forms
In this blog post, Incorporating a Social Enterprise: a Simple Legal Guide the authors outline and discuss the various legal forms they considered for their social enterprise and explain – in plain English – the pros and cons of each one.
Personifying the Nonprofit Life Cycle
The predictable stages of a nonprofit's development
Business Planning Tools for Nonprofit Organizations 2nd ed
A guidebook from SCORE
This expanded edition of their initial guidebook Business Planning Tools for Nonprofit Organizations represents the second phase of an initiative by SCORE and The Office Depot Foundation to assist nonprofit organizations in building their capacity to serve their communities.
Steps to Starting a Nonprofit
Attorneys Emily Chan and Gene Takagi explain the steps to starting a nonprofit in California.
Attorneys Emily Chan and Gene Takagi explain the steps to starting a nonprofit in California.
Bylaws
Information on creating and maintaining your bylaws
Here’s an excellent article on what should be in your bylaws.
And a website with good information and links.
Tool for Assessing Startup Organizations
What are funders looking for?
This booklet, published by Grantmakers for Effective Organizations, aims to help funders assess a grant proposal from a startup nonprofit. It offers valuable insight to a new nonprofit about what a funder is looking for and what the organization needs to have in place.
Initial Filings for California Nonprofit Organizations
Hurwit & Associates - Nonprofit Law Resource Library
Links and information on initial filings for forming a nonprofit organization in California.
Forming a Nonprofit Corporation in California
Citizen Media Law Project offers detailed steps
Here are the steps to form a nonprofit public benefit corporation in California.
How to Form a Nonprofit Corporation in California
A valuable reference book for anyone starting a nonprofit organization who wants to do it on their own,
This Nolo Press book by attorney Anthony Macuso offers complete instructions and comes with a CD that includes all necessary forms. Purchase it in most bookstores or read it for free here at the Center.
form1023help.com
Website that offers expert help on how to fill out the IRS 1023 form
CalGold
Database of business license and permit requirements.
Business license and permit requirements vary. Use this helpful database to determine requirements for your specific area. Search nonprofit under business type.
Guide to Charities
CA Attorney General's booklet helps answer legal questions
Guide to Charities CA Attorney General’s booklet helps answer legal questions
Myths and Realities of Starting and Running a Nonprofit
Video from the Foundation Center
Myths and Realities of Starting and Running a Nonprofit
01:21:46
You feel called to start a nonprofit business but do you really know what you are getting into before you take that leap?
Starting an Nonprofit Organization
Five tips and a warning
The world is in the midst of what one observer has called an “associational revolution.” New nonprofits are being formed for every sort of purpose on every continent at the fastest rate in history. If you are thinking of joining this vast worldwide movement by starting—or helping to start—a nonprofit, here are some crucial things to think about.
Fiscal Sponsorship
An alternative to nonprofit status
Fiscal sponsorship is an arrangement between a 501(c)(3) public charity and a project (that does not have that tax status) in which, typically, the charity receives and expends funds to advance the charitable work of the project while retaining discretion and control over the funds. GrantSpace offers comprehensive information on all aspects of fiscal sponsorship.
Benefit Corporations and Flexible Purpose Corporations
New alternatives to a traditional nonprofit corporation
As of January 1, 2012, the California legislature created two new classes of corporations for businesses that seek to pursue both profit and purpose: Benefit Corporations and Flexible Purpose Corporations.
What You Need to Know About Nonprofit Executive Compensation
IRS rules for nonprofit CEO salaries
This report outlines what the IRS permits in setting nonprofit executive compensation, the consequences of failing to comply with the regulations, how nonprofit board members can protect themselves and the organizations they serve, the kind of data compensation decisions should be based on, and the importance of reporting compensation accurately in annual IRS filing.
Youth Board Members
Can minors serve on a nonprofit board?
Youths represent a growing volunteer population for nonprofits and for some, a potential pool of nonprofit board members.