Customer Reviews

How to Form a Nonprofit Corporation (book w/ CD-Rom)

5 star:		(27)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

As a consultant to community service groups, I recommend this book to each and every one of my clients. If you're looking to start a nonprofit organization, it has everything you need to know to start a 501(c)(3) without hiring a lawyer for hundreds or thousands of dollars. The book walks you through the state incorporation process and the federal/IRS application process; it includes copies and a computer disk with pre-formatted samples of: letters, Articles of Incorporation, Organization Bylaws, Meeting Minutes formats, and more. It also takes you step-by-step through the IRS Form 1023, which you must complete for 501(c)(3) determination. This detailed information about the Form 1023 is MOST helpful for anyone looking to start a nonprofit group!

How to Form a Nonprofit Corporation is the simplest, straight-foward, plain english help available for groups trying to organize themselves as a tax-exempt non profit organization! Mancuso gives clear real-life examples and self tests to determine which of a plethora of options is the right one for your org., as well as suggested language to satisfy every scrutinous section in your exemption application. Don't even THINK about trying to go at it without this book at your side.

I have started 4 companies in the past, my first nonprofit 2 years ago. I didn't know anything about them and this book taught me everything I needed to know to get going. I am frequently asked how to start a nonprofit by friends and I always just point them to this book. Even if you intend to use a lawyer to incorporate (which I recommend, also), this book will educate you on the things you need to know to understand the process.

When I ordered this book, I knew nothing about the nuts and bolts of non-profit incorporation.

By following the steps clearly laid out in this book, I had my articles of incorporation, bylaws, and 501c(3) forms finished in days.

This is by far the best book I have ever seen of its kind. A very complicated process has been simplified enough for anyone who will put in the sincere effort to follow the book and complete the steps.

Thank you Anthony Mancuso!!!

This is the very best work I have found to date which totally describes the process of forming a non-profit corporation in terms most people could understand. Well worth a look! You'll wish you started here first!

When I was starting up my nonprofit I didn't have thousands of dollars to waste paying a lawyer for advice. If this sounds familiar then I highly recommend Nolo's How to Form a Nonprofit Corporation. It takes you over all of the legal hurdles that you'll encounter in a well organized and user-friendly format. They've got you covered from preparing Articles of Incorporation, to applying for tax exemption, to following your state's specific requirements. It even includes all the forms you'll need on an included CD-ROM. Why waste money you don't have on expensive lawyers when you can do it just as well youself for so much cheaper? I didn't and now my nonprofit is prospering! Thanks Nolo.

Before buying this book, our group spent thousands in legal fees trying to figure out how to form a nonprofit to help save our children's school library.

After reading this book, we got the nonprofit up and running -- and yes, the school library is alive and even expanding! The instructions were clear, the "Real English" style helped, the forms were accompanied with line by line instructions. We checked out other books, but this is the only one that addressed our needs. It's an amazing, amazing book. Thank you, Mr. Mancuso!

You probably think I'm a crazy person considering all the 5-star reviews prior to this one, being mine is so radically different in comparison. It seems to me that more and more companies feel the need to deceive us to make the kind of money they wish to make and I'm really getting tired of it. I hate being deceived and in this case, I feel deceived... royally.

Based on the title and cover of this book (front and back), I expected this book to tell me how to form a nonprofit corporation. The caveat, however, is that it will if we wish to form a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation. There are a lot of other types of nonprofits which this book doesn't cover to the same extent and the author is well aware of this. How did I discern this? I quote below from page 7 of the book:

"This book has been written specifically for nonprofits that want to qualify for federal income tax exemption under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.... If you are planning on forming one of... (the) non-501(c)(3) nonprofits, this book can help acquaint you with the process of forming a nonprofit. It will not, however, guide you step-by-step through the process of preparing articles of incorporation and bylaws for your group or the tax exemption applications you will need for your nonprofit."

Is it possible to form a corporation other than a 501(c)(3) nonprofit without articles of incorporation and bylaws? Not from everything I've read to date. The articles of incorporation tell your state agency and everyone else who's interested about the basic particulars of your corporation and the bylaws tell people working for your company of your corporation's policies and procedures. The IRS will want to see both to approve our nonprofit's tax exemption, regardless of the type of nonprofit we choose, as I can tell so far. The IRS requires nonprofits wishing to qualify under section 501(c)(3) to submit their request on IRS Form 1023. Most of the other nonprofit types require IRS Form 1024. Only IRS Form 1023 is on this book's list of included IRS forms even though the form 1024 requirement is detailed as a requirement in their list of "all other" nonprofit categories.

Anybody here see anything on the front or back of this book to give us a clue as to this book's actual, limited coverage as just quoted above from page 7 of the book?

Excuse me while I cool down.

This is a great book which walks you through the steps of nonprofit incorporation, but just be careful and allow enough time to double-check crucial information with your state Attorney-General's office.

Anthony Mancuso has packed a lot of legal expertise in a easy to understand book. Here's some strengths of the book:
* Checklist very handy to accomplish all the tasks in the correct order
* The author asks common questions and then answers them clearly
* Advice on what to do and what to avoid
* It's like having a lawyer in a book

Weaknesses:
* Bylaws a bit overly long for small, new nonprofits
* Not enough emphasis on the need for accounting help to file annual IRS Form 990. Lawyers usually walk out of the picture after 501c3 status is achieved, leaving the accountants to help with annual filings.

I'm a CPA and took business law classes in college, but this book was essential when I started working in the nonprofit sector.

Carol Topp, CPA