Arizona Nonprofit Corporation & 501(c)(3) Guides

Start here for links to all of our nonprofit guides and the IRS publications every charity should know.

Find the IRS information you need to form, operate and maintain a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt nonprofit organization. Our free resource library organizes official IRS articles, publications, forms and educational materials covering nonprofit tax exemption, Form 1023, Form 1023-EZ, annual Form 990 filings, charitable contributions and IRS compliance requirements.

The step-by-step process, what Arizona law requires, and the mistakes do-it-yourselfers make.

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Nonprofits that want to apply for 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status on the short IRS Form 1023-EZ must first complete the IRS’s 34-question Eligibility Worksheet. The correct answer to every question is No. A Yes answer to even one question means your organization cannot use Form 1023-EZ and must file the full Form 1023 instead.

Rules for filing the online IRS Form 1023-EZ, the do-it-yourself tax exemption application for $275 & how to prepare the form. Get the IRS tax exemption approval in 2 to 8 weeks. Annual gross receipts must not have exceeded $50,000 in any of the past 3 years, and you must project that they will not exceed $50,000 in any of the next 3 years. The total fair market value of your organization's assets must not exceed $250,000.

Rules for filing the online IRS Form 1023, the full tax exemption application for $600 & how to prepare the form. Any nonprofit can file Form 1023, regardless of its amount of receipts or asset value. The form requires a detailed narrative of your planned activities, up to 5 years of actual or projected financial data, and copies of your articles of incorporation and bylaws. The IRS approval letter will be 9 to 11 months from the day you file the form. If you file Form 1023 within 27 months after formation, the IRS exemption is retroactive to the formation date, so donations received before approval are tax deductible.

Arizona 501(c)(3) attorneys Richard Keyt and his son, former CPA Richard C. Keyt, prepare and file IRS Form 1023, the application for 501(c)(3) tax exemption. Learn what our $3,500 flat fee includes (a 13-page explanation letter, a 50-item Form 1023 checklist, conferences with our team, preparation and electronic filing of the application, and handling IRS follow-up questions). Money to pay our fee usually comes from donations, not from the founder(s).

A 501(c)(3) determination letter exempts your Arizona nonprofit corporation from income tax, not from filing tax returns. This guide explains which annual IRS return your nonprofit must file (Form 990-N, 990-EZ, 990 or 990-PF), when it’s due, and how to get an extension. It also covers the daily late-filing penalties, the automatic loss of tax-exempt status after three years of missed returns, Form 990-T for unrelated business income, payroll and 1099 obligations, when officers and directors can be personally liable, and who should prepare each return.

This article explains the IRS and Arizona rules every Arizona 501(c)(3) public charity must follow when it receives donations. It covers who may donate (individuals, businesses, trusts, estates, IRA owners, foundations, government agencies and foreign donors), why the charity can refuse any gift, and why every charity should adopt a written gift acceptance policy. There is no IRS limit on how much a charity can receive, but there are limits on how much a donor can deduct, including the 2026 changes made by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Very large gifts from a few donors can cause a charity to fail the public support test and be reclassified as a private foundation.

Federal tax law says a donor cannot deduct any single gift of $250 or more unless the charity gives the donor a written receipt. This article gives Arizona nonprofit corporations the complete text of a sample donation receipt they can copy and use. It includes alternate language for charities whose 501(c)(3) application is still pending with the IRS. The article also explains what every receipt must say, when the donor must receive it, the special rules for gifts where the donor gets something in return and for gifts of property, and why receipts matter even more after the 2026 tax law changes.

If you are a director of an Arizona nonprofit corporation, you are one of the people Arizona law puts in charge of the organization. The board does not run the nonprofit by talking things over informally, by email threads, or by letting the executive director or the founder make every decision. The board acts in one of two ways: by voting at a properly held meeting, or by a written consent signed by every director. This article explains everything a director of an Arizona nonprofit corporation should know about board meetings, notice, quorum, voting, committees, minutes, written resolutions and the Unanimous Consent, a document that lets directors approve resolutions without holding a meeting at all.

Paying a member of the board of directors of a tax exempt charity is one of the most heavily regulated things a nonprofit can do. Arizona corporate law, the Internal Revenue Code, IRS regulations, the IRS annual information return, the payroll tax rules and Arizona’s volunteer immunity statute all come into play. If the board gets it wrong, the consequences range from personal excise taxes on the director and the board members who approved the payment, to personal liability under Arizona law, to revocation of the organization’s 501(c)(3) tax exemption.

Federal tax law doesn’t require a 501(c)(3) charity to adopt written governance policies. But IRS Form 990 asks whether the charity has them, and the answers are public. This article explains the seven policies the IRS wants every charity to adopt: (1) Conflicts of Interest; (2) Whistleblower; (3) Document Retention and Destruction; (4) Gift Acceptance; (5) Travel and Expense Reimbursement; (6) Compensation; and (7) Joint Venture. When we form an Arizona nonprofit corporation we also prepare all 7 of these IRS policies for the corporation's board of directors to approve.

People who start an Arizona nonprofit corporation often assume it must have "members" the way a business corporation has shareholders or an LLC has members. That is not true. Membership in an Arizona nonprofit corporation is optional, it means something very specific under Arizona law, and the decision to have members (or not) changes who controls the organization. This article explains what members are, how a person becomes one, what members can be required to do, how long membership lasts, and whether members are ever personally liable for what the corporation does.

Every Arizona nonprofit corporation must file an annual report with the Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC) every year. The filing fee is only $10, and the ACC does not charge nonprofits a late penalty. But don't let the low cost fool you. A nonprofit that doesn't file its annual report on time can be administratively dissolved by the ACC, which means the corporation's legal existence is terminated.