How to Start a Nonprofit in Colorado

Colorado has 31,305 active 501(c)(3) organizations, 2,160 of them approved in the last twelve months, up from 2,118 the year before. 73.3% report no revenue on file or under $50,000. Colorado is quick to start in, since articles are filed online and take effect the moment you pay, but it has two rules that catch new charities: an annual charity registration once you raise more than $25,000, and a five-year wait before a nonprofit can be licensed to run a raffle.

The federal half of this is identical in every state and is set out on the state hub: incorporate, adopt bylaws, get an EIN, apply to the IRS on Form 1023 or 1023-EZ. This page covers what Colorado adds, what each step costs, and the two or three things that catch people out here specifically.

What it costs in Colorado

The state filings come to $60 in cash. That includes the $10 charitable registration, which a charity raising over $25,000 a year must file before soliciting. The periodic report is $25 a year after that, and charity registration renews for $10. On top of that sits the IRS user fee, which is set each year by revenue procedure and shown on Pay.gov when you file, so no figure for it is printed here. Every amount above was read from the issuing agency’s own fee schedule or form, and each one is linked in the sources at the foot of this page. Fees change: check before you budget.

The order to do it in

Sequence matters more than speed. The IRS application asks for documents the state has to create first, and the state charity regulator wants the organization to exist before it registers.

• Decide whether you need a corporation at all. Fiscal sponsorship gives a project the same tax treatment with no incorporation, no IRS application and no annual return. For a project under a few thousand dollars a year it is usually the better answer.
• File the formation document with the Colorado Secretary of State, with the IRS purpose and dissolution language in it. Our articles template carries both.
• Adopt bylaws and appoint the board before the IRS application, which asks about governance. The bylaws template and the board guide cover what that means in practice.
• Get an EIN. Free, online, immediate, and needed for the bank account. Do not pay anyone for it: the EIN guide explains why people do.
• Apply to the IRS on Form 1023-EZ if you qualify, which most new organizations do, or the long Form 1023 if you project gross receipts over $50,000 or hold assets over $250,000.
• Handle the state exemptions and registrations in the section below, once the determination letter arrives.

What catches people out in Colorado

A new nonprofit cannot run a raffle. The Secretary of State licenses bingo and raffles, and its FAQ says only nonprofit organizations that have been in existence in Colorado for five or more years are eligible, and that they must have had a dues-paying membership for those five years. That rules out the classic first fundraiser for a new charity. Plan an event, an appeal or an auction instead, and note that the Secretary of State counts silent and live auctions as solicitation for charity registration purposes.

A missed report means delinquency, not dissolution. The periodic report can be filed from two months before to two months after your reporting month without penalty. Miss that window and the corporation becomes noncompliant, then delinquent. Curing it costs $100, and the Secretary of State protects the name for 400 days before adding the word delinquent to it. After five years, curing also needs a sworn affidavit and photo ID. The corporation is not dissolved, but a delinquent status shows up to any funder who checks.

Charity registration is cheap but annual. Registration costs $10 and renewal $10 a year, due with your Form 990, with a financial report. A charity that raises more than $25,000 a year, not counting government grants and grants from other 501(c)(3)s, must register before soliciting, and soliciting while unregistered carries a $300 penalty. Paid solicitors face much heavier rules, including a $15,000 surety bond, so check before you hire one.

Property tax exemption has its own fees. A charity that owns property applies to the state Division of Property Taxation, not the county, with a $205 application fee per parcel, then files an annual report by 15 April with a $115 fee, or $310 if late. Missing the filings forfeits the exemption and puts the property back on the tax roll.

What Colorado’s nonprofit sector looks like

From the IRS Business Master File, which lists every organization whose exemption has not been revoked.

The size column is the one worth sitting with before you file. 73.3% of Colorado’s charities have no revenue figure on file or report under $50,000, against 77.5% nationally. The typical outcome of starting a nonprofit here is a very small organization, which is not an argument against doing it, but it is an argument for choosing the cheap route first and for being honest in the projections on the IRS form. What the whole thing costs, federal and state together, is set out in what it costs to start a nonprofit.

A realistic timeline

Written as weeks rather than as a list, because the waiting is the part people plan badly. Nothing here assumes you pay anyone to do it for you.

1. Week one. Agree the purpose, the name, the first board, whether you will have voting members, and a registered agent with a Colorado address and Colorado ID.
2. Week one. File the Articles of Incorporation online for $50, with the IRS purpose and dissolution clauses. They take effect on payment.
3. Same week. Apply for the EIN online. Free and immediate.
4. Month one. Adopt bylaws, which are not filed with the state, hold the first board meeting and open the bank account.
5. Before you solicit, if you will raise over $25,000. Register as a charitable organization with the Secretary of State for $10.
6. Month one or two. File Form 1023-EZ if you qualify, or the long Form 1023.
7. When the determination letter arrives. Apply for the Department of Revenue sales tax exemption certificate, and check any home rule city you buy in.
8. Every year. The $25 periodic report around your reporting month, and the $10 charity renewal with your Form 990.

The long pole is the IRS, not Colorado. The state end of this is measured in days and costs $60. Everything after the determination letter is either free or a form with a copy of that letter stapled to it.

What kind of charities Colorado has

The Business Master File classifies each organization by activity. The six commonest categories in Colorado account for 16,559 organizations between them:

• Religion related: 3,589 organizations
• Education: 3,575 organizations
• Human services: 2,853 organizations
• Arts, culture and humanities: 2,413 organizations
• Recreation and sports: 2,183 organizations
• Philanthropy and grantmaking: 1,946 organizations

That mix is worth checking against what you are planning. The largest category in every state is religion related, which is a reporting artifact as much as a fact, since churches are exempt automatically and many register anyway. The categories underneath it are the real map of what gets funded locally, and an organization entering a crowded category needs a sharper answer to the question of why it should exist separately than one entering a thin one.

Approvals in Colorado are rising

The file carries a determination date for every organization, so the last two years can be compared directly. Colorado had 2,160 approvals in the last twelve months against 2,118 in the twelve before that, a change of +2.0%. Nationally the last twelve months produced 115,927.

Read that as competitive context rather than as a verdict. More approvals means more organizations chasing the same local funders, and it also means the process is working normally for people like you. What it does not tell you is how many of them are still operating in three years, which the file cannot say, because it keeps listing an organization until its exemption is actually revoked.

After approval

The annual obligations start immediately and they run on two calendars. Federally, a return is due every year from the first full tax year, and three consecutive misses means automatic revocation with no appeal: which return applies is covered in which Form 990 you file. In Colorado, the filings in the table above renew on their own cycle. If the organization eventually sells anything or lets space, selling products and renting out space cover the tax treatment, and if it does not work out, closing properly is its own process.

Method and sources

Every fee and form on this page was read from the issuing agency’s own page or form on 10 November 2026, listed in the sources below. Nothing here is copied from another guide. The IRS user fee is not stated because the form instructions point to a revenue procedure and to Pay.gov rather than printing an amount.

The counts are from the IRS Exempt Organizations Business Master File, filtered to subsection 03, with determinations through October 2026. Three limits carry over from that file: it includes organizations that are dormant but not yet auto revoked, the ruling date is when the IRS decided rather than when anyone applied, and revenue is blank for most small organizations, which is why the size row reads “no revenue on file or under $50,000” rather than giving a median. State is the organization’s own mailing address. This page is general information and not legal advice.

This is reference information, not legal or tax advice. Rules vary by state and change over time. For a decision that carries real consequences, check the current text at irs.gov or your state registry, and talk to a nonprofit attorney or CPA.