How to Start a Nonprofit in New York

New York has 107,519 active 501(c)(3) organizations, 6,011 of them approved in the last twelve months, down from 6,172 the year before, a 2.6% fall. 74.9% report no revenue on file or under $50,000. New York is not expensive, $75 to incorporate and no annual report to the Department of State, but it is strict: some purposes need another agency’s consent before you can file, purpose clauses written in IRS language are rejected, and the Attorney General oversees charities closely from registration to dissolution.

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 New York adds, what each step costs, and the two or three things that catch people out here specifically.

What it costs in New York

The state filings come to $75 in cash. A charity that solicits also pays $25 to register with the Attorney General, and then an annual CHAR500 fee that starts at $25 and rises with net worth. Some purposes need another agency’s consent first, such as the $10 Education Department consent. 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 New York Department 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 New York

Some purposes need another agency’s consent first. Under N-PCL 404, a certificate whose purposes fall in a regulated area must attach the written consent of the agency concerned. Schools, libraries, museums and historical societies need the approval of the commissioner of education, and the Department of State notes a $10 Education Department fee for it. Child welfare, health facilities, mental health and substance abuse programs need their own agencies. Write your purposes so they describe what you will actually do; a broad educational purpose can trigger a consent you did not need.

IRS wording in the purpose clause is rejected. The Department of State’s instructions say not to use IRS tax exemption language as a statement of purposes, and not to write “including but not limited to”. The certificate must also say whether the corporation is charitable or non-charitable, and designate the Secretary of State as agent for service of process.

The Attorney General’s thresholds changed. Executive Law 172-b now requires an audit when revenue is over $1 million, and a CPA review between $250,000 and $1 million. The CHAR500 form updated in January 2021 still shows the old $750,000 line. The statute governs. The filing is due on the fifteenth day of the fifth month after your year end, and the Attorney General grants an automatic 180-day extension without a written request.

Raffles depend on size and on your town. The Gaming Commission’s guidelines let an authorized organization run a raffle without a license if it nets under $5,000 per raffle and under $30,000 a year; the law requires one year’s existence for that. Above $30,000 a year a license from the municipal clerk costs $25 a year and the law requires three years’ existence. Your municipality must have adopted a local games of chance law.

The Attorney General approves big changes. A charitable corporation needs the approval of the Attorney General or the supreme court to sell all or substantially all of its assets, to merge, or to dissolve with a plan of dissolution. Every corporation must also adopt a conflict of interest policy under N-PCL 715-a.

What New York’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. 74.9% of New York’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 and name, recruit at least three directors, and check whether your purpose needs another agency’s consent under N-PCL 404.
2. Before filing. If it does, get the consent first, such as the Education Department’s for a school, library or museum purpose.
3. Then. File the Certificate of Incorporation for $75 by mail or email, naming the Secretary of State as agent for service and stating that the corporation is charitable.
4. Same week. Apply for the EIN online. Free and immediate.
5. Month one. Adopt bylaws and a conflict of interest policy, hold the first board meeting and open the bank account.
6. Before you solicit. Register with the Attorney General’s Charities Bureau online.
7. Month one or two. File Form 1023-EZ if you qualify, or the long Form 1023, then the state CT-247 and ST-119.2 exemption applications.
8. Every year. File the CHAR500 with the Attorney General, by 15 May for a calendar year.

The long pole is the IRS, not New York. The state end of this is measured in days and costs $75. Everything after the determination letter is either free or a form with a copy of that letter stapled to it.

What kind of charities New York has

The Business Master File classifies each organization by activity. The six commonest categories in New York account for 60,002 organizations between them:

• Religion related: 16,081 organizations
• Arts, culture and humanities: 10,699 organizations
• Education: 10,032 organizations
• Philanthropy and grantmaking: 9,560 organizations
• Human services: 8,823 organizations
• Recreation and sports: 4,807 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 New York are falling

The file carries a determination date for every organization, so the last two years can be compared directly. New York had 6,011 approvals in the last twelve months against 6,172 in the twelve before that, a change of -2.6%. 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 New York, 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 11 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.