How to Start a Nonprofit in Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania has 65,120 active 501(c)(3) organizations, 3,991 of them approved in the last twelve months, up from 3,691 the year before. 74.0% report no revenue on file or under $50,000, a lower share than most large states, and 6,463 are private foundations, nearly one in ten, which is a dense foundation landscape for a new charity to raise money from.

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

What it costs in Pennsylvania

The state filings come to $125 in cash. Two newspaper notices are also required, at whatever the papers charge, and charity registration costs $15 to $250 a year by contributions. 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 Pennsylvania 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 Pennsylvania

You have to put a notice in two newspapers. The Department of State requires publication of either the intent to file or the actual filing of the Articles of Incorporation in two newspapers of general circulation, one a legal journal if possible. Guides that say the notice must come before you file are stricter than the rule: either order is allowed. The cost is whatever the papers charge, which is why Pennsylvania’s real formation cost is above the $125 filing fee.

The annual report is free, and from 2027 it is enforced. Nonprofit corporations file an annual report between 1 January and 30 June at no fee. Older guides leave it out, because it is new. Beginning with reports due in 2027, a corporation that does not file faces administrative dissolution six months after the due date.

Charity registration comes with an audit rule. The BCO-10 registration is required before anyone is paid to solicit, or within 30 days of receiving more than $25,000 in gross contributions, and the fee runs from $15 to $250. The financial statements attached to it scale with contributions, counted nationally: a compilation, review or audit from $100,000, a review or audit from $250,000, and an audit from $750,000. Budget for the audit before you reach that line, not after.

Sales tax exemption follows a state test, not the IRS letter. Pennsylvania grants sales tax exemption to institutions of purely public charity, a standard with its own statute, Act 55, applied by the Department of Revenue on Form REV-72. The application needs articles that bar any surplus going to private persons on a sale or dissolution, and a current financial statement, for which a new organization may substitute a proposed budget.

What Pennsylvania’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. 74.0% of Pennsylvania’s charities have no revenue figure on file or report under $50,000, against 77.4% 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 and the first board, and line up the two newspapers, one a legal journal, for the notice.
2. Week one or two. File the Articles of Incorporation for $125 with the docketing statement, and publish the notice of intent to file or of the filing.
3. Same week. Apply for the EIN online. Free and immediate.
4. Month one. Adopt bylaws, hold the first board meeting, file the newspaper proofs with the minutes and open the bank account.
5. Before paying anyone to solicit, or within 30 days of passing $25,000 in contributions. File the BCO-10 charity registration.
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 sales tax exemption on REV-72, with the articles and a financial statement or proposed budget.
8. Every year, 1 January to 30 June. The free annual report.

The long pole is the IRS, not Pennsylvania. The state end of this is measured in days and costs $125. Everything after the determination letter is either free or a form with a copy of that letter stapled to it.

What kind of charities Pennsylvania has

The Business Master File classifies each organization by activity. The six commonest categories in Pennsylvania account for 32,928 organizations between them:

• Education: 7,009 organizations
• Religion related: 6,265 organizations
• Human services: 5,456 organizations
• Recreation and sports: 5,010 organizations
• Philanthropy and grantmaking: 4,692 organizations
• Arts, culture and humanities: 4,496 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 Pennsylvania are rising

The file carries a determination date for every organization, so the last two years can be compared directly. Pennsylvania had 3,991 approvals in the last twelve months against 3,691 in the twelve before that, a change of +8.1%. Nationally the last twelve months produced 119,025.

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 Pennsylvania, 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 6 October 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 August 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.