How Long Does It Take to Start a Nonprofit?

Starting a nonprofit usually takes about one to two months if you qualify for the IRS’s short Form 1023-EZ, and about seven months or more if you file the full Form 1023, counted from when you file your articles of incorporation. The state part is quick: days to a couple of weeks. The EIN is immediate online. The IRS’s decision on tax exemption is the long step, and the IRS publishes how long it takes: on its latest update, 80% of Form 1023-EZ applications were decided within 22 days and 80% of full Form 1023 applications within 191 days. Below is each step, how long it takes and what can be sped up.

The steps and how long each takes

The full process, with the documents at each step, is in how to start a nonprofit. This page is about time.

The preparation is the part you control

Before anything is filed you need a name, a board and governing documents. None of this has a fixed timetable, and it is where most delay happens. A founder who already has three committed board members and a clear purpose can be ready in a week or two; a group that has to agree on its mission, find directors and settle disagreements can take months.

• Name. Check it is available in your state and not confusingly close to another organization’s; see naming a nonprofit.
• Board. State law sets the minimum number of directors. How many board members has the numbers, and how to recruit board members covers finding them. If you plan to do this alone, read can you start a nonprofit by yourself first.
• Articles and bylaws. The articles must contain the purpose and dissolution clauses the IRS looks for, or the application stalls later. Start from articles of incorporation templates and nonprofit bylaws templates.
• Conflict of interest policy. Form 1023 asks whether you have one; adopt it at the first board meeting using the conflict of interest policy template.
• A plan and a budget. Form 1023 asks for projected finances for the first years. A nonprofit business plan gives you the numbers.

Incorporating with the state

Filing articles is usually the fastest government step. Each state sets its own speed, and most sell faster service. What the states we could check publish:

Read on each secretary of state’s own site on 24 October 2026. Florida, Illinois, Ohio and Georgia blocked our requests, so they are not shown; check their sites directly. California’s figures are a live queue, not a promise: they show which day’s filings were being reviewed on the date the page was updated, here about three days behind for online filings and eight for mail. Filing online is faster in every state that offers it. Fees for filing the articles themselves, and every other state step, are on each state’s page in how to start a nonprofit by state, including California, Texas, Pennsylvania and North Carolina.

Paying to expedite the articles rarely changes the total much, because the IRS step that follows takes weeks or months. It is worth it when a grant or a lease needs the corporation to exist by a date.

Getting an EIN

Apply for the Employer Identification Number after the state has accepted your articles, because the IRS asks for the legal name and formation date. Online, the IRS says “we’ll issue your EIN immediately online”, during set hours: 6 a.m. to 1 a.m. Eastern on weekdays, 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Saturdays and 6 p.m. to midnight on Sundays. By fax it takes about 4 business days, and by mail about 4 weeks. The IRS says you can apply for only one EIN per day, which matters only if you are setting up more than one entity. More on the EIN, and why a nonprofit needs one before it applies for exemption, is in nonprofit EIN.

How long the IRS takes to approve 501(c)(3) status

This is the step that sets the overall timeline. The IRS publishes its processing times on its “Where’s my application for tax-exempt status?” page, as the time within which it decides 80% of applications:

From the IRS page as last updated on 28 June 2026, with fees from the IRS user fee page reviewed 9 October 2026. The times describe applications already worked; the IRS also lists the submission date it is currently up to, and anything filed after that date shows as “not yet been assigned.” Twenty percent of applications take longer than the figure shown, usually because the IRS has questions.

Form 1023-EZ: weeks

The short form is decided fastest, but not everyone can use it. Before filing you must complete the eligibility worksheet in the Form 1023-EZ instructions, which asks among other things whether you project annual gross receipts above $50,000 in any of the next three years, and whether your total assets exceed $250,000. A “yes” to any worksheet question means you file the full Form 1023 instead. The EZ is filed only online, and the IRS’s FAQ says “An organization may not request expedited handling of a Form 1023-EZ.”

Form 1023: months

The full application is longer to prepare, often several weeks of work, and is decided within 191 days for 80% of applicants. It is filed electronically on Pay.gov with the $600 fee. Most delays come from an IRS letter asking for more information: answer it fully and by the deadline it gives, because the review cannot finish until you reply. How to get 501(c)(3) status covers the application section by section.

Can you speed up the IRS?

Only in limited cases. The Form 1023 instructions say the IRS expedites an application only “where a written request presents a compelling reason,” and give three examples:

• a pending grant, where failing to secure it may have an adverse impact on the organization;
• an organization newly created to provide disaster relief to victims of emergencies;
• an IRS error that has delayed the review.

Expedited review is at the IRS’s discretion and does not guarantee approval. Paying a consultant does not move you up the queue; a complete, consistent application does, because it avoids the request for more information.

Rough totals

Our calculation from the published times above, counted from filing the articles, and assuming the preparation is done and the application is complete. They are typical, not guaranteed; one in five applications takes longer than the IRS figure. The cost of each route is in how much it costs to start a nonprofit.

You can operate before the IRS decides

The wait is less of a problem than it looks, for two reasons.

First, exemption is retroactive if you apply in time. The Form 1023 instructions say that if you file within 27 months after the end of the month in which you were legally formed, “the effective date of your exempt status will be your legal date of formation.” Donations received while the application is pending are then deductible once you are approved. If you file later than that, exemption starts from the date you filed. The approval itself arrives as an IRS determination letter, which the IRS says may appear on its online search tool before the letter arrives in the mail.

Second, you can begin work, open a bank account and raise money once incorporated. Tell donors your application is pending and that deductibility depends on approval. If a funder needs exempt status now, a fiscal sponsor can receive grants for you until the letter arrives; that is also a route for founders who want to test an idea before incorporating, covered in starting a nonprofit with no money. Banks for nonprofits lists what banks ask for to open an account.

After the IRS: the state steps that follow

Federal exemption is not the end. Depending on the state, you may still need to:

• Apply for state income tax exemption. California does not grant it automatically: you file form FTB 3500A with a copy of the federal determination letter, and the Franchise Tax Board’s time frames page says it takes about 4 months.
• Register to fundraise. Many states require a charity to register with the attorney general or secretary of state before soliciting. California’s form CT-1 says “Registration with the Attorney General is required within thirty days of receipt of assets,” with a $50 fee.
• Apply for sales and property tax exemptions, where your state offers them, usually as separate applications.
• Calendar the annual filings: the first Form 990 is due on the 15th day of the fifth month after your year end; which Form 990 tells you which version.

Each state page in the state guide lists these steps for that state.

What slows nonprofits down

• Articles without the IRS clauses. If the purpose or dissolution clause is missing, you will usually have to amend the articles with the state before the IRS approves, which adds weeks.
• Inconsistent numbers. A budget in Form 1023 that does not match the activities described draws questions.
• Using the EZ when you should not. An organization that answers yes to any worksheet question is not eligible for Form 1023-EZ and must file the full Form 1023.
• Waiting on the board. Directors who do not sign or attend the first meeting hold up adopting bylaws and policies; record the meeting with the board meeting minutes template.
• Missing the 27-month window. Filing late loses retroactive exemption for the months before you applied.

IRS times are from the IRS’s “Where’s my application for tax-exempt status?” page as last updated 28 June 2026; fees from the IRS user fee page; EIN times from the IRS EIN pages; the 27-month rule and expedited review grounds from the Form 1023 instructions (December 2024); EZ eligibility from the Form 1023-EZ instructions (January 2025). State figures are from each secretary of state’s site, and California’s from the Secretary of State, Attorney General and Franchise Tax Board. All read on 24 October 2026. Processing times change; check the IRS page before you plan around them.

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.