Attn: Anyone with bank account / IRS forms experience....

[YELLAHEEP]

If any of you have, or know someone who has experience with setting up bank accounts for not-for-profit organizations, please PM me so I can get some direction.

Setting up a bank account for our chapter has become a major PITA - especially where the State of Colorado is concerned. And it's expensive.

We currently have our EIN number, but the bank won't start the account until we've registered a trade name with the Colorado Dept. of Revenue. CDOR wants all Chapter official's personal information - S.S. number and a copy of our driver's licenses - yikes.

The IRS forms are complex, lenthy and they want between $150 - $350 just to get things started.

I'm wondering if we're going down the right path.

Any help would be much appreciated.

Troy

 

[WB9YZU]

You have a PM. HTH, Ron

 

[bd18packer]

Troy

You wrote...

"Setting up a bank account for our chapter has become a major PITA - especially where the State of Colorado is concerned. And it's expensive."

"We currently have our EIN number, but the bank won't start the account until we've registered a trade name with the Colorado Dept. of Revenue." (This is to prevent the NFP corporation from avoiding taxes, licenses and fees, is a legitimate business and not a dummy corporation, and to insure that you are the only NFP using that name; this is a nationwide standard banking practice). "CDOR wants all Chapter official's personal information - S.S. number and a copy of our driver's licenses - yikes." (This is to insure you are citizens in good standing, and not felons or other ineligible persons)
"The IRS forms are complex, lengthy and they want between $150 - $350 just to get things started." (The IRS is a necessary and required step to be classified as a NFP corporation. Please don’t avoid the red tape or shortcut this step. The officers of the corporation, and you personally could be held liable for unpaid or underpaid taxes, if the IRS disapproves of your application as a NFP corp.)

"I'm wondering if we're going down the right path. "(Yes you are; if in doubt consult an attorney, especially one familiar with federal and state banking requirements for NFP corporations. As a former member of the banking community, please take heed: Follow all the rules and dot all the I’s and cross the T’s on all the forms. It may be expensive and time consuming, but it will keep you, and the corporation, out of trouble and financial ruin.)

Provided as a public service by…

BD
Somewhere in the Rocky Mountains

 

[YELLAHEEP]

BD,

Thanks for the honest and experienced reply. Rest assured, we're not looking to short the system, or be sneaky. Because our Chapter is so new and the monies we have accumulated to date don't amount to much, proceeding with the formalities isn't sounding financially feasable right now.

If we dumped the money into getting full NFP status, there wouldn't be ANY money for the t-shirt project, stickers or for Colorado Fest preliminary expenses.

Maybe down the road once we've had some time to accumulate some reserves, we'll look at NFP status.