Introduction

Overcome Anxieties

One Basic Organizational Consideration

Fund Raising/Grant Seeking Basics

Keys to Successfully Written Grants

Internet Resources

Suggested Reading

One major issue is that nonprofit status is a general requirement for receiving charitable donations. To be successful in fund raising and in order to gain access to the broadest number of grant making organizations, your organization must be incorporated. You'll need to apply for classification by the IRS as a tax-exempt organization to which contributions are tax deductible under Section 501 (c) (3) of the IRS code. If your organization has not yet reached the point where it has incorporated, here are some options:

• Apply for incorporated/non-profit status:
  
  Knowing that your organization has the potential to expand and improve if it only had more funding can provide a rationale for incorporating. For complete information on requirements for gaining nonprofit status, visit the IRS web site at www.irs.gov, click on “Site Tree,” and look up “Tax Exempt Organizations.” You'll learn about the various types of tax exempt organizations and access publications and forms for the application proceedure.
  
  Also, the AOL Time Warner Foundation and the Benton Foundation offer invaluable information on starting a nonprofit on their joint web site at www.helping.org. Visit the site, then click on “Nonprofit Resources” for a comprehensive menu of information and resources regarding successful nonprofit operation.
  
  
• You can partner with another group that already has nonprofit status:
  
  If your group or organization is not yet ready to take the step of gaining nonprofit status, one option is to form a partnership with an organization that is a nonprofit. Forming partnerships offers many potential advantages, including pooling of resources, networking, and potential funders often like to see cooperation between groups with similar missions

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