Behind The Scenes: What Is A 1023 and Why Do We Keep Talking About Our Non-Profit Status?

Starting a business is very time consuming and where to start can be very confusing. So if you're looking for some answers... here's some knowledge.

When you start a business you need to file with the secretary of states office in your city. From that point forward you figure out what you're gonna be. An LLC, a Corporation, Sole Proprietor, Non-profit etc. As an animal rescue organization its in our business's best interest to file as a non profit to get the 501c3 status everyone recognizes but nobody actually knows what it means.... well thats what it means! It means you filed and recieved status as a non profit organization from the IRS! It means youre tax exempt and people who give you money can write it off. It means every dollar the company makes must be spent at the end of every year on things that better your "mission". That could be business equipment, rent etc, paying employees to run the place, full and part, marketing, anything to help your cause. No profit.

So! To become that kind of business you file whats called a 1023 form. Not 1024, not 1023-EZ. Just 1023.

You can request this shit for free in the mail! You go online to the IRS website, tell them what form you want and how many (we got two. You know, one to mess up and one for real) and they ship it over. It arrived in about a week, give or take a day or two. The form is 25 pages or so? And it comes with step by step instructions on how to properly fill out the form thats twice as large. Literally its a "1023 for Dummies".

It took us 7 months to complete from top to bottom. When we we're done we turned in the entire packet with 30 printed pages of additions as required for completion. It was literally a book.

That was April 20th. The day we put it in the mail. And we waited.

I'll let you know when we hear back...