Product Support: FAQ

Find the answer...

BizPlanBuilder v10 /11

How to... Adapt BizPlanBuilder --> Not For Profit

BizPlanBuilder business plan software can be easily adapted for a Not-for-Profit organization.

Remember to keep in mind that just because the business is not being run for a profitable gain, you still must run your business efficiently and like a business!

A key change is to re-label all references to 'Profit' or 'Net Income' as 'Surplus'.

The language you use throughout BizPlanBuilder can be edited in its entirety -- anywhere and everywhere, in the Word-based narrative text and Excel-based spreadsheets.

The basic steps for forming a Not-For-Profit
(also, consider the implications of saying it this way... sounds better than "Non-Profit"):
- Courtesy of Virginia attorney Joseph Hotter

1.Obtain non-profit materials from your state's corporate filing office.
2.Choose an available business name that meets the requirements of state law.
3.File formal paperwork, usually called "articles of incorporation," and pay a small filing fee (typically $30 or $40). (In VA it is $75)
4.Apply for your federal and state tax exemptions.
5.Create corporate "bylaws," which set out the operating rules for your non-profit corporation.
6.Appoint the initial directors. (In some states you must choose your initial directors before you file your articles, because you must list their names in the document -- that is the requirement in VA for the INITIAL Board.)
7.Hold the first meeting of the board of directors (in-person meeting is NOT necessary).
8.Obtain licenses and permits that may be required for your corporation.
9. Prepare IRS Form 8718 (1 page) "User Fee for Exempt Organization Determination Letter Request (Fee is either $150 or $500 depending on how you do it -- I do the $150 version and then pay the additional funds when those requirements are met, i.e., Gross Receipts averaging more than $10,000 for the 1st 4 years)
10. Prepare IRS Form 1023 (very long form - 37 pages w/ instructions) -- kind of tedious, but you just attack it and do it.
11. IRS will review and, if approved, will send Determination Letter.
12. Find funding, funding, funding, a 12-month-a-year non-stop effort.

More on the subject is forthcoming.