Premium Exhibitor
Jack Nichols
To a startup nonprofit or one with limited funds, lawyers may seem like another expense. But, a lawyer can help you be properly created; failure to do so may create personal liability and an invalid status. A lawyer can assist in employment issues from hiring and firing, to unemployment claims.
If you are properly created as an N.C. nonprofit, you can minimize sales and property taxes, have a different status for income taxes, and sign legal documents as a nonprofit corporation rather than as individuals.
Both work toward a public good; a nonprofit does so without the intent of turning a profit; a B-Corp is a traditional company with shareholders. Nonprofits must devote 100% of their resources to achieving the work of their mission and has no ownership. However, a B-Corp has shareholders.
A review of the nonprofit statutes shows frequent reference to the phrases “as provided by the bylaws” or “unless otherwise provided by the bylaws.” Carefully written bylaws are how a nonprofit tailors their actual operations to the legal authorization for action.
Some law firms charge an hourly rate. At NCL, we charge a flat fee for filing the Articles of Incorporation and writing the Bylaws and initial Resolutions. For employment agreements or to file Form 1023 with the IRS for tax exempt status, we charge separate amounts for those documents.
