Non-Profit Organizations and the Internet - Establishment
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Non-profit organizations are significantly harder to establish than traditional businesses. To start a normal business, all that one has to do is start acting like a business. Sole proprietorships are indistinguishable from the individuals that run them. Although there is paperwork that can be filled out for various reasons, in effect, every single person has the potential to be a business.
This is not the case for a true non-profit organization. Although anyone can start a business and declare that it is non-profit, it is not truly recognized by the government. To become recognized and gain the associated benefits, a company needs to file for 501(c)3 status. This is the status that allows the company to give donors the privilege of being able to write off their donations as tax deductible. Without this status, it is much more difficult for organizations to obtain donations.
Obtaining 501(c)3 status can be a very difficult and drawn-out process. Many companies do not obtain the status simply because they cannot go through all of the paperwork and hoops, not because they are not a true non-profit organization in spirit. People operating non-profit businesses have enough things to do on their plate without having to worry about technicalities and legal paperwork.
The Internet has helped a great deal in getting more 501(c)3 applications approved. There are specialists on the Internet that are very willing to help non-profit organizations become official for modest fees. Although these individuals and companies were around before the advent of the Internet, they were considerably harder to find and charged a much higher rate. Essentially, a non-profit organization was required to hire a lawyer at a lawyer’s rate if they wanted the job done properly.
It is even possible to find individuals with non-profit experience online who will be willing to help with a 501(c)3 for no charge. These people are just willing to volunteer their time to help a good cause.
It is also a fairly simple matter for a non-profit organization to establish themselves online with a website. It provides a convenient and cheap base of operations, much more so than any physical office that they could establish. There is no shortage of people on the Internet with decent website design skills willing to donate their time to a cause that they believe in. Non-profit organization owners just have to find these people and then set themselves up online. They can manage to become established with very little or no money out of pocket.
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