Applying for tax exempt status
Check with the state where you will do business for requirements for creating a non profit and required organizing documents. Websites of state officials with information on forming tax-exempt corporations
- Apply to the IRS for federal tax exempt status
- Federal tax law requirements for forming charities
- Apply for an Employee Identification Number (EIN)
Kinds of disaster relief assistance a charity can give
- What types of assistance may a charity provide?
- Standards for providing relief to individuals
- Can a qualified charity that doesn't provide disaster relief give money to a disaster relief organization helping victims of a particular disaster?
- Can a charity help business affected by a disaster?
- Documenting relief activities
- Publication 1771, Charitable Contributions, Substantiation and Disclosure Requirements PDF
- Employer- Sponsored Disaster Relief Organizations
- Publication 3833, Disaster Relief: Providing Assistance through Charitable Organizations PDF
Working with volunteers
For information about federal tax issues of volunteers for charitable disaster relief organizations, see Working with volunteers.
Information for your donors
- Publication 526, Charitable Contributions PDF, explains how donors may claim a deduction for charitable contributions.
Webinars and online courses
- Stay Exempt Presentation – Disaster Relief Part 1 – explains how charitable organizations may provide relief in disaster situations and the special tax rules that apply to such organizations.
- Stay Exempt Presentation – Disaster Relief Part 2 - explains the special rules that apply to employer-sponsored disaster relief organizations, the deductibility of contributions to disaster relief organizations and the tax treatment of distributions to disaster relief victims.
- Life Cycle of a Public Charity
- Life Cycle of a Private Foundation