The First 90 Days After Your 501(c)(3) Letter

Your IRS determination letter feels like the finish line. It's actually the starting line. Here's what matters right now, organized by what actually needs to happen when, not what sounds important.

By Nate Hanes · Last updated July 6, 2026 · 12 min read

Week 1: Lock Down the Basics

Your first week is about securing three pieces of paper and opening a bank account. Everything else can wait.

Confirm your EIN and store it safely

The IRS sent you two letters: your 501(c)(3) determination letter and a separate EIN confirmation letter (Form CP 575, or sometimes just a cover letter with your EIN on it). You need to find that EIN letter and keep it somewhere permanent. A digital backup, printed copy, or any safe location works, but you will need it.

Why? Banks require it to open your nonprofit account. So do donors who want to verify your 501(c)(3) status. So does anyone you want to partner with. Store the actual document (or a clear photo of it) somewhere that survives your computer breaking.

Open a dedicated nonprofit bank account

You cannot keep nonprofit money in your personal checking account, even if you're the founder and you trust yourself completely. Banks (and auditors) treat commingled accounts as a red flag, and it makes bookkeeping a mess when you have to unwind personal and nonprofit spending later.

What you need to open an account:

• Your EIN confirmation letter from the IRS (Form CP 575, which you received when you applied for your EIN)
• Your articles of incorporation (or certificate of incorporation from your state)
• Your bylaws
• A board resolution authorizing the account and naming the signers (many banks ask; it's a one-paragraph document)
• A government-issued photo ID (yours, as the person opening it)

You do NOT need to wait for your 501(c)(3) determination letter to open the account. Most organizations open it right after incorporating and getting their EIN, before the IRS has even looked at their 1023. The determination letter matters later, for nonprofit-specific account tiers and fee waivers some banks offer, so bring it in once it arrives if your bank has one of those.

Call ahead. Not every branch has processed a nonprofit account before, and requirements vary bank to bank. Credit unions often have friendly nonprofit experience; larger banks may be slower but have more features. Some nonprofits qualify for checking accounts with minimal or no monthly fees, so ask specifically.

Store your IRS determination letter permanently

This is the document that proves you are a 501(c)(3). Donors will ask to see it. Grantmakers require a copy. You'll need it again if you ever apply for nonprofit status in another state or with a foundation. This needs to be findable in five years, and also right now.

Best practice: keep the original in a fireproof safe or filing cabinet. Scan it and save it in a shared drive (Google Drive, Dropbox, etc.) with restricted access. You should also email yourself a copy so you can find it by searching your email if the filing system ever breaks.

Month 1: Accept Donations and Understand Your Filings

By the end of month one, donors should be able to actually give you money, and you should know when you have to file what.

Set up a way to accept donations online

You don't need a website yet. You do need a way for someone to give you money without mailing you a check. This means a donation platform.

We've built a full comparison of donation platforms (fee structures, donor experience, nonprofit features) on a separate page: check out our donations guide for the nitty-gritty. For most newly approved nonprofits under $50K/year, Donorbox or Givebutter are the two realistic starting points. Both are free to start, easy to set up, and you don't need much tech to run them.

Know your annual filing requirement before you're surprised by it

The IRS requires most nonprofits to file something every year. What you file depends on your gross receipts. If you don't file on time, the IRS can revoke your 501(c)(3) status without warning.

If your gross receipts are $50,000 or less (measured as a 3-year average): File Form 990-N, also called the e-Postcard. It's five minutes online. Due date: the 15th day of the 5th month after your tax year ends. (If your tax year is the calendar year, that's May 15.) Good news for brand-new orgs: the IRS's "normally" test gives you extra headroom early on. Up to $75,000 in your first tax year, and a $60,000 average across your first two years, still qualifies for the 990-N. Our dedicated 990-N guide covers the details.

If your gross receipts are under $200,000 AND your total assets are under $500,000: File Form 990-EZ (simpler than the full 990, still usually under an hour). Same deadline. Both tests have to pass: receipts and assets. These are federal IRS thresholds; your state has no say in which federal form you file.

If your gross receipts are $200,000 or more, OR your total assets are $500,000 or more: File the full Form 990. This requires real detail, and many nonprofits hire a tax preparer for it. Same deadline (or later if you request an extension).

Check if your state requires charitable solicitation registration

Before you ask anyone for money, you might need to register with your state. This is separate from your 501(c)(3) status and varies wildly by state.

The short version: 40 states plus DC have some form of charitable solicitation registration requirement before you ask their residents for donations (in two of those, Arizona and Texas, the requirement only applies to narrow categories of organizations). Rather than scanning a 50-state wall of text, it's easier to remember the exceptions:

States that do NOT require registration (10): Delaware, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Montana, Nebraska, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont, and Wyoming. Every other state plus DC requires some form of registration, including Alaska and North Dakota. (Check your state's AG or Secretary of State website to confirm before fundraising, as this changes. Our FAQ keeps the canonical treatment.)

If your state requires it, the registration is usually free or under $50, and the process is straightforward. Most states ask for your 501(c)(3) letter, a contact person, and confirmation that you won't solicit donations before you register. It typically takes 1-3 weeks. Do it before your first fundraising email if you're in a state that requires it.

Set up basic bookkeeping

You need a way to track what money comes in and where it goes. This does not need to be fancy.

For most brand-new nonprofits in their first year with under a few thousand dollars in activity, a spreadsheet works fine. Columns: Date, Description, Category (e.g., "Donations," "Program Supplies," "Rent"), Amount In, Amount Out. At the end of the year, you total each category. Done.

If you want something slightly more structured, free or cheap tools like Wave (free accounting software) or Google Sheets templates exist. Expensive software like QuickBooks is overkill for a new organization with modest activity and can actually slow you down.

Months 2–3: Plan the Next Phase

By month two, the urgent stuff is done. Now think about what comes next: grants, governance, and growth.

Understand Google Ad Grants (and whether it makes sense for you)

Google offers $10,000 a month in free Google Search ads to eligible nonprofits. That's genuinely valuable. But most nonprofits don't qualify, and if you do qualify, there are rules to stay eligible.

You are eligible if:

• You have a 501(c)(3) determination letter (check)
• You have a website with HTTPS, not HTTP (the "S" matters) and a unique domain (not a subdomain, not a Facebook page)
• Your organization is not a hospital, school, government entity, or similar institution that Google excludes
• You're willing to maintain a 5% click-through rate on your ads, or Google will suspend you

You are NOT eligible if: You're fiscally sponsored (meaning another nonprofit holds your 501(c)(3) status and you operate under theirs). Google requires your own nonprofit status.

If you're eligible and interested, you apply through Google for Nonprofits (google.com/nonprofits). The approval process takes a few weeks. The 5% click-through-rate requirement means you need search traffic to your site. If you have a website with no visitors, the ads won't perform, and Google will eventually cut you off. So realistically, you need a functioning website that people actually visit. If that's you, it's worth pursuing. If you're still in startup mode with no web presence, park this for month six or later.

Learn board governance basics (it's less boring than you think)

You've probably heard that board members can't be paid, or that there's some law about it. That's actually a myth. But it comes with real rules that do matter.

The truth: Board members CAN be paid. There is no federal law against it. But their compensation must be "reasonable" for the work they're doing. If you pay a board member $100,000 a year to attend quarterly meetings, that's an "excess benefit transaction." The IRS penalizes the person who was overpaid (25% excise tax on the excess amount) and the other board members who approved it (10% each, capped at $20K total).

In plain terms: If a board member is paid, they need to actually work for the money (like an executive director position), the compensation needs to match what similar people in similar roles earn elsewhere ("reasonable"), and you should have board minutes documenting that you intentionally approved it. Any compensation over $600/year requires a 1099 form at tax time.

Best practice: Most nonprofit governance experts recommend that at least a majority of your board stay unpaid. This protects you from scrutiny and signals that people believe in your mission. But if you want to pay your executive director as a board member, or hire a board member to do contract work, that's legal as long as it's intentional and documented.

Decide if you need a website (and what kind)

You might need one. You might not yet. But you should make a deliberate choice instead of accidentally drifting into needing one and panicking.

You probably want a website if: You're seeking grants (grantmakers expect to see your mission and impact online), you're fundraising from individuals (donors want to know who you are before giving), or you need Google Ad Grants (you cannot qualify without one).

You can probably wait if: You're brand-new, your supporters all know you personally, you're not fundraising yet, and you don't have the bandwidth to maintain it. A neglected website is worse than no website.

If you decide you do want one: we have a guide to hosting options (WordPress, Squarespace, Wix, building it yourself) with the real tradeoffs. Read that when you're ready to decide.

Decide when you need donor-management software

You probably don't yet. Most new nonprofits spend 6-12 months with a spreadsheet before they outgrow it.

When spreadsheets break down: you have more than 100 donors, you're spending more than 2-3 hours a month managing the list, or you need to generate donor reports and it's taking forever to manually build them in Excel.

When they still work: you have fewer than 100 donors, you remember who gave what, and you can manage thank-you notes and annual reports with what you have.

If or when you outgrow a spreadsheet, check out our guide to donor-management software. It covers when a spreadsheet stops being enough and compares the two real shapes of tool (donor-native CRMs like Neon One vs all-in-one platforms), with real cost and feature tradeoffs, not a sales pitch.

What Actually Matters

You now have a bank account, a way to accept donations, and a calendar reminder for your filing deadline. You know whether your state requires charitable registration, and you know what Google Ad Grants actually involves. That puts you ahead of most newly approved nonprofits.

The rest (fancy CRM, perfect website, grant writing, board development) will flow from the foundation you've just built. Don't feel rushed. Your job right now is to be stable, not impressive.