Five years ago my husband and I decided to start a men’s developmental minor league football team in Jacksonville, Florida. At the time, my husband, who has 30 plus years of football experience, had been playing for the only minor league team in the area when he decided he wanted to branch out and start a team of his own as part of a new league that was developing in Florida. This new league required that our team incorporate, and rather than incorporate for profit, as most of the other teams were doing, we made the choice to be a nonprofit organization.
It wasn’t about making money. My husband had the passion to really grow minor league football in Jacksonville and do something good in the community, so he’s never had any desire to make a profit from this team. What has been the most important to us from day one has been to set a good example in the community, provide our players an avenue to further their playing career through college or paying leagues, and to make a difference in the lives of men, young and old, who thought their football days were done. We wanted to give back to the community where my husband was raised and teach our players to do the same, not just through football but through a charitable spirit as well. So, excited and scared, we ventured forth into developing our nonprofit organization, and the Florida Falcons were born. To learn more about the Florida Falcons, visit: www.floridafalconsfootball.org.
What is a Nonprofit?
According to www.floridatrend.com, a nonprofit is defined as “a corporation normally thought of as one created for religious, charitable, education or eleemosynary purposes that is generally formed under Chapter 617, Florida Statues.” However, just because a corporation is declared a nonprofit does not mean it is prohibited from a profit-making situation, nor does a non-profit have to be a charitable organization or tax exempt. It simply means that the corporation may not give its income to a member, director, or officer in the corporation except as allowed by law.
We were surprised by how painless a process it was to become a non-profit corporation. Basically, you need to decide on a name, decide who the officers will be, file your Articles of Incorporation, register for an EIN, and complete the application for 501(c)(3) status, if necessary.
Each state has a “small business” website, which provides all the rules and regulations and allows you to download and file all necessary forms. (If you live in the state of Florida, visit http://www.sunbiz.org to get all of the legal dos and don’ts for starting your own business.)
First, file your Articles of Incorporation under the nonprofit corporation designation. This legal document states:
the name and address of your corporation,
the specific purpose for the corporation,
whether directors/officers are appointed or elected,
the names of the officers/directors,
any limitations to the corporate powers.
Filing the Articles of Incorporation can be done through mail or, in most states, online. In Florida, file your Articles of Incorporation at efile.sunbiz.org.
If you live in the state of New York, visit www.nyssbdc.org. If you live in California, get started at www.ftb.ca.gov, and finally, if you live in Texas, go to www.sos.state.tx.us.
Fictitious Names
One question we were unsure of was whether we needed to file for a fictitious name separately, and the answer is “No.” Since you are filing as a corporation rather than as a sole proprietorship or DBA (Doing Business As), you don’t have to file a separate document for a fictitious name. Creating your Articles of Incorporation takes care of that for you.
The federal Employer Identification Number is required for all corporations (profit and non-profit alike). But what if you have no employees and won’t be hiring? Then you are in the same boat as our football program; although we have no employees and are the only two officers, to open a bank account, even just for deposits, we had to have an EIN.
These are issued through the IRS, and there are four ways to apply. You can apply toll-free Monday through Friday at: (800) 829-4933 between 7:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. local time. You can apply by fax. You can apply by mail, which can take up to four weeks, and you can apply online. We chose to apply online since it is the quickest and easiest method. After answering a few short questions, within fifteen minutes we were granted our EIN. Click on www4.irs.gov to start.
To download Form SS-4 (for fax or mail), click on the following link: www.irs.gov.
What’s a 501(c)(3)?
Simply put, a 501(c)(3) status allows a non-profit organization to be tax-exempt. A common misconception is that ALL non-profit organizations are automatically considered tax-exempt, but this is not true. In order to be declared tax-exempt, there is a rather lengthy application process that must be completed, and there is no guarantee that tax-exempt status will be granted.
One tip when applying for 501(c)(3) status is to hire a lawyer to help with the application process. The tax-exempt application requires very specific, and sometimes very legal, wording to be done correctly.
One major benefit of being a 501(c)(3) corporation is being able accept tax-deductible donations. For more information on becoming tax-exempt, or to find out if you qualify for tax-exemption status, visit: www.irs.gov.
Neither my husband nor I knew much about incorporating, let alone becoming a nonprofit organization, when we set out to start our football program five years ago. Though the journey has been one of trial and error, it has been well worth it. Through our program, we have watched many of our Falcons (some my husband even coached in their high school days) grow into more community-minded men. We have watched a dozen accept scholarships to play college football long after they thought that dream was no longer possible, and more importantly, we’ve watched them succeed in their studies and graduate with degrees. We’ve sent players to NFL training camps, and we’ve cheered on former players who made it into the Arena Football League ranks. Through all the football, though, we have always enforced a giving, charitable spirit within our organization. It was never about the money for us. It’s about the pride we feel knowing we are doing something good in our community.
