How To Set Up A Rescue
Step One
File for a EIN (Employer Identification Number)
You can do this online and it’s very quick and free.
Step Two
File with MA your Articles of Organization as Nonprofit Corporation (can do once the Board
of Directors is set up, you have your mission statement and your Bylaws are adopted).
You must submit your bylaws with your filing. There is a filing fee of $35 plus a $6 service charge. You will get your identification number and the date of organization. You can order a certificate if you like, but it is not necessary. They are $7 with a $3 service charge.
After submission, search for your corporation. View the Articles of Organization and view as a PDF. Save this PDF. You will need it for the Attorney General filing.
Step Three
File your 501(c)3 application - form 1023 EZ (can do as soon as you are incorporated).
Set up a company account on Pay.gov. File the 1023 EZ form online – there is a filing fee of $275.
You will receive a Letter of Determination. It takes a few months. You can check the status here.
Step Four
Register with the Attorney General’s Division of Non-Profit Organizations/Public Charities. There is a one-time registration fee of $100. You can do this right after submitting your 1023 EZ. *Be sure to upload documents in PDF form and named exactly how they are detailed in the instructions. Once you register, they will email you with your AGO Charity Number and instructions to file your Schedule A-2 and make the payment. Payment must be made first so you will get access to the schedule A-2.
Once the Schedule A-2 is submitted, your listed reviewer will get an email to register in the portal. They need to sign in and accept the filing. Once that is completed, you will get an email with acceptance and instructions to pay the filing fee of $50. Once payment is made, the filing will be reviewed, and you will be issued a Certificate for Solicitation via email. This certificate only covers you until your first Form PC is due.
Your first Form PC is due 4 ½ months AFTER your fiscal year end for the previous year. If your Fiscal year ends 12/31 your Form PC for the previous year is due by 5/15. Depending on the amount of time between being issued the first Certificate for Solicitation and the end of your fiscal year, there may be nothing to report on the first Form PC. However, it still needs to be filed.
Step Five
Register with the MDAR. You can do once you get your Letter of Determination from the IRS and your Certificate for Solicitation.
Review Massachusetts Department of Agriculture 330 CMR 30.00.
Registration form is online and is a two-part process. First, submit your Shelter Plan. They will email you a confirmation and the license application to be completed and mailed in with the licensing fee of $100.
Note: You must have signed Quarantine agreements on file with MDAR before submitting the plan.
Step Six
Register with the MA Department of Revenue at MassTaxConnect. This is not a requirement, but a benefit of being a charity. You can choose to pay sales tax if you prefer.
Note: Social Security Numbers are needed for the Officers of the Corporation. However, you can just list President and Treasurer if you don’t want to list all. You will receive a ST-2 Certificate of Exemption that exempts you from State sales tax. To use the exemption, a Form ST-5 must be filled out for each purchase with the store/vendor information as well as details of the purchase. A copy of the ST-2 needs to be attached and given to the store so they can exempt you from the sales tax. MDOR highly recommends you maintain a copy of the ST-5 with the receipt for the purchase.
Taxes and forms you must file every year/quarter:
CPA/Accountant to file:
Federal – Form 990 (yearly)
Form 990 N (if under $50,000 income)
Form 990 EZ (if under $200,000 income)
Form 990 (if over $200,000 income) must include a CPA financial review statement (yearly)
Attorney General - Form PC (yearly)
Note: this is not required to be submitted by an accountant. If someone from the rescue is comfortable doing it, that is fine.
You can file:
Secretary of State - annual report, $15 filing fee (yearly) Note: this is due each year by Nov 1 st . To avoid forgetting, file when you do your yearly taxes.
Other resources:
http://www.dmlp.org/legal-guide/forming-nonprofit-corporation-massachusetts
https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/forming-nonprofit-corporation-massachusetts-
36069.html
Other things to do:
Open a business bank account. Do not mix your personal money with the rescue money. To start, you can loan the rescue set up money… and then either take it as a tax deduction once you get 501c3 status, or have the rescue pay you back.
Start using Quickbooks to do your finances. Much easier at tax time to organize and gather information for the accountant. It's important to keep track of everything and keep it separate from personal finances.
Petfinder - It took us a week to get approved after I sent the application and vet certificate! You need to submit a vet form signed by a vet and with their business card attached. They almost didn’t approve us because I said we had a spay/neuter agreement for puppies under 6 months old. They wanted us to commit to giving adopters a voucher for a free spay/neuter. I ended up sending back a response that ALL dogs would be altered prior to adoption. They accepted that and approved us.
Donorbox - This is a donation management system our website designer told us about. I LOVE it! Granted, they take a small percentage, but it tracks all your donations, allows you to personalize the donation structure, allows multiple “campaigns" for donations (we have donate and pay adoption fees) and give donors a chance to donate in memory of someone, sign up for recurring donations, have their donation applied to something specific like seniors and leave a comment. It is way better than I thought it would be.
Masscats and Massdogs - these are email groups that connect you with many rescues, ACO’s and shelters in MA. https://groups.io/g/MassDog https://groups.io/g/MassCats