Certain purposes, such as: the establishment or operation of any aged care accommodation, adult care facility, or substance or alcohol abuse program; an educational purpose or the promotion of science, literature, art or history requires that the consent or approval of another agency be attached to the Certificate of Incorporation when it is submitted to the New York Department of State for filing.

This is a partial list of agencies that must consent to, or approve, the filing of certain New York Not-for-Profit Certificates of Incorporation prior to filing with the New York Department of State. If you have any questions, you can contact the agency at the address or telephone number below:

There are three key components for an organization to be exempt from federal income tax under section 501(c) (3) of the Internal Revenue Code. A not-for-profit (i.e., nonprofit) organization must be organized and operated exclusively for one or more exempt purposes.

ORGANIZED – A 501(c) (3) organization must be organized as a corporation, trust, or unincorporated association. An organization’s organizing documents   (articles of incorporation, trust documents, articles of association) must: limit its purposes to those described in section 501(c)(3) of the IRC; not expressly permit activities that do not further its exempt purpose(s), i.e., unrelated activities; and permanently dedicate its assets to exempt purposes.

OPERATED – Because a substantial portion of an organization’s activities must further its exempt purpose(s), certain other activities are prohibited or restricted. A 501(c) (3) organization:

• Must absolutely refrain from participating in the political campaigns of candidates for local, state, or federal office.
• Must restrict its lobbying activities to an insubstantial part of its total activities n must ensure that its earnings do not inure to the benefit of any private shareholder or individual.
• Must not operate for the benefit of private interests such as those of its founder, the founder’s family, its shareholders or persons controlled by such interests.
• Must not operate for the primary purpose of conducting a trade or business that is not related to its exempt purpose, such as a school’s operation of a factory.
• May not have purposes or activities that are illegal or violate fundamental public policy.

EXEMPT PURPOSE – To be tax exempt, an organization must have one or more exempt purposes, stated in its organizing document: charitable, educational, religious, scientific, literary, fostering national or international sports competition, preventing cruelty to children or animals, and testing for public safety.

A not-for-profit corporation is a corporation formed pursuant to the New York Not-for-Profit Corporation Law.

The Certificate of Incorporation of a New York not-for-profit corporation must set forth the specific purposes for which the corporation is being formed and the corporation may not be formed for financial gain.

There are four types of not-for-profit corporations:

Type A – A not-for-profit corporation formed for any lawful non-business purpose or purposes including, but not limited to, any one or more of the following non-pecuniary purposes: civic, patriotic, political, social, fraternal, athletic, agricultural, horticultural, animal husbandry, and for a professional, commercial, industrial, trade or service association.

Type B – A not-for-profit corporation formed for any one or more of the following non-business purposes: charitable, educational, religious, scientific, literary, cultural or for the prevention of cruelty to children or animals.

Type C – A not-for-profit corporation formed for any lawful business purpose to achieve a lawful public or quasi-public objective. Although the corporation may be organized for a purpose normally carried on by a business corporation for profit, its purpose must be non-pecuniary (formed for a purpose other than making money). Therefore, it is necessary to include a separate statement in the certificate of incorporation describing the lawful public or quasi-public objective each business purpose will achieve.

Type D – A not-for-profit corporation formed under two New York laws for any business or non-business, or pecuniary or non-pecuniary, purpose when such formation is authorized by any other law of New York. For example, a corporation formed under the Not-for-Profit Corporation Law and the Private Housing Finance Law.