As a business person and an entrepreneur, you want to follow the best steps to establish your new non-profit entity. While nobody particularly likes dealing with paperwork, proper processing and filing is a necessary component of non-profit formation.
Thankfully, there are plenty of business service providers who can help you through the filing process.
Not sure where to start? Take a look at these high-quality service providers that can help you get started on your non-profit.
| IncFile | Affordability | $0 + state fees |
| LegalZoom | Additional Services | $79 + state fees |
| Harbor Compliance | Premium Service | $399 + state fees |
| Rocket Lawyer | Legal Help | $0 + state fees |
| CorpNet | Simple Service | $99 + state fees |
| MyCorporation | Customer Service | $99 + state fees |
IncFile: Most affordable
IncFile is an LLC filing and business formation company. Established in 2004 out of Houston, this company has years of experience driving their ability to help make your business legal. With strong technology, upfront services, and versatile know-how, IncFile can help you file for an LLC or establish another business entity.
In addition to these filing services, IncFile also helps you with both accounting operations and compliance. They have a wide range of resources on their website that can guide you through determining your business’s name, establishing your company, and calculating the cost of your taxes.
IncFile is a great company that will help you far beyond the filing process and will continue to keep your business running. You can read more about them in our comprehensive IncFile review.
Who Is IncFile Good for?
Certain filing and business formation companies are good for specific kinds of companies. You should always consider what a company offers versus how you want your company to turn out.
IncFile is great for those who want to establish the following types of company structures:
- Limited Liability Company (LLC)
- Corporations (S-Corp/C-Corp)
- Sole Proprietorships
- Non-Profits
As someone looking to establish a non-profit entity, IncFile is a good option for you. The company can help you set up this structure by the books and get your business running.
Who Is IncFile Not Good for?
As excellent a company as IncFile is, it’s not the best choice for everyone. IncFile can’t help you form a partnership from the get-go. However, it can help you later down the line if you decide to form an LLC or a corporation. You can also still use their tax and accounting services.
LegalZoom: Best for additional services
The legality of your business entity is extremely important. If you don’t follow these kinds of regulations precisely, your business could wind up in a lot of trouble. LegalZoom is one of the best business service providers for the job.
LegalZoom is a top legal service provider that centralizes its work around creating and filing basic business documents. It strives to provide affordable legal assistance for small businesses - ones who may not be able to afford in-house legal services or attorneys.
LegalZoom does an excellent job of maintaining knowledge of state and local business laws. It delivers all the documents you need, along with preparation assistance and instructions. Its experts also connect you with local attorneys, if need be.
While LegalZoom cannot provide direct legal services, it can help you through documentation prep and connect you with independent attorneys and consumers within your community.
Read more about LegalZoom here.
Who Is LegalZoom Good for?
While LegalZoom offers services across a wide range of business, it is specifically a good fit for the following types:
- Limited Liability Corporation (LLC)
- Corporations (C-Corp/S-Corp)
- Partnerships
- Sole Proprietorships
- Non-Profits
Since non-profits require special tax filings in order to secure non-profit benefits, LegalZoom can be especially helpful to you. The company can provide you with the necessary documentation to make this happen.
Who Is LegalZoom Not Good for?
LegalZoom is one of the few formation companies that is great for all different kinds of businesses, so anyone can turn to them for help. However, they are a more expensive company, so someone looking to cut costs may look elsewhere.
Harbor Compliance: Best for premium service
Harbor Compliance is a reputable organization that has helped over 10,000 companies register their business licensing. With expertise across federal, state, and local registration processes, they offer a versatile team of business licensing experts using specialized software to track every detail.
Harbor stands out among its competitors from the start. Rather than using online forms or questionnaires to get started, the company connects you with a licensing specialist over the phone right away. These agents describe the service offerings and get you set up with the best package for you.
However, if you’re not an over-the-phone kind of person, they will allow you to submit all of your information online. Either way, you can be confident that you’ll receive the same customized service.
Learn more about Harbor Compliance in this full review.
Who Is Harbor Compliance Good for?
Due to Harbor’s one-on-one approach to helping businesses, it’s a good choice for all different types of business entities. Each of the following can benefit from working with Harbor Compliance:
- Limited Liability Corporation (LLC)
- Corporation (S-Corp/C-Corp)
- Partnerships
- Sole Proprietorship
- Non-Profits
Harbor Compliance is great with non-profit organizations. It can help establish your business from the start, guiding you through name availability, articles of incorporation, bylaws, EIM, fundraising registration, and more.
Who Is Harbor Compliance Not Good for?
Harbor Compliance has the experience and experts necessary for helping businesses of all kinds. However, their pricing structure may be a little too high for smaller entities. Unlike other services, Harbor doesn’t have any lower-tier packages at a more accessible price point and, therefore, is a more premium provider.
Rocket Lawyer: Best for legal help
While it’s certainly impressive to have helped tens of thousands of clients, Rocket Lawyer blows that number out of the water with its success servicing over 20 million people. This legal services online company offers helpful legal assistance to small businesses for an affordable price.
Rocket Lawyer professionals are experts in a wide range of legal affairs, including legal terms, state regulations, business bank accounts, and business credit cards. Their team helps you through documentation, contracts, and the overall establishments of your LLC, corporation, or non-profit.
Because this organization has been operating since 2008, it’s safe to say they’ve seen it all. Their professionals are great at making complex tasks seem simple. All you need to do is provide them with the necessary information, and they will take care of everything else.
If you want to learn more about Rocket Lawyer and its service, check out this full company review.
Who Is Rocket Lawyer Good for?
Rocket Lawyer has experience helping all kinds of different business entities, so chances are, they can help you as well. Rocket Lawyer is good for:
- Limited Liability Corporations (LLC)
- Corporations (S-Corp/C-Corp)
- Partnerships
- Sole Proprietorships
- Non-Profits
When starting a non-profit organization, Rocket Lawyer can ensure that you get advantages such as liability protection, access to grants, tax deductions, reduce rates on purchases and more.
Who Is Rocket Lawyer Not Good for?
If you’re someone who is looking to form an LLC online-only, you should probably look into another service provider. Rocket Lawyer can help you here, but you’ll find other companies who can provide more services at a cheaper price.
CorpNet: Best for simple service
CorpNet is a company that offers all the services you need to start and operate a business, and it does so under the name of transparency. This organization has guided many companies and individuals to succeed in the business world in partnership with professionals like attorneys and certified public accountants.
Between their team’s expertise and their network of professional connections, they have helped over 500,000 entrepreneurs reach their goals.
With CorpNet, you receive tons of services bundled into the cost. 18 years of experience combine to offer business incorporation, formation of LLC, filing of DBA, and even business closure.
The CorpNet story is also backed by the success of its two owners, who have a history in the business world that allows them to be subject matter experts. Read more about their history and company here.
Who Is CorpNet Good for?
Like many of the other companies on this list, CorpNet has an impressive portfolio that includes experience working with a wide range of business entities. This company is more than capable of working with any of the following:
- Limited Liability Corporations (LLC)
- Corporations (S-Corp/C-Corp)
- Partnerships
- Sole Proprietorships
- Non-Profits
CorpNet has a ton of experience securing non-profit tax exemptions and filing non-profit articles of incorporation, plus more.
Who Is CorpNet Not Good for?
CorpNet is another big-time business that may be out of reach for those who are on a strict budget. Those with low cash flow may find more success working with an alternative company that costs less.
This is especially true for experienced entrepreneurs who only need a little bit of help rather than comprehensive guidance.
MyCorporation: Best for customer service
MyCorporation is not only one of the most popular online LLC formation services, but it’s also one of the oldest. This company has been helping form LLCs since 1998, and it’s only grown and expanded its services since then.
The most popular and widely used packages offered by MyCorporation include guidance in starting a business, maintaining a business, and issues with intellectual property.
Since its conception in the 90s, My Corporation has helped over one million entrepreneurs start their business. It has secured and maintained an excellent reputation - a feat that is hard to accomplish in the online-only world.
The versatile package options are just one of the many things that makes this company great. It works for almost any budget and is ideal for both small and large entities. Read more about them here.
Who Is MyCorporation Good for?
There are so many packages and business services to choose from on MyCorporation’s site, but it’s ideal for working with the following business types:
- Limited Liability Corporations (LLCs)
- Corporations (S-Corp/C-Corp)
- Partnerships
- Non-Profits
MyCorporation offers fair pricing packages for anyone looking to file as a non-profit. Through them, you can successfully file and save on federal, state, and property taxes.
Who Is MyCorporation Not Good for?
Despite the wide range of options you can choose from, MyCorporation may not be the best out there for sole proprietorships. The website specifically lists various business types, and this type is simply not included.
Recap: Best Non-Profit Formation Services of 2021
- IncFile - Most Affordable
- LegalZoom - Best for Additional Services
- Harbor Compliance - Best Premium Service
- Rocket Lawyer - Best for Legal Help
- CorpNet - Best for Simple Service
- MyCorporation - Best Customer Service
How We Assess Non-Profit Formation Services
Every non-profit formation service on the list above passed through the same rigorous assessment by the Corp Structures team. If you’re interested to know what those standards are, continue reading below for more details.
Services Offered
Non-profit formation services, in general, all serve the same purpose: to help you as you establish your non-profit business. However, every company will have different specific services that they offer.
Here’s a quick glimpse at some of the services you may see:
- Business Formation
- Legal Affairs
- Documentation
- Accounting
- Tax Preparation
- Compliance Reports
- Licenses
- Registered Agent Services
- Ongoing Support
Some companies offer just the basics of entity formation requirements. Other companies offer additional services that you may find useful.
Document Management & Online Experience
Corp Structures also analyses the document management and online experience of each company on the list. This includes factors such as software and website navigation, user portals, and access to records, licenses, documents, etc.
It’s crucial to use a service that handles your documents well, keeps things organized, and allows you to view and access everything you need easily. A good online experience and user-friendly website is a sign of a decent company.
Processing Time
When forming a non-profit entity, you don’t want to get stuck waiting around for a response or during processing. A good company will do everything in its power to gather information and submit forms for filing as quickly as possible.
Beyond this point, it’s important to keep in mind that the actual processing time will rely on your state more than the company you’re working with. Every state is different, but a good company will move their portion of the job along within a business day or two.
Compliance
If you’re looking for a positive start to your non-profit business, you need to work with a company that has stayed out of trouble. Each company on this list was measured against strict compliance standards, meaning they stay in line with federal, state, and local regulations.
Your company’s reputation is also considered important, so a lot of negative customer reviews are an easy way to make a quick, informed decision on a service.
Customer Service
When it comes to the business world, quick responses and clear communication is the best way to get things accomplished. Top-notch customer services involve fast replies, comprehensive answers to questions, and organized lines of communication.
A good service provider won’t keep you on hold for long stretches of time. They will also have multiple ways to contact them, such as a phone number, an email, and an online live chat. To keep it simple: you should be able to solve an issue shortly after it arises.
Price & Value
Individuals looking to form a non-profit do not always have the budget required to hire an attorney to handle all of the necessary paperwork and legal filings. One of the benefits of using a non-profit formation service is the savings you can acquire in doing so.
When reviewing these services, it’s important to look at their pricing and packages to see if the cost fits your budget. It’s also essential that the value of the services matches the price you’re paying.
Each of the non-profit formation services above has been evaluated against high standards. There needs to be a careful balance in this area. A low price may look appealing, but if they’re not offering a wide range of quality services, it’s not worth it.
Likewise, a more expensive package does not always equate to a better package. Some companies charge more money but actually offer fewer services.
Filed under: Top Picks
