Free Nonprofit Starter Kit
What the IRS expects of your board
Your board isn't a formality, it's the structure the IRS looks at hardest. Three things matter most:
- Size: most states require at least three directors; the IRS strongly prefers it too.
- Independence: a majority should be unrelated to you and not paid by the organization. This is the single biggest signal that decisions are made at arm's length.
- Officers: you'll fill four roles: President, Vice President, Secretary, and Treasurer. One person can hold two minor roles in a pinch, but President and Treasurer should be different people.
Does your board pass?
Do the quick math on the people you have in mind:
Board check
- You have at least three voting directors lined up.
- A majority are not related to you and not paid by the organization.
- No single family or household controls the board.
- You can fill President, VP, Secretary, and Treasurer.
- Between them, the board covers some finance, legal, and community know-how.
If the "majority independent" math doesn't work yet, that's your first job, it's the slowest-moving fix in the whole process.
Who to recruit, and the first meeting
Recruit for what you lack, not just who you know, a treasurer who reads financials, someone with legal or HR sense, and a voice from the community you serve. Then hold an organizing meeting to adopt bylaws, elect officers, and approve opening a bank account.
The board handbook, committee charters, and role-by-role playbooks are exactly what the Governance Suite and the officer modules generate for you.
Ready to set your board up properly?
The Governance Suite builds your board handbook, committee charters, and risk policies; the officer modules give each role a playbook.
See the suites →
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