How to start a nonprofit in Connecticut

How to start a nonprofit in Connecticut, step by step

1. Name your Connecticut nonprofit

   Connecticut requires a designator: the name must contain corporation, incorporated or company, or the abbreviation corp., inc. or co. A reservation costs $60, which is more than incorporating.

2. Choose your first board of directors

   Plan on at least three people who are not related to each other. Some states allow fewer on paper, but three unrelated directors is what the IRS application works best with, and what funders expect. Pick people who will actually show up.

3. File your Certificate of Incorporation (nonstock)

   File the nonstock Certificate of Incorporation through Business.CT.gov for $50. Then file the Organization and First Report, a separate mandatory filing, for another $50. The real cost of getting organized is $100, and the second filing is the one people forget. Expedited service is $50 per transaction and is available only online, which the state notes is usually unnecessary because online filings are accepted automatically.

4. Name your registered agent

   Connecticut requires a registered agent: a Connecticut resident, or a Connecticut or registered foreign entity. Addresses must include a street number and name; a post office box is acceptable only as additional information, not as the required address.

5. Adopt bylaws and hold your first board meeting

   Bylaws are your internal rulebook: how directors are chosen, how votes work, what officers you have. At the first meeting the board adopts them, elects officers, and approves opening a bank account. Keep minutes; they are your first governance record.

6. Get your free EIN

   It is free from the IRS; any site charging for an EIN is reselling a free thing. Apply online if your responsible party has an SSN or ITIN and your principal place of business is in the US. It takes minutes. Three limits to know: one EIN per responsible party per day, the tool is not open around the clock, and it times out after 15 minutes with nothing saved. Without an SSN or ITIN you file Form SS-4 by fax or mail instead, which takes weeks. You need the EIN for the bank account and every filing after this.

7. Apply for 501(c)(3) status with the IRS

   Two forms, two fees. The short Form 1023-EZ has a $275 user fee, but you may use it only if you clear the whole Eligibility Worksheet. That means three things. Gross receipts did not exceed $50,000 in any of the past three years. They are not projected to exceed $50,000 in any of the next three years. And total assets are $250,000 or less. Churches, schools, hospitals and a few other types cannot use it at all. Everyone else files the full Form 1023, $600. This is the step that makes donations tax-deductible. The IRS currently issues 80 percent of 1023-EZ decisions within about 22 days and 80 percent of full 1023 decisions within about 191 days. It publishes current figures on its status page. Fees read 1 September 2026.

8. Handle Connecticut taxes

   For the corporation business tax, send a copy of your IRS determination letter to the Department of Revenue Services registration section; there is no numbered form. For sales tax there is nothing to apply for, which confuses everyone: Connecticut stopped issuing exemption permits and now accepts a copy of the federal determination letter as proof. You claim the exemption transaction by transaction, completing CERT-119 and giving it to the retailer with your determination letter attached. There is no E-number to hunt for.

9. Register to fundraise

   Register with the Department of Consumer Protection's Public Charities Unit through eLicense before soliciting, using the initial FR form (1-S). The fee is $50, and $50 annually. Renewal is due eleven months after your fiscal year end, not twelve, which is the deadline most organizations miss. Organizations that normally receive less than $50,000 in contributions a year and compensate nobody primarily to conduct solicitations may file Form CPC-54 claiming exemption, at no cost, though going over the limit two years out of three ends it. Gross revenue between $500,000 and $1 million requires an audit or review report; above $1 million, an audit.

10. Stay in good standing

    File the annual report with the Secretary of the State, $50, due by the last day of your anniversary month, and you may file up to one month early. Keep it separate in your head from the DCP charity renewal, which runs on a different clock entirely.

Connecticut-specific things to know

1. Two filings to get organized, not one

   The Certificate of Incorporation is $50 and the Organization and First Report is another $50. Budget $100 and diarize the second one; it is a separate filing with its own fee.

2. Eleven months, not twelve

   Charity registration renews eleven months after fiscal year end. It is not a calendar date and it is not an anniversary, which is exactly why it slips.

3. There is no exemption number to find

   Connecticut has not issued sales tax exemption permits since 1995. You complete CERT-119 for each vendor and attach your IRS determination letter. Founders spend weeks looking for a number that does not exist.

General information for people starting a nonprofit in Connecticut, not legal or tax advice. Rules change and fees are updated; confirm specifics with the Connecticut offices named on this page, the IRS, or a qualified professional before you file.

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Sources: Connecticut nonstock corporation forms and fees; Connecticut DCP charities FAQ; Connecticut DRS tax exemption programs; Connecticut expedited services. Read 1 September 2026.