Starting and running a nonprofit in North Dakota

Forming your nonprofit corporation

The state creates your organization; the IRS separately recognizes it as tax-exempt. This is the state part.

Where you file

North Dakota Secretary of State, through the online FirstStop Portal. If you want articles with provisions the law doesn't require, you can submit self-drafted articles in person or by mail.

Official source · checked October 22, 2026

Form

Articles of Incorporation, under North Dakota's Nonprofit Corporations Act (NDCC ch. 10-33); you get a Certificate of Incorporation. The FirstStop Portal form has only the articles the law requires. Bylaws don't have to be filed with the Secretary of State.

Official source · checked October 22, 2026

Filing fee

$40.

Official source · checked October 22, 2026

Annual report

Every year, on or before February 1, starting the year after your organization began; you can file it in the FirstStop Portal. A nonprofit that doesn't file a past-due report within one year is involuntarily dissolved. It's separate from the charitable organization annual report.

Official source · checked October 22, 2026

Annual report fee

$10, and $5 more if you file late (NDCC §10-33-140).

Official source · checked October 22, 2026

Then get your EIN and apply to the IRS for 501(c)(3) status: the formation stage walks through both.

Registering to ask for donations

Many states want charities to register before they ask residents for money. Here's what this state says.

Do you have to register?

Yes, unless you're exempt. A charitable organization can't operate and solicit contributions until its registration is approved and on file with the Secretary of State. Register your nonprofit with the Secretary of State first, then file a Charitable Organization Registration Statement in the FirstStop Portal, with a financial report for the 12 months before you file (or a statement that the information isn't available).

Official source · checked October 22, 2026

Exempt

Not covered by the law: organizations soliciting for an institution of higher learning; organizations that use only volunteer unpaid fundraisers and solicit for a political subdivision or other government entity, or for a civic or community project where the contributions are used only for the project and none benefit any individual; private or public elementary or secondary schools; anyone soliciting for a person named at the time, if everything received goes to that person (or their parent, guardian or conservator) within a reasonable time, with no restrictions or deductions; religious organizations exempt from filing a federal annual information return under Internal Revenue Code section 6033(a)(2)(A)(i) and (iii) or 6033(a)(2)(C)(i); and candidates, political parties and committees that file with an election commission (NDCC §50-22-01).

Official source · checked October 22, 2026

Fee

$25 to register.

Official source · checked October 22, 2026

Renewal

Registration doesn't expire, but every year you file a Charitable Organization Annual Report on or before September 1 ($10), with pages 1, 9, 10 and 11 of your Form 990 or similar financial documents. If you first register in July or August, your first annual report is due September 1 of the next year. The deadline can't be extended past December 1. If you don't file, your registration becomes inactive and you can't solicit; to come back you file the annual report ($10) and a Charitable Organization Reregistration Statement ($25).

Official source · checked October 22, 2026

State tax exemption

IRS approval doesn't automatically exempt you from state taxes. Here's how this state handles them.

Income tax

Automatic. A corporation that's tax exempt for federal purposes and has no unrelated business taxable income is exempt from North Dakota corporate income tax and doesn't file a return. If it has unrelated business taxable income, it files Form 40 with its federal Form 990-T, due the 15th day of the 5th month after its tax year ends.

Official source · checked October 22, 2026

Sales tax

No general exemption: North Dakota law doesn't exempt religious, charitable or nonprofit organizations from sales tax on their purchases. Churches pay tax on purchases, except Bibles, prayer books, hymnals and religious textbooks. Exempt organizations include government entities; federally chartered corporations (such as the American National Red Cross); public and private nonprofit schools; hospitals, nursing homes and other care facilities and emergency medical providers licensed by the Department of Health and Human Services (on qualifying purchases); qualifying voluntary health organizations; and qualifying senior citizen organizations.

Official source · checked October 22, 2026

Sales tax certificate

An organization that qualifies applies to the Office of State Tax Commissioner with the Application for Sales Tax Exemption Certificate, then shows sellers its Certificate of Exempt Status. Without it, the seller must charge sales tax.

Official source · checked October 22, 2026

Your board

The smallest board the state's nonprofit law allows. Many charities choose more.

Minimum directors

Three or more, with the number set in or under your articles or bylaws. If the corporation has one or two voting members, the board can be smaller, but not smaller than the number of voting members (NDCC §10-33-28).

Official source · checked October 22, 2026

Every year

• North Dakota Secretary of State: charitable organization annual report

  Charities registered with the North Dakota Secretary of State file a charitable organization annual report by September 1 each year. This is separate from the nonprofit annual report due February 1. The filing fee is $10, and you file online through the FirstStop Portal with a financial statement for your last fiscal year. If you register in July or August, your first report is due September 1 of the next year. You can ask for an extension before the deadline, but it can't go past December 1. If you don't file, your registration goes inactive and you can't ask for donations in North Dakota until you file and re-register ($25). Confirm with the Secretary of State.

  Official source · checked October 17, 2026

• North Dakota Secretary of State: nonprofit annual report

  North Dakota nonprofit corporations and nonprofit LLCs file an annual report with the Secretary of State by February 1 each year. The fee is $10, and you file online through the FirstStop Portal. Your first report is due the year after your organization began. If a past-due report isn't filed within a year, the nonprofit is dissolved. Charities that are also registered to fundraise file a second, separate report by September 1. Confirm with the Secretary of State.

  Official source · checked October 17, 2026

Federal deadlines (the Form 990 family) depend on your fiscal year and size. The compliance calendar puts them and North Dakota's in date order.

Make my North Dakota calendar

Who to ask

We don't list a free legal help program for North Dakota charities yet. The directory has the programs we know of.