You absolutely can call, email, or complete the Contact Form to schedule a consultation. We charge a fair but firm $50-$75 Consultation Fee.

No. In most cases, grant preparation costs or fees cannot be paid from a grant, unless such costs are included as eligible cost items in the RFP budget instructions and your budget request. Thus, proposing to trade grant writing services for a percentage of grant funds is generally unethical and/or illegal. Grant preparation costs and fees are usually paid from other agency resources, such as individual donations, reserves, indirect cost recovery, etc.

No. In the grant writing business, there are no guarantees. We can guarantee to meet deadlines and submit a professional well-written document.

The average processing time for Form 1023-EZ is about 2-4 weeks. By contrast, Form 1023 can take between 3 and 6 months for processing, and it could take up to a year.

To apply for recognition by the IRS of exempt status under section 501(c)(3) of the Code, the application must be submitted electronically and include the appropriate user fee.

This is a common misconception. In fact, the IRS does NOT issue a special number to recognized charities. The ID numbers the IRS uses for charities and other tax exempt organizations are the same as the numbers the IRS uses for taxable corporations, etc – the Federal ID number.  This number is known by several different names – TIN, EIN, FEIN (short for taxpayer ID number, employer ID number, or Federal Employer ID number).

When the IRS recognizes tax exempt status, it is specifically for a named entity – usually a corporation, sometimes a trust or association. If the corporation does not exist yet, it cannot submit a 501(c)(3) application. You need to incorporate first.

When you file a 501(c)(3) application, you are actually asking the IRS to decide not only whether your group qualifies under 501(c)(3), but also whether or not it is publicly supported. The first sentence of your letter from the IRS probably says, “Based on information you supplied…we have determined you are exempt…as an organization described in section 501(c)(3).” So you can say that your group is a 501(c)(3). 509(a)(1) is sort of like a subcategory of 501(c)(3). If your letter says 509(a)(1)/170(b)(1)(A)(vi), it means your group is (or is expected to be) publicly supported because at least one third of its support is (will be) from gifts, grants and contributions from the general public.

The IRS does not “replace” determination letters. You can, however, ask for a letter confirming that their records show that your organization is tax exempt. Send your request, signed by a board member or officer, to: Internal Revenue Service Attn: Exempt Organizations P. O. Box 192 Covington, Kentucky 41012-0192.

Using IRS Fill-in Forms:

Caution, newer IRS forms may work differently… I encourage you to type your application. A handwritten application is almost always harder for the IRS agent to read, and therefore does have a slight disadvantage. In addition, the application will represent your organization to the world for years to come. Once the IRS has approved your 501(c)(3) status, your organization is required to make a copy of the application available to anyone who asks. Watchdog groups currently publish the annual IRS returns of 501(c)(3) organizations on the Internet; they may decide to post applications as well some day.

A little time invested now can give you the advantage of a good “first impression” for years to come. To type your application using the IRS Fill-In Forms: 1. If the links to Forms shown below do not work, go to the IRS website (www.irs.gov) and click on “Forms and Publications” just above the word “Contents.” Scroll down to “Fill-in Forms.” In the selection box, scroll down until you find the form you need. Highlight the form or forms you want, and then click on “Review Selected Form.” On the page that comes up, click again on the form you want, and wait for the pdf file to load. (You must have Adobe Acrobat Reader, which is free, on your hard drive.

The IRS website has instructions on how to download this if you need it.) 2. The Form 1023 file that comes up includes an image of every page of the Form 1023. You will not need them all. 3. Make sure you have selected the “hand tool,” and go to the area of the form where you want to make an entry. Click to change the hand tool into a blinking cursor. (You may need to experiment, moving the hand tool around a bit, to get this change.) 4. Begin typing. As far as I can tell, you cannot change the font, size, or color if you are using the free version of Adobe Acrobat. The IRS website has links to Fill-in Form Instructions, and Fill-in Forms Tech Support. CAUTION! Depending on the version of Adobe you are using, you may not be able to save your work.