Starting a nonprofit is overwhelming. We make it simple. Florida is one of the more straightforward states to incorporate in — $70 all in, filed online through Sunbiz — but it has two steps founders routinely miss: a charitable solicitation registration that must be approved before you fundraise, and a character limit on the online form that quietly blocks the IRS language you need.
Here is the whole process in the order a Florida founder should do it.
What this guide covers
- The Florida steps at a glance
- Step 1: Name your Florida nonprofit
- Step 2: Directors, officers and your registered agent
- Step 3: File your Articles of Incorporation
- Step 4: Bylaws, policies and your first board meeting
- Step 5: Get your EIN
- Step 6: Apply for 501(c)(3) status
- Step 7: Register with FDACS before you fundraise
- Florida income tax, sales tax and property tax
- Florida fees at a glance
- How long the whole thing takes
- Staying compliant after approval
- Six mistakes Florida founders make
The Florida steps at a glance
- Check your name on Sunbiz and confirm it carries an acceptable corporate identifier.
- Appoint a registered agent with a physical Florida street address who signs the Articles.
- File Articles of Incorporation with the Division of Corporations, including the IRS purpose and dissolution language.
- Adopt bylaws and a conflict-of-interest policy and hold your organizational meeting.
- Get your federal EIN.
- Apply for 501(c)(3) status on IRS Form 1023-EZ or the full Form 1023.
- Register with FDACS under the Solicitation of Contributions Act, and wait for approval before soliciting.
- Apply for the sales tax exemption (Form DR-5) and, if you own property, the county property tax exemption.
Step 1: Name your Florida nonprofit
Two rules matter. First, the name has to be distinguishable from other entities on the Division of Corporations' records. Second — and this trips people up — a Florida nonprofit name must contain a corporate identifier: "Corporation", "Incorporated", "Corp." or "Inc." "Company" or "Co." on its own is not accepted for a nonprofit filing.
Search free at search.sunbiz.org. An accepted filing is not a trademark clearance; you carry the infringement risk yourself, so run a separate trademark check if the name matters to you. Name reservation by letter to the Division is available and holds a name for 120 days — confirm the current fee on Sunbiz, since it is a rarely used filing.
Step 2: Directors, officers and your registered agent
Directors. Florida's Nonprofit Corporation Act was rewritten effective 1 July 2026, and the general minimum board size changed. For an organization seeking 501(c)(3) status, the number to plan for is three. Directors must be individuals, not entities, and there is no Florida residency requirement. If you are filing close to a statutory change, confirm the current minimum on Sunbiz before you file.
Officers. Florida does not mandate specific titles. One officer must be responsible for preparing minutes and authenticating records, and one person may hold several offices at once.
Registered agent. Required, and this is where Florida rejects filings. The agent must be an individual Florida resident or an entity authorized to do business in Florida, and must have a physical Florida street address — a P.O. Box is not acceptable. The agent has to sign the Articles accepting the designation. An officer or director can serve; the corporation cannot be its own agent.
Step 3: File your Articles of Incorporation
Sunbiz charges the filing as separate line items, which is why quoted Florida costs vary:
| Line item | Fee |
|---|---|
| Articles of Incorporation filing fee | $35.00 |
| Registered agent designation fee | $35.00 |
| Required total | $70.00 |
| Certified copy (optional) | $8.75 |
| Certificate of status (optional) | $8.75 |
Online filings take a card and confirm by email; mailed filings need a check and confirm by post. Florida does not offer paid expedited processing, so a mailed filing simply takes longer — online submissions typically clear in around a week, mail in roughly three to four weeks including transit. Check Sunbiz's current processing notice before you plan around a date.
The 240-character trap. Sunbiz's online form limits the purpose statement to 240 characters. The IRS purpose and dissolution language you need for 501(c)(3) recognition is longer than that. Founders discover this halfway through the online filing and either truncate the language — which breaks the IRS organizational test — or have to switch to a paper filing. Plan for it before you start.
Your Articles need two things Florida does not require but the IRS does: a purpose clause limiting the corporation to exempt purposes under section 501(c)(3), and a dissolution clause sending remaining assets to another 501(c)(3) or to a government body for a public purpose. Sunbiz will accept Articles without them. The IRS will not.
Step 4: Bylaws, policies and your first board meeting
Bylaws are not filed with Florida, but Form 1023 asks for them. Adopt a conflict-of-interest policy at the same time — the IRS asks directly whether you have one and publishes a sample.
Hold an organizational meeting to adopt both, elect officers, set the fiscal year, and authorize the EIN application and bank account. Florida law requires the corporation to keep minutes of directors' and members' meetings, proper accounting records, and a record of members at its principal office. Our bylaws guide covers what belongs in them.
Step 5: Get your EIN
Free and immediate at IRS.gov once your Articles are approved. Florida has no separate state employer ID requirement for basic nonprofit formation. See our EIN guide.
Step 6: Apply for 501(c)(3) status
The federal step is identical in every state. Most small Florida nonprofits qualify for Form 1023-EZ ($275 user fee); larger or more complex organizations file the full Form 1023 ($600). The IRS issues 80% of 1023-EZ determinations within 22 days and 80% of full Form 1023 determinations within 191 days.
Read our Form 1023 vs 1023-EZ guide before choosing, and our approval timeline guide for the current IRS figures.
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Our 501(c)(3) filing service prepares your IRS Form 1023-EZ with the exact language the IRS expects, reviews every answer, and walks you through filing, for a flat $1,499 with a 100% approval record.
Explore 501(c)(3) Filing →Step 7: Register with FDACS before you fundraise
Florida's Solicitation of Contributions Act is administered by the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, and it is stricter than most founders expect. The statute says an organization may not solicit contributions before approval of its registration statement. Filing the application is not enough — launching a crowdfunding page the week you incorporate is the classic Florida mistake.
Registration is Form FDACS-10100, with a fee based on contributions received in the prior fiscal year:
| Contributions received | Registration fee |
|---|---|
| Less than $5,000 | $10 |
| $5,000 to $99,999 | $75 |
| $100,000 to $199,999 | $125 |
| $200,000 to $499,999 | $200 |
| $500,000 to $999,999 | $300 |
| $1,000,000 to $9,999,999 | $350 |
| $10,000,000 or more | $400 |
Renewal is annual, on the anniversary of the date FDACS approved your initial registration — not a fixed calendar date — and can be filed up to 60 days early. Late renewals carry $25 for each month or part of a month late, and the registration expires automatically if you do not renew.
The small-organization exemption. Organizations receiving less than $50,000 in annual contributions, whose fundraising is done entirely by unpaid volunteers, members and officers, with nothing benefiting any officer, member or professional fundraiser, may claim exemption. It is not automatic — you file the small charitable organization application with FDACS each year to claim it. Other exemptions cover solicitations for a named individual beneficiary, membership-only solicitation, and federally chartered veterans' organizations.
Organizations above $500,000 in annual contributions need CPA-reviewed or audited financial statements; above $1,000,000, audited.
Florida income tax, sales tax and property tax
State corporate income tax. Florida requires no separate application — your federal 501(c)(3) determination controls. You file Form F-1120 only if you have unrelated business taxable income or file a federal Form 990-T. No unrelated business income, generally no Florida return.
Sales tax. Florida does grant nonprofits a real exemption, which is more than many states offer. Apply on Form DR-5 and the Department of Revenue issues a Form DR-14 Consumer's Certificate of Exemption, valid for five years. Renewal is now largely automatic for in-state nonprofits — the Department reviews public data roughly 60 days before expiry — but confirm the current process with the Department when your certificate nears its date. Qualifying categories include 501(c)(3) charities, religious institutions, schools, PTOs, veterans' organizations and volunteer fire departments.
Property tax. Filed with the county Property Appraiser, not a state agency, generally on Form DR-504 for charitable, religious, scientific and literary organizations. The original application is due on or before 1 March of the tax year, and the organization must hold title and use the property for an exempt purpose as of 1 January. Portals and supplementary requirements vary by county.
Florida fees at a glance
| What | Cost |
|---|---|
| Articles of Incorporation | $35 |
| Registered agent designation | $35 |
| Certified copy / certificate of status (optional) | $8.75 each |
| EIN | $0 |
| IRS Form 1023-EZ user fee | $275 |
| IRS Form 1023 user fee | $600 |
| FDACS charitable registration | $10 to $400, by contributions |
| DR-5 sales tax exemption | No fee identified |
| Annual report to Sunbiz | $61.25, due 1 May |
An all-volunteer Florida start-up filing the 1023-EZ typically spends around $355 to get to a determination letter. Compare against our 50-state registration fee guide.
A note on accuracy
State requirements and fees change over time. Use this as a roadmap, then verify current forms and amounts with Florida's official agencies, or let us confirm them with you on a free call.
How long the whole thing takes
| Stage | Realistic range |
|---|---|
| Name search | Same day |
| Sunbiz processing, online | Around a week |
| Sunbiz processing, by mail | Roughly three to four weeks including transit |
| EIN | Same day, online |
| Bylaws, policies, organizational meeting | One to two weeks |
| IRS determination, Form 1023-EZ | 80% within 22 days |
| IRS determination, full Form 1023 | 80% within 191 days |
| FDACS registration approval | Must be approved before you solicit |
Two to four weeks gets you a filed, EIN-holding Florida nonprofit. The determination letter then takes three weeks to about seven months depending on which IRS form you file.
Staying compliant after approval
- Florida annual report. Due 1 May every year, $61.25 for a nonprofit corporation. Here is a genuinely useful quirk: nonprofit corporations are exempt from Florida's $400 late fee that hits for-profits, LLCs and partnerships. That does not make it optional — entities that have not filed by the third Friday in September are administratively dissolved at the close of business on the fourth Friday in September.
- FDACS renewal annually on your approval anniversary, with a $25-per-month late fee.
- Sales tax certificate every five years.
- Federal Form 990. 990-N if gross receipts are normally $50,000 or less, otherwise 990-EZ or the full 990, due the 15th day of the fifth month after your fiscal year ends. Three consecutive missed years means automatic revocation. See our Form 990 guide.
Six mistakes Florida founders make
- Filing Articles Sunbiz accepts but the IRS rejects. Sunbiz does not check for 501(c)(3) compliance. Missing purpose and dissolution clauses means an Articles of Amendment filing later, with its own fee and delay.
- Hitting the 240-character purpose limit online and truncating the IRS language rather than switching to a paper filing.
- Using a P.O. Box or an out-of-state address for the registered agent. Automatic rejection.
- Soliciting after filing but before FDACS approves. The statute bars solicitation until the registration statement is approved — a GoFundMe launched the week you incorporate is a violation.
- Assuming three directors is now optional. The July 2026 rewrite changed the general minimum, and coverage of it has been widely misread. Plan for three if you want 501(c)(3) status.
- Missing the 1 March county property tax deadline in your first year. It is tied to the tax year, not to when you formed, so a late application means paying for a full year.
Starting a nonprofit in another state?
The federal steps are the same in all 50 states; only the state incorporation, tax exemption, and charitable registration details differ. See our guides for Georgia, Texas, North Carolina, or browse all our guides. Book a free call and we will map the exact steps and current fees for your state.
This is general information, not legal or tax advice. Rules and fees change, so confirm current requirements with Florida's agencies and the IRS, or with a qualified professional, before you file.