Charity website?

Question

I just made a website. It is a .org website....We made it a charity...or foundation....but...Do you have to register this with someone?I'm trying to add a "donate now" button on the site...but it's asking for a number or something?Since my site will be or is a charity site,do I have to have some type of licensing or number...any legal documents saying that this is a legal site?.....?

Answer 1

If you aren't registered with the government as a charity, then this is NOT a charity site -- it's a scam.

Your organization *must* be registered with the government. In the USA, you must be registered as a 501(c)(3). In any country, you need to have a list of your board of directors, a budget of planned income and expenditures for the coming year, a record of any in come and expenditures to date, and have filed all the necessary paperwork.

If you haven't done this and you are soliciting donations already, expect a very ugly visit from law enforcement officials as soon as you are found out.

Answer 2

Yes. You cannot just "make a charity". If you want to be eligible for tax-deductible donations, you must register with the IRS as a 501(C)3 non-profit. They then give you the number to use as identification so that donors to your organization can take a deduction on their income taxes. You will need to get a lawyer who specializes in non-profits or hire an organizations that does this kind of work to draw up the paperwork.