If I am doing fund-raising for a senior project, would I need to register myself as a nonprofit organization?

[chika]

For my senior project, I want to do a series of fundraising activities and maybe try to open it for both online and offline donations. I want to know if, in order to do so, I would need to register a nonprofit organization in order to avoid running into problems with the law.

[taryn31]

I would check with your instructor on this and perhaps just for the experience you can do this for a limited time. Whenever you do a charity project - understand that any monies collected on behalf of a cause - must be accounted for - or it will add to your personal income and become taxable. Best to get a separate bank account for this project so that you can prove that the funds were distributed correctly.

[doran]

I would check with your instructor on this and perhaps just for the experience you can do this for a limited time. Whenever you do a charity project - understand that any monies collected on behalf of a cause - must be accounted for - or it will add to your personal income and become taxable. Best to get a separate bank account for this project so that you can prove that the funds were distributed correctly.

No, and you wouldn't be able to.

You can't claim that donations to your projects are tax deduct able for the donors. They aren't. You could work with organizations that ARE registered charities, and maybe could collect money in their names, with donations made out to them.

[jorian23]

As long as you have the permission and express approval of a registered nonprofit organization and work within their donation and acknowledgement guidelines, you should not have any problems. If you are not fundraising for a registered nonprofit, any funds you raise are considered your taxable income (even if you don't keep it) and you should not solicit funds.

[menw]

As long as you have the permission and express approval of a registered nonprofit organization and work within their donation and acknowledgement guidelines, you should not have any problems. If you are not fundraising for a registered nonprofit, any funds you raise are considered your taxable income (even if you don't keep it) and you should not solicit funds.