How do I pay myself as the founder and coordinator of a nonprofit that I will start very soon?
Asked by zpoetress
I just want to make sure I am doing everything by the books. Help if you know anything about what I should br aware of. LevonX you do get paid, if you don't know the answer then don't respond.

Best Answer:
What type of non-profit are you starting up? I'm a co-founder and the project coordinator and Secretary myself! You put it in your budget planning. You have to have a few BOD's before one person gets salaried. I'm not sure in your state, but in mine 4 out of 10 BOD gets paid. The President, Chairmen, Secretary and Treasurer would be the first ones on the list. I don't think Jane, underneith me has ever started up a non-profit organization. It's a full time job plus some! I'm one of the co-founders of SOFTIN. There is four of us. We have each put in numerous hours just to run it, not counting all the extra stuff we do to make it a perfection. I've put in close to 900 hours in the past 4 months into SOFTIN. I'm not a millionaire. There's only two people in our organization that can do the programs legally, me and the President. Another one almost ready to be certified! The amount of runs we have, they need to be paid, or we can't do them. They are the BOD's here. They are the ones that make this possible to help the people we serve. Without the four of us with what we do, the people in need would not benefit from it. If we were millionairs and didn't have to make an income to survive and feed our own children, then yes we'd be very happy to donate our time. Volunteers only volunteer anywhere from 2 to to 10 hours a week. With the programs we have, that's not enough time. Each program is a minimum of 6 hours a day. You can't have different people popping in and switching out during these programs. It's literally impossible and if it was possible, it would be very disruptive to the people we serve and the benefit of the program would be shot! So tell me, would you put in these amount of hours to help these people in need without having an income? I have a family to feed. We can not put in a full time plus part time hours and have it run. Anyone that knows what we do, and about SOFTIN, knows not just "anyone" can volunteer. Find me a Captain through the United States Coast Guard that can volunteer without pay the amount of hours we do. No one could!

since its a non-profit, then you dont get paid!!!!
Answered by LevonX

I'm not sure what state you are in, but in SC there is a "special" non-profit agency that actually corrdinates the other non-profits in the state. (http://www.scanpo.org/index.asp) All states should have statutes that identify many of the ways in which a non-profit must operate. These statutes can be difficult to understand so I would try to find a company in your area similar to the one mentioned above. Good Luck!
Answered by smurfygrl1979

The board of directors should NOT get paid, so don't follow the other poster's advice. A nonprofit board of directors should all be volunteers, with no financial interest in an organization. In fact, they should be *donors* to the organization. They are fiscally responsible for the organization. The board of directors appoints a volunteer (unpaid) or staff person (paid) to run the organization. Many times, this is the founder of the organization. This person reports to the board, and the board has the power to fire this person. There can be no payment for any staff until your nonprofit is a recognized 501(c)(3) organization, there is a budget that the board has approved, there is money (provided by the board and other donors) to pay someone, and staff have been formally hired (signed employment contracts, for instance). The nonprofit FAQs are a good place to learn more about how to set up a nonprofit organization http://www.nonprofits.org There should be a nonprofit development center near you, if you are in a large city, that provides low-cost workshops and a free library of resources on forming a nonprofit organization. If you can't find such via the FAQs, call your local United Way to see if they know of such (or host such themselves).
Answered by Jayne says READ MORE BOOKS

In the U.S. (unlike the U.K.), the rule in all states is that a Board member (director) may also be employed or otherwise paid for services rendered to a charity, including specifically for service as a director. However, state nonprofit corporation laws often have provisions that govern how the Board considers and approves such arrangements.See, e.g., Va. Code Sec. 13.1-870 and 871: § 13.1-870. General standards of conduct for directors. A. A director shall discharge his duties as a director, including his duties as a member of a committee, in accordance with his good faith business judgment of the best interests of the corporation. B. Unless a director has knowledge or information concerning the matter in question that makes reliance unwarranted, a director is entitled to rely on information, opinions, reports or statements, including financial statements and other financial data, if prepared or presented by: 1. One or more officers or employees of the corporation whom the director believes, in good faith, to be reliable and competent in the matters presented; 2. Legal counsel, public accountants, or other persons as to matters the director believes, in good faith, are within the person's professional or expert competence; or 3. A committee of the board of directors of which the director is not a member if the director believes, in good faith, that the committee merits confidence. C. A director is not liable for any action taken as a director, or any failure to take any action, if he performed the duties of his office in compliance with this section. D. A person alleging a violation of this section has the burden of proving the violation. § 13.1-871. Director conflict of interests. A. A conflict of interests transaction is a transaction with the corporation in which a director of the corporation has an interest that precludes him from being a disinterested director. A conflict of interests transaction is not voidable by the corporation solely because of the director's interest in the transaction if any one of the following is true: 1. The material facts of the transaction and the director's interest were disclosed or known to the board of directors or a committee of the board of directors and the board of directors or committee authorized, approved or ratified the transaction; 2. The material facts of the transaction and the director's interest were disclosed to the members entitled to vote and they authorized, approved or ratified the transaction; or 3. The transaction was fair to the corporation. B. For purposes of subdivision A 1, a conflict of interests transaction is authorized, approved, or ratified if it receives the affirmative vote of a majority of the disinterested directors on the board of directors, or on the committee. A transaction shall not be authorized, approved, or ratified under this section by a single director. If a majority of the disinterested directors vote to authorize, approve or ratify the transaction, a quorum is present for the purpose of taking action under this section. The presence of, or a vote cast by, a director who is not disinterested does not affect the validity of any action taken under subdivision A 1 if the transaction is otherwise authorized, approved or ratified as provided in that subsection. C. For purposes of subdivision A 2, a conflict of interests transaction is authorized, approved, or ratified if it receives the vote of a majority of the votes entitled to be counted under this subsection. The votes controlled by a director who is not disinterested may not be counted in a vote of members to determine whether to authorize, approve, or ratify a conflict of interests transaction under subdivision A 2. The director's votes, however, may be counted in determining whether the transaction is approved under other sections of this Act. A majority of the members, whether or not present, that are entitled to be counted in a vote on the transaction under this subsection constitutes a quorum for the purpose of taking action under this section. However, the law governing your charity will be the law of the state where the charity is incorporated. So the charity should become familiar with that state's rules before approving the transaction. Related to this, if the organization does not have a conflict of interest policy, it should adopt one before approving this transaction. If the organization has no other resources, the IRS has sample conflict of interest policy that is included in the instructions to IRS Form 1023
Answered by Softin O