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Exactly what to do

  1. You'll need everything from step 1: your state, your searched name, your registered agent, and your board roster, plus a main business address (your home address is fine and can even be out of state) and the incorporator (you). With those in hand, open your state's articles of incorporation filing page below, but before you start the screens, scroll step 2.2 into view: the purpose box arrives mid-form and its exact paste-ready text is there. Then work through the screens with this guide beside you. (Fields you don’t have answers for yet, EIN, NAICS code, duration, members, all have standard answers; see the questions below.)

    Pick your home state in step 1.1 and this box fills with your state’s exact links and rules.

  2. Where the form asks for your corporation's purpose, don't improvise, and don't be fooled by how casual the field looks. Most state portals treat it as an afterthought, marking it optional or quietly filling in a default like “General,” which reads like the box is a throwaway description. It is not: whatever lands there becomes the purpose article of your articles of incorporation, the exact document the IRS examines for the 501(c)(3) organizational test. Articles that state a generic purpose pass the state and fail the IRS, and fixing it later means a paid certificate of amendment and weeks of delay on your exemption. (Putting the language in your bylaws instead doesn't work; the IRS requires it in the articles.) Paste this (it's the IRS's own suggested language with your SGO mission written in):
    PURPOSE CLAUSE: paste into the articles

    Said corporation is organized exclusively for charitable and educational purposes within the meaning of section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, or the corresponding section of any future federal tax code, including in particular the provision of scholarships to eligible elementary and secondary students as a scholarship granting organization described in section 25F of the Internal Revenue Code. Notwithstanding any other provision of these articles, the corporation shall not carry on any other activities not permitted to be carried on (a) by a corporation exempt from federal income tax under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, or the corresponding section of any future federal tax code, or (b) by a corporation, contributions to which are deductible under section 170(c)(2) of the Internal Revenue Code, or the corresponding section of any future federal tax code.

    If the purpose box is too small (some portals cap it at a few hundred characters), paste this short version in the box instead, then get the full clauses into the filing another way: an upload slot on the same screen, an “other provisions” section (where the dissolution clause below goes too), or an attachment page.

    SHORT PURPOSE: for capped boxes (284 characters)

    Organized exclusively for charitable and educational purposes under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, including providing scholarships to eligible elementary and secondary students as a scholarship granting organization described in Section 25F. See attached provisions.

    And for the upload slot itself, don’t assemble anything by hand: this generates the attachment as a PDF with your organization name already in it, carrying the complete provision set strong articles want, purpose, no-inurement and political-activity limits, a §25F compliance provision (the previewed federal framework has your state verifying that your organizing documents require §25F compliance, so putting it in the articles themselves is the strongest position), and dissolution.

    Downloads a clean PDF, exactly the document previewed below, ready for the portal's upload slot or to staple to paper articles.

    * You must add your organization name first: save it in step 1.2 above and it fills in here automatically.

    Attachment to the Articles of Incorporation
    of [ORGANIZATION NAME]

    Additional Provisions

    Purposes. Said corporation is organized exclusively for charitable and educational purposes within the meaning of section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, or the corresponding section of any future federal tax code, including in particular the provision of scholarships to eligible elementary and secondary students as a scholarship granting organization described in section 25F of the Internal Revenue Code. Notwithstanding any other provision of these articles, the corporation shall not carry on any other activities not permitted to be carried on (a) by a corporation exempt from federal income tax under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, or the corresponding section of any future federal tax code, or (b) by a corporation, contributions to which are deductible under section 170(c)(2) of the Internal Revenue Code, or the corresponding section of any future federal tax code.

    Inurement and Political Activity. No part of the net earnings of the corporation shall inure to the benefit of, or be distributable to, its members, directors, trustees, officers, or other private persons, except that the corporation shall be authorized and empowered to pay reasonable compensation for services rendered and to make payments and distributions in furtherance of the purposes set forth in these articles. No substantial part of the activities of the corporation shall be the carrying on of propaganda, or otherwise attempting to influence legislation, and the corporation shall not participate in, or intervene in (including the publishing or distribution of statements) any political campaign on behalf of or in opposition to any candidate for public office.

    Scholarship Granting Organization. For so long as the corporation operates as a scholarship granting organization described in section 25F of the Internal Revenue Code, the corporation shall be required to satisfy all requirements applicable to scholarship granting organizations under section 25F and the regulations and guidance issued thereunder, including without limitation the requirements that the corporation spend no less than ninety percent of its income on scholarships for eligible students; hold qualified contributions in one or more separate accounts, not commingled with other assets; provide scholarships to ten or more students who do not all attend the same school; not earmark or permit the earmarking of any contribution for the benefit of any particular student; give priority in awarding scholarships to students who received a scholarship from the corporation in the preceding year and then to siblings of current recipients; and verify that scholarship recipients are eligible students within the meaning of section 25F.

    Dissolution. Upon the dissolution of the corporation, assets shall be distributed for one or more exempt purposes within the meaning of section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, or the corresponding section of any future federal tax code, or shall be distributed to the federal government, or to a state or local government, for a public purpose. Any such assets not so disposed of shall be disposed of by a court of competent jurisdiction of the county in which the principal office of the corporation is then located, exclusively for such purposes or to such organization or organizations, as said court shall determine, which are organized and operated exclusively for such purposes.

    This attachment is incorporated into and made a part of the Articles of Incorporation of [ORGANIZATION NAME].

    The second clause, same idea: the dissolution clause promises that if the organization ever shuts down, assets go to charity or government, never to insiders. If the state form has an “additional provisions” or “other” box, it goes there:

    DISSOLUTION CLAUSE: paste into the articles

    Upon the dissolution of the corporation, assets shall be distributed for one or more exempt purposes within the meaning of section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, or the corresponding section of any future federal tax code, or shall be distributed to the federal government, or to a state or local government, for a public purpose. Any such assets not so disposed of shall be disposed of by a court of competent jurisdiction of the county in which the principal office of the corporation is then located, exclusively for such purposes or to such organization or organizations, as said court shall determine, which are organized and operated exclusively for such purposes.

    Some online forms ask it as a question instead, whether “the method of distributing assets” is set “in the bylaws” or “herein.” Choose herein, then use the form's add-a-provision option and paste the clause above as its own provision. Don’t punt this one to the bylaws: the IRS wants dissolution language in the articles themselves, and bylaws are the one place an examiner won’t accept it in most states.

  3. At checkout many portals offer add-on documents. You only need the one that's usually included automatically: the official stamped/authenticated formation document. Skip the optional extras (certificates of standing, certified copies, typically $25 or so each); the rare bank or out-of-state registration that wants one will say so, and you can order it that day. Expect a small card-processing fee on top of the filing fee (eCheck is usually cheaper).

    Submit the completed articles (online where your state supports it, from the same filing page above) and pay the filing fee. The state then returns your articles marked approved, with a state seal or file-stamp and a date: that marked-up document is your “stamped copy,” the legal birth certificate of your organization. Download it the moment it issues and store it in your document vault: your bank (step 7), your IRS application (step 6), and your state's SGO vetting all ask for this exact file.

    This starts your 27-month clock for the 501(c)(3) application; your dashboard computes the deadline.

    Stamped articles of incorporation

    Upload the state-approved copy and it's here whenever a later step needs it.

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What trips people up

  • Skipping the purpose/dissolution clauses because the state form didn't ask. The state will accept articles the IRS will later bounce; the state form is the floor, the IRS organizational test is the bar.
  • Naming the org something that collides with an existing SGO or a reserved word. Search the name in our directory too.

Questions people actually ask

The form asks for things we don't have yet (EIN, NAICS, members...). What do I answer?

Every one has a standard answer. EIN: leave it blank; the IRS only issues an EIN to an entity that already exists, which is why the state marks it optional. You'll get it in step 3 right after approval, so don’t stop to get one first. NAICS code (usually optional): use 813211, “Grantmaking Foundations,” the federal category covering scholarship funds. Duration: “perpetual.” Effective date: today, or the default. Members: answer no; our bylaws template is written for a board-governed, no-members structure. “Method of electing directors”: choose in the bylaws; the template covers it.

Primary sources: IRS organizational test · IRS suggested articles language