Start a nonprofit · Tennessee
How to Start a Nonprofit in Tennessee
Tennessee creates a nonprofit corporation with a charter filed on Form SS-4418 for $100. The charity side is a separate filing: a charity soliciting in Tennessee registers with the Secretary of State's Charities office, pays $50 at first, and pays nothing if it received under $50,000 in gross contributions from the public. The charter does not require you to list directors.
Every fee and rule on this page was checked against the agency's own publication on November 8, 2026. Sources are linked under each item.
At a glance
The Tennessee requirements in one table.
| Type of entity | A Tennessee nonprofit corporation under the Tennessee Nonprofit Corporation Act, created by filing a Nonprofit Corporation Charter (Form SS-4418) with the Secretary of State's Business Services Division. Sources: Form SS-4418 |
|---|---|
| State filing fee | $100 for the charter, per the form's instructions. Name consent adds $20 if the name is not distinguishable from an existing business name. The instruction sheet is the 07/14 revision, so confirm the fee when you file. Sources: Form SS-4418 |
| Registered agent | A name and a Tennessee street address with county. A post office box is not acceptable. Sources: Form SS-4418 |
| Directors | Not a required field on the charter. Initial directors may be listed under Other Provisions, which is optional. Sources: Form SS-4418 |
| Federal exemption | Form 1023 ($600) or Form 1023-EZ ($275), filed electronically on Pay.gov. Sources: IRS fee page, IRS e-filing notice |
| Charity registration | Filed online through TNCaB. The initial registration fee is $50. Organizations that received under $50,000 in gross contributions from the public may qualify for a fee exemption. Sources: Charity initial registration, Charity exemption guide |
| Annual report | Due on or before the first day of the fourth month after the fiscal year closes. Sources: Annual report page |
The steps
Four steps, in the order they happen.
Decide the charter's benefit and member choices.
The charter has checkboxes for whether the corporation is a public benefit or mutual benefit corporation, whether it is religious or not religious, and whether it has members. It also asks for the month the fiscal year closes, which defaults to December if you leave it blank. That month sets the annual report due date, so choose it deliberately.
The charter requires provisions for distributing assets on dissolution. The corporation's duration is perpetual unless you state an end date.
Sources: Form SS-4418
File Form SS-4418 and pay $100.
The charter asks for the name, the registered agent and registered office with a Tennessee street address and county, the principal office, the name and address of each incorporator, and a signature by one of the incorporators. Directors are not required on the form. A missing signature or printed name causes rejection, and the instructions warn that inaccurate, incomplete or illegible forms are rejected.
The fee is $100, plus $20 if you request name consent for a name that is not distinguishable from an existing one. You can e-file, print and mail, submit on paper, or walk in at the Nashville office. Online card payments carry a convenience fee, and the print and mail option has no added cost. An effective date can be delayed up to 90 days after filing.
Sources: Form SS-4418
Apply to the IRS for 501(c)(3) status.
Forming a Tennessee corporation does not make it tax-exempt. The federal application is Form 1023, with a $600 user fee, or the shorter Form 1023-EZ, with a $275 user fee, for smaller organizations that pass the eligibility worksheet in the form instructions. Both are filed electronically on Pay.gov, and the IRS returns paper applications. The IRS notes that the amounts can change.
The IRS answers with a determination letter, the written ruling that recognizes the exemption.
Sources: IRS fee page, IRS e-filing notice
Register as a charity through TNCaB.
The initial registration is filed online through TNCaB and signed by two authorized officers, one of whom is the Chief Fiscal Officer. The fee is $50, due with the application, payable online by credit card or e-check, or by check to the Tennessee Secretary of State. Attach your governing documents, including the articles and bylaws, and the IRS determination letter or a record of your application for exemption, if applicable.
If the organization has completed an accounting year, attach its IRS Form 990, 990-EZ or 990-N if it must file one, or a Summary of Financial Activities if it does not file a 990. An audited financial statement is required if gross revenue exceeds one million dollars, excluding government agency grants and 501(c)(3) private foundation grants.
Sources: Charity initial registration
The $50,000 charity exemption
When the registration fee does not apply.
Tennessee's exemption is from the fee and from the full filing, and the organization uses the same online form either way. The system decides whether you qualify from your answers.
Under $50,000 in gross public contributions.
A charity that does not raise or receive gross contributions from the public above $50,000 in a fiscal year can request an exemption under T.C.A. 48-101-502(a)(2). No filing fee is charged if you qualify. The initial registration guide says organizations that received less than $50,000 may qualify for a fee exemption.
Sources: Charity exemption guide, Charity initial registration
Renewal fee, $0 to $50,000.
$0. Organizations receiving less than $50,000 in gross public contributions are exempt from the filing fee.
Sources: Charity renewal guide
Renewal fee, $100,000 and up.
Higher tiers exist, but the page content did not include the amounts. Check the Secretary of State's renewal guide.
Sources: Charity renewal guide
After you form
Staying in good standing.
Two things recur: the corporate annual report and the charity renewal.
File the annual report by the first day of the fourth month after the fiscal year closes.
Reports can be submitted from the first day of the fiscal year-end month of record through the due date, and not before the submission period opens. Delinquent reports can be submitted within four months after the due date. Changing the registered agent or registered office carries a $20 fee.
Sources: Annual report page
Renew the charity registration on time.
Applications received after the renewal date are assessed a $10 late fee for each month or portion of a month that the filing is late, under T.C.A. 48-101-506. Incomplete applications are not approved.
Sources: Charity renewal guide
Common questions
Quick answers.
How much does it cost to start a nonprofit in Tennessee?
The charter fee is $100 per the Secretary of State's Form SS-4418 instructions, plus the IRS user fee, which is $275 for Form 1023-EZ or $600 for Form 1023. That totals $375 or $700 as of the date this page was verified. Charity registration adds $50 unless the organization qualifies for the exemption.
Do I have to list directors in the Tennessee charter?
No. Directors are not a required field. The form allows initial directors to be listed under Other Provisions, which is optional.
Do I have to register as a charity in Tennessee?
A charity soliciting in Tennessee registers online through TNCaB. An organization that does not raise or receive more than $50,000 in gross contributions from the public in a fiscal year can qualify for an exemption and pay no filing fee.
When is the Tennessee nonprofit annual report due?
On or before the first day of the fourth month after the fiscal year closes. The charter sets the fiscal year close month, which defaults to December.
After the filing
What comes next for a Tennessee nonprofit.
The state filing is the short part. These are the next four jobs, and the book that handles each.
- Book I
Get the federal application and first-year budget right
The name, bylaws, the IRS application, a founding board and a first-year budget that balances.
- Book X
Start from finished documents
Forty annotated documents, including bylaws, budgets, policies, job descriptions and board papers, as editable Word files.
- Book VII
Build the board on purpose
What a board is for, recruiting for the skills you lack, working with the chair and running meetings that reach decisions.
- Book VIII
Stay in good standing
Charitable solicitation registration, operating in a second state, insurance and annual filings.
The complete set
All ten books and forty documents, $149.
All ten books in PDF and EPUB, plus the forty documents from Book X as editable Word files. The books are not sold separately.
Free when you join the list
Every Document a New Nonprofit Needs
Articles, bylaws, minutes, the exemption application, the policies and the filings: the whole sequence a new organization has to produce, in the order it arrives.
Sources
Where each figure comes from.
- Tennessee Secretary of State, Nonprofit Corporation Charter (Form SS-4418)
- Tennessee Secretary of State, Charitable Organization Initial Registration Guide
- Tennessee Secretary of State, Charitable Organization Exemption Request Guide
- Tennessee Secretary of State, Charitable Organization Renewal Registration Guide
- Tennessee Secretary of State, Annual Report Instructions, Nonprofit Corporation
- IRS, Form 1023 and 1023-EZ: amount of user fee
- IRS, Changes to the exempt organization determinations process
Last verified November 8, 2026. Fees and rules change, so confirm with the agency before you file. This page is general information and not legal or tax advice.