Page 28 - Washington Nonprofit Handbook 2018 Edition

(ii) Required Provisions

The Act requires that articles of incorporation include the provisions

described below:

y Name. The name of the corporation must be listed. See the
discussion above regarding the legal requirements of a corporate
name.

y Period of Existence. You must list the period of duration of the
corporation. The period is usually perpetual, but it may be limited to a
specific number of years.

y Purpose of Organization. You must describe the purpose or
purposes of the organization. Under the Act, a nonprofit corporation

may be organized for any lawful purpose, including, but not limited to,
charitable, benevolent, eleemosynary, educational, civic, patriotic,
political, religious, social, fraternal, literary, cultural, athletic, scientific,
agricultural, horticultural, animal husbandry, and professional,
commercial, industrial or trade purposes. The Act prohibits certain
organizations from being organized under it. These include labor
unions, cooperative organizations and organizations subject to any of
the provisions of the banking or insurance laws of Washington State.

Additionally, if you plan to seek tax-exempt status for your
organization, you must ensure that the purposes you choose are
consistent with requirements of federal tax law. A discussion of

charitable and other permissible purposes for federal tax exemption
appears in Chapter 22. If your purposes involve international
activities, it is important to review the issues discussed in
Chapters 37-44.

y Registered Agent and Office. You must give the name of the initial
registered agent and the address of the initial registered office. The
registered agent may be (i) an individual who is a Washington resident,
or (ii) a nonprofit or for-profit corporation or a limited liability
company. If the registered agent is a corporation or a limited liability
company, it must be incorporated or formed in Washington or, if
incorporated or formed in another state, it must be authorized to do
business in Washington. The business office of the registered agent is

the registered office of the nonprofit organization. It must be at a

WASHINGTON NONPROFIT HANDBOOK -17- 2018