Page 90 - Washington Nonprofit Handbook 2018 Edition

foreign charitable organizations, it might describe this activity in detail in its
narrative description of activities under Part IV. The organization’s responses to
Part VIII, questions 13 and 14, might then cross-reference “Attachment 1, responses
to Part IV.”

(ii) Walk Through Form 1023

Refer to the Instructions for Form 1023 for guidance in completing the
application. As noted above, the instructions, like Form 1023 itself, can be
downloaded from http://www.irs.gov by clicking on “Forms and Instructions.” This
Chapter does not provide line-by-line instructions for completing Form 1023.
Instead, below are tips intended to supplement the IRS instructions.

y Part IV. Narrative Description of Your Activities

This is the heart of the application. The narrative can make or break the
application. One approach is to start with the formula:

[Name of organization] is organized exclusively for
[religious, charitable, scientific, literary or educational
(choose one or more)] purpose(s) within the meaning of
Code section 501(c)(3). Specifically, [Name of
organization] (describe in one or two sentences what the
organization does).

In succeeding paragraphs, define the problem the organization hopes to
solve, using specific data or statistics if available. Try to cover WHO, WHAT, WHEN,
WHERE, HOW, etc. Examples:

y Who will the organization’s members, clients or patrons be? Who will
carry on the activities of the organization?

y What will the organization offer to these individuals or entities? What
will the organization charge? What will take place at a typical meeting
or event of the organization?

y When did the organization’s founders begin working to further the
organization’s purposes? When will the organization be fully
operational? When will regular meetings, events or other program
activities be held?

WASHINGTON NONPROFIT HANDBOOK -79- 2018