In Mississippi?
See the Mississippi-specific guide — Mississippi nonprofit annual report — with the exact fees, deadlines, and official Mississippi links. (Full Mississippi playbook)
Annual obligations
These come due once a year. Miss them and you risk late fees, loss of fundraising rights, or — for repeated 990 misses — revocation of tax-exempt status.
- IRS Form 990 / 990-EZ / 990-N — due the 15th day of the 5th month after your year ends (May 15 for calendar-year orgs). See Form 990 explained.
- State charitable solicitation renewal — most states require an annual renewal to keep fundraising legally. See charitable solicitation registration.
- State corporate annual report — filed with the secretary of state to keep your nonprofit corporation active.
- Registered agent confirmation — verify your registered agent and address are current in every state where you're registered.
- Policy review — board reviews the conflict-of-interest disclosures, plus retention, whistleblower, and other key policies.
- Insurance renewal — general liability, directors & officers (D&O), and any program-specific coverage.
- Annual board meeting & budget approval — minimum required meeting, with the new budget approved and minuted.
Quarterly & ongoing obligations
If you have employees, payroll compliance runs all year. Other tasks recur quarterly or continuously.
- Payroll & employment taxes — withhold and deposit federal/state payroll taxes; file Form 941 quarterly and W-2s/1099s annually.
- Board meetings & minutes — most boards meet quarterly; record decisions, votes, and any recusals. See board governance basics.
- Financial review — reconcile accounts and review statements at every board meeting. See financial management basics.
- Restricted-fund tracking — ensure restricted gifts are spent only on their intended purpose, year-round.
- Record-keeping — apply your document-retention policy as records are created and retired.
The whole year, by frequency
| Frequency | Obligation |
|---|---|
| Annual | IRS Form 990; state charitable renewal; corporate annual report; registered-agent confirmation; budget approval; policy review; insurance renewal; W-2/1099 issuance |
| Quarterly | Board meeting + minutes; Form 941 payroll filing; financial statement review; estimated state filings (where applicable) |
| Ongoing | Payroll tax deposits; restricted-fund tracking; donor acknowledgment letters; record retention; conflict-of-interest disclosures as conflicts arise |
State-specific renewal dates and fees vary — confirm yours with the secretary of state and your state charity regulator (current as of 2026).
Fund the back office without adding to the to-do list
Filings, renewals, and insurance all cost money and staff time. Good Circles adds recurring, unrestricted income with almost no effort: supporters pick your cause once, then a share of their everyday local spending funds you automatically — about $72 per active supporter per year (≈ $36,000/year from 500 supporters), free to join. Stable income makes staying compliant far less stressful. (Good Circles is a Main Street–first marketplace launching September 2026.)
Claim a Founding Nonprofit spot →Build a compliance calendar
The whole system fails on one thing: forgetting a date. Build a single compliance calendar that lists every obligation, its deadline, and one named owner. Review it at every board meeting so oversight is documented in the minutes. A nonprofit that can hand a funder a clean, current compliance calendar looks exactly like the safe bet grantmakers want — see how to get grant-ready.
Compliance-calendar essentials
- Every filing has a deadline and a named owner
- A reminder fires 30 days before each deadline
- The board reviews the calendar each meeting
- Confirmation numbers and receipts are saved with your records
- You file something with the IRS every year — even the free 990-N
Sources & tools
Free first
- IRS — Exempt Organizations Annual Reporting Requirements — Primary IRS hub for the annual 990-series filing obligation, due dates, and automatic revocation rules that anchor any compliance checklist.
- IRS Publication 4221-PC — Compliance Guide for 501(c)(3) Public Charities — Official IRS booklet covering recordkeeping, required filings, reportable changes, and public-disclosure duties for ongoing federal compliance.
- National Council of Nonprofits — State Filing Requirements for Nonprofits — Plain-language overview of the recurring state corporate, charitable, and tax filings that belong on an annual compliance calendar.
- IRS — Charities and Nonprofits: Life Cycle of a Public Charity — IRS roadmap of required and ongoing compliance actions from formation through annual filings, with links to the underlying forms.
- IRS — Tax Calendar / Exempt Organization Due Dates — Authoritative source for the 15th-day-of-the-5th-month 990 deadline and extension rules used to build deadline reminders.
Paid — optional labor-savers
- Harbor Compliance — Managed Annual Report & Charitable Registration Service — Outsourced filing of multistate corporate annual reports and charitable renewals with a tracked compliance calendar. Worth it when You solicit or operate in multiple states and want a vendor to track and submit recurring filings so nothing lapses.
- QuickBooks Online (Nonprofit) — Fund-aware bookkeeping that produces the financial statements and figures needed for the annual 990 and board reporting. Worth it when Spreadsheets no longer cleanly map to 990 functional-expense reporting and you want audit-ready books.
Last verified 2026-06-16. Figures and rules change — verify at the source before you act.
FAQ
What does a nonprofit have to file every year?
At minimum: an IRS Form 990 (or 990-N/990-EZ), a state corporate annual report and registered-agent confirmation, and — in most states — a charitable solicitation renewal. Add payroll and employment-tax filings if you have staff, plus board meetings, policy reviews, and insurance renewals.
What happens if a nonprofit misses a compliance deadline?
Consequences range from late fees to administrative dissolution by the state, or — for three consecutive missed 990s — automatic revocation of federal tax-exempt status. Most penalties are avoidable with a simple compliance calendar listing every deadline and owner.
Who is responsible for nonprofit compliance?
The board holds ultimate fiduciary responsibility, but day-to-day filing usually falls to the executive director or finance staff. The board's job is oversight: confirming each year that the 990 is filed, registrations are renewed, and policies are reviewed.