I recall hearing something about how nonprofit organizations must have by-laws. (Personally, I thought they have by-laws because it is in their best interest, but not a requirement for operation.) Maybe the legalities on this vary State by State. But, if true, do these by-laws have to be registered somewhere? Are they public information available for public review? And, if so, with what department would they typically be filed? I would assume my State’s Dept of Labor, but their website (even a website search) produced nothing. Or, does the Dept of Labor not get involved with nonprofits?
I have formed a non-profit in Georgia, and the by-laws are NOT filed (I believe even the Secretary of State’s office, in the section where you are incorporating your non-profit, specifically said don’t send them).
In my state they do need to have bylaws, but bylaws don’t get filed with the state (other forms get filed with the Secretary of State). They get filed with the IRS as part of Form 1023. And the organization has to furnish a copy of Form 1023 to anyone who asks (there are exceptions, but generally you can probably see a copy of the bylaws of a non-profit organization). cite.
There are several different kinds of nonprofit. I am on the Board of a 501(c)(3), which is a public charity. When we formed, we first filed Articles of Incorporation with the Secretary of State in our state. We also adopted by-laws, although I am not certain these were required.
Next, we filed form 1023 with the IRS in order to become exempt from federal taxes. Form 1023 requires that Articles of Incorporation and By-laws, if they exist, be attached to Form 1023, which we did. IRS rules further state that once tax exempt status has been granted, we must provide to the public a copy of our Form 1023 and all documents, including By-Laws, that were submitted with the Form 1023. To comply with this requirement, our By-Laws are up on our web site.
Every 501(c)(3) non-profit that had By-Laws at the time it applied for exemption must provide to the public the opportunity to examine the By-Laws. See page 24 (What Disclosures are Required?) here:https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p4221pc.pdf