State guide — Texas

Incorporate a nonprofit in Texas

State facts checked against Texas official sources — October 2026

Texas has the cheapest verified formation in the country — $25 — and one of the easiest traps: the state's own form instructions warn that the base certificate may not contain the provisions the IRS requires. The filing is simple. The wording is the work.

The steps

1. Choose a name and confirm it is available in Texas — and distinguishable from existing entities in the filing office's records.
2. Line up your agent: registered agent with a Texas registered office (street address); the agent must consent, though the consent is not filed.
3. Draft the articles with the 501(c)(3) clauses in them — see the language section below. This is the step that decides whether the IRS accepts your application months from now.
4. File with Secretary of State and pay the state fee. A board-managed Texas nonprofit corporation needs at least three directors; the form also supports a member-managed structure. File through SOSUpload or SOSDirect and keep the file-stamped certificate for the IRS application.
5. Get the EIN — free from the IRS once the corporation exists. The EIN guide covers the traps.
6. Run the eligibility checker and file Form 1023-EZ or Form 1023 on Pay.gov. Then handle Texas charity registration (below) before you fundraise.

The 501(c)(3) language in Texas

Form 202 does not pre-print 501(c)(3) language. Its instructions say plainly that the certificate may need provisions beyond the base form for tax-exempt purposes. Put a specific charitable purpose — never "any lawful purpose" — plus the IRS purpose limitation and the dissolution/distribution provision in Article 5 or the Supplemental Provisions. The kit's generator produces Texas-ready articles with those provisions in place.

The federal requirement underneath all of this is the organizational test: your organizing document must limit the organization to exempt purposes and permanently dedicate its assets to exempt purposes on dissolution. The IRS publishes sample wording — a purpose clause and a dissolution clause — and the kit's generator builds both into your articles automatically.

Texas traps and notes

• Never file a generic purpose. The instructions themselves flag that a purpose sufficient for Texas formation can still fail the IRS organizational test.
• Registered-agent consent is required by law — get it before filing, even though the consent document itself stays in your records.
• No general charity-registration filing — see below; Texas is one of the lightest states after formation.

After incorporation: Texas charitable solicitation registration

Status: No general registration. Regulator: — (limited categories only).

Texas does not require general charitable solicitation registration. Registration exists only for specific categories — public safety organizations, veterans organizations, and law-enforcement telephone solicitation. An ordinary Texas 501(c)(3) files no solicitation registration with the state.

The national picture — which states require registration, which don't, and the exemptions that actually apply — is in our guide to charitable solicitation registration.