Entity setup
What we deliver
Strong foundations
If you’re looking to establish an entity for your high-impact project, you’re in the right place. Our consultation includes:
- Legal structure
- Jurisdiction
- Incorporation process
- Board of directors
- Tax exemption
- Reporting
- Compliance
- Key risks
You tell us your goals, funding arrangements, and plans for growth. And we’ll help you determine the suitable entity structure and next steps.
Ready, setup, go
Once you’ve determined a suitable entity structure, it’s time to register. We work with partners to incorporate your organization, obtain your tax number, and establish tax exemption where necessary.
Then, we provide hands-on support to establish operational infrastructure, compliant systems, and robust governance. We help you:
- Smoothly exit your fiscal sponsorship
- Obtain business insurance
- Open a business bank account
- Set up expense management and HR systems
- Implement staff policies and benefits
- Obtain a visa sponsorship licence
And you’re off to a flying start.
How it works
1. Kick-off
We meet to understand your goals, funding arrangements, growth plans, and any other agreements or considerations that might inform the appropriate entity structure.
2. Bespoke checklist
We develop a checklist of the tasks involved, including any project-specific requirements — like grantmaking or visa sponsorship. This acts as a shared project tracker and identifies the responsible party for each task, so nothing gets missed.
3. Register & build
We register the entity, set up your bank account, and work through the checklist as both project manager and task assignee. By the end of the project, you’ll have a new entity — with the required infrastructure to operate efficiently and effectively.
Case studies
BlueDot Impact faced the challenge of “spinning out” from its fiscal sponsor. We helped them navigate the process by registering a company limited by guarantee and setting up core infrastructure including an accounting system. We also helped them obtain a 501(c)(3) equivalency determination — so they can receive tax-deductible donations from US grantmakers. This gave BlueDot Impact more autonomy and flexibility in pursuing its mission.
The support and momentum from the Impact Ops team has been really helpful in accelerating our journey towards being an independent legal entity! From developing the initial plan of action to rapidly and cost-effectively implementing it, Impact Ops’ support has helped me free up a lot of headspace and given me ease that things are being done properly.
Longview Philanthropy faced the challenge of “spinning out” from its fiscal sponsor. We scoped and recommended an HR platform and expense management system for both its UK and US entities. We also recommended staff benefits packages for its US entity, which faced several challenges when getting quotes — including its relatively low headcount, remote workforce, and lack of independent financial statements. This support allowed Longview Philanthropy to focus its in-house operational resources towards more mission-relevant areas, like grantmaking and events.
The support Impact Ops has provided has been seamless and incredibly helpful.
Condor faced the challenge of “spinning out” from its fiscal sponsor. We helped them navigate the process by registering a 501(c)(3) in the US. We then put the new entity through an expenditure responsibility procedure and set up a US bank account. This allowed the Condor team to receive a grant from a key donor through this new entity — all within 2 months of them engaging us for support. We set up an employer of record (EOR) to employ staff based outside the US and, finally, initiated a risk assessment to help the team identify and mitigate key risks associated with their new structure.
The setting up of the nonprofit in the US, creation of means for us to receive the funds that allowed the Camp to happen, as well as financial support we have received were excellent and priceless. The transparency, timeliness, and outstanding efficiency to which things get solved with Impact Ops is amazing.
As a Swedish foundation, Impact Academy faced the challenge of hiring employees in the UK. We helped them overcome this challenge by registering a new UK entity, opening a bank account, setting up an HR platform, and recommending and implementing insurance schemes. This allowed Impact Academy to hire UK staff and get them on payroll.
It is a delight to interact with you and I think you make it easy for us to be transparent with where we are lacking, while you still seem professional and keep us to high standards.
We helped Arcadia Impact successfully register an entity in the UK.
As a small team, we have benefitted massively from getting advice and support on charity registration and other operations tasks.
Related resources
Due diligence
We assess risks associated with individuals and organizations you intend to partner with, like donors or grantees.
Learn about our due diligence service →
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Interested in maximizing your project’s potential?
We’re on a mission to empower high-impact projects to scale and flourish. We do this by delivering specialist operations services in areas where we have deep experience, including finance, recruitment, and entity setup.
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