State guide — Michigan

Incorporate a nonprofit in Michigan

State facts checked against Michigan official sources — October 2026

Two Michigan facts save founders real time. First, the total state cost is $20 — two $10 charges itemized on the official fee schedule. Second, corporations in Michigan are not filed with the Secretary of State at all: they go to LARA's Corporations Division. Founders who search the SOS site for a corporate form are in the wrong building.

The steps

1. Choose a name and confirm it is available in Michigan — and distinguishable from existing entities in the filing office's records.
2. Line up your agent: resident agent and registered office in Michigan — Michigan's term is 'resident agent'.
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 Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA) and pay the state fee. File Form 502 with LARA — online per the fee schedule, or by mail. Keep the filed copy 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 Michigan charity registration (below) before you fundraise.

The 501(c)(3) language in Michigan

Form 502 does not pre-print IRS language — you add it. Draft a specific exempt purpose, the purpose limitation, and the dissolution dedication into the articles. Michigan's term for the registered agent is resident agent; use it in the filing.

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.

Michigan traps and notes

• Wrong-office trap: Michigan corporate filings live at LARA/CSCL, not the Secretary of State (the SOS handles your driver's license, not your corporation).
• Quote the whole $20. Guides that say '$10' are quoting only half the schedule.

After incorporation: Michigan charitable solicitation registration

Status: Required. Regulator: Attorney General — Charitable Trust Section.

Michigan charitable organizations register with the Attorney General's Charitable Trust Section under the state's charitable solicitation law, generally before soliciting, with renewals thereafter. Some organizations are exempt or excluded — confirm with the Section.

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