Checklist for Nonprofit Corporation Bylaws

Because I form Arizona nonprofit corporations, people frequently ask me if I will charge less to form their new nonprofit corporation if they give me a copy of Bylaws they found somewhere.  I always answer no because one thing I have learned from practicing law and forming entities since 1980 is that it always takes me more time (translation more expensive) to review and revise a document given to me than it does for me to prepare the document using the form I researched and created.

People may think that one size of Bylaws fits all, but that is not true.  Bylaws are an specially troublesome legal document because the Bylaws are the rules and policies that govern the operation of the members (if any), the officers and the directors.  The Bylaws are the foundational rules of the road for governing the nonprofit corporation.