Funders check 25 things before they read a word of your proposal.

• Register with FDACS under Chapter 496 before soliciting a single donation in Florida. An organization under the statute's total-revenue threshold whose fundraising is done only by unpaid volunteers files a no-fee exemption instead, renewed every year; confirm the current threshold and form at fdacs.gov.Applying to a private foundation that is not itself registered with FDACS counts as a solicitation under the statute, so this comes before your first foundation application, not just your first donation ask.
• Register on SAM.gov and get your Unique Entity ID the day the EIN arrives, then open a Grants.gov Workspace account.Free, takes weeks, and every federal dollar and most state pass-through dollars require it.
• Claim your Candid (GuideStar) profile and work toward the Gold Seal of Transparency.Program officers look you up there before they reply.
• Build the evidence bank in one folder: the determination letter, the board list with affiliations, the current budget, the bylaws, the Sunbiz record, the FDACS listing, and two or three de-identified stories of those you have served.Every application draws from the same dozen documents.
• Decide who tracks outcomes and what you count. Numbers served, outcomes achieved, cost per outcome.Start on day one. A year later it cannot be reconstructed.
• Know your funders' first-year rules before you apply. Many community foundations want one filed Form 990 or two years of operating history.A funder that asks for a filed 990 is not a rejection. It is a date: the year after your first return is filed.

• File the Form 990 series by the 15th day of the fifth month after your fiscal year ends (May 15 for a calendar year). The 990-N e-Postcard is free and takes minutes at zero revenue.Three missed years in a row and the IRS revokes your exemption automatically. Reinstatement is a new application.
• File the Florida annual report on Sunbiz between January 1 and May 1.A missed report dissolves the corporation administratively.
• Renew the FDACS Chapter 496 registration or exemption before it expires, and report material changes in writing within the days the statute allows.
• Renew SAM.gov before it lapses, ideally before the fall federal submission windows.An expired registration blocks submission and payment alike.
• Refresh the budget, the board list and the Candid profile when the fiscal year closes, and re-run your funder list once the new 990 is public.A filed return unlocks the funders that were waiting on it.
• Keep a written grants calendar: each funder's cycle, letter-of-intent date, deadline and reporting date, checked on the funder's own site each year.

• Save the Notice of Award or grant agreement, every page of terms and special conditions, and every amendment that follows.
• Save the approved budget by category exactly as the funder approved it.Spending outside it needs written approval first.
• Put every reporting deadline on the calendar the day the award arrives: progress reports, financial reports, the final report, close-out.
• Keep each report as filed, with the date you filed it, and the name of each system you report and draw funds through.
• Track federal spending against the single-audit threshold. Confirm the current threshold at the Federal Audit Clearinghouse.Crossing it in one fiscal year triggers an audit requirement.
• Report on time, every time.A late report is the fastest way to lose a renewal, and funders talk to each other.

Rules and limits named above were current on the agencies' own sites in October 2026. Confirm the present form and fee before acting. This is a checklist, not legal, accounting or compliance advice.