Nebraska Booster Club Filing Requirements

Forming a Nonprofit Corporation in Nebraska

A booster club files Articles of Incorporation with the Secretary of State’s Business Services Division ($25 online, $30 in office). The articles must include the purpose and dissolution language the IRS requires for 501(c)(3) status (the federal tax exemption for charitable and educational organizations); see How to Incorporate a Booster Club.

A notice of incorporation must then run for three successive weeks in a legal newspaper of general circulation in the county of the club’s principal office, and proof of publication is filed with the Secretary of State (Neb. Rev. Stat. 21-19,173). Filing the proof costs $25 online or $30 in office; the newspaper charges separately.

Nonprofit corporations file a biennial report in odd-numbered years. It is due April 1 and becomes delinquent June 16; the next reports are due April 1, 2027 and April 1, 2029. The 2025 paper form showed a $30 fee. Confirm current fee with the agency.

A corporation that misses the delinquency date is administratively dissolved (nonfilers were dissolved June 17, 2025). Reinstatement costs $30 plus past biennial fees; late reinstatement after five years costs $500.

State Tax Exemption

Nebraska follows federal exemption automatically; there is no state application. A 501(c)(3) booster club files a Nebraska corporate income tax return only if it owes federal tax on unrelated business income (income from a regularly carried-on business unrelated to its exempt purpose). That return is Form 1120N.

Sales Tax

Purchases. DOR states that very few nonprofits qualify for exemption on purchases. The Form 13 list covers religious organizations, hospitals and similar health facilities, and a few other categories. A booster club is not on it and pays sales tax on supplies.

Sales. DOR’s exemption guide lists several school-related exemptions:

1. Parent-booster club sales. Property sold by parent-booster clubs or school stores approved by an elementary or secondary school, public or private, is exempt if the proceeds support school activities or the school.
2. Admissions. Fees charged by a school district, a student organization, or certain other school groups for functions at elementary or secondary schools are exempt. Booster clubs are not named here, so a club charging admission to its own event should confirm with DOR.
3. School concessions. Concession food sales by elementary and secondary schools at events are exempt.
4. Youth sports fees. Entry fees charged by 501(c)(3) organizations for activities limited to participants under 19 are exempt.

The club should keep the school’s written approval and records showing proceeds went to school activities. Sales outside these exemptions require a sales tax permit and tax collection.

Charitable Solicitation Registration

Nebraska has no charitable solicitation registrationCharitable solicitation registrationRegistration with a state office, usually the attorney general or secretary of state, before asking the public for donations, typically renewed each year with a financial report. Whether it is required, and the thresholds and fees, vary by state.All terms requirement. The Secretary of State registered charitable solicitors before 1996, until a Nebraska Supreme Court decision ended that law, and the Attorney General confirms no separate registration is triggered when a nonprofit begins fundraising. Some municipalities regulate street or door-to-door solicitation.

Raffles and Gaming

Nebraska regulates raffles through DOR’s Charitable Gaming Division. A raffle is a drawing where at least 80% of prize value is merchandise. A lottery is a drawing where prizes are primarily cash, which makes a 50/50 drawing50/50 raffleA raffle in which the winner receives half of the ticket sales and the club keeps the other half, usually sold and drawn during one game or event. It is legally a raffle with a cash prize, so state raffle law applies.All terms a lottery.

Small lotteries and raffles (no license). Since July 18, 2024, the Small Lottery and Raffle Act lets a 501(c) nonprofit with its principal office and most activities in Nebraska hold, without a license:

• one lottery per calendar month with gross proceeds of $15,000 or less, and
• any number of raffles in a calendar month if their combined gross proceeds stay at or under $15,000.

Tickets must be sequentially numbered and identical, and winners are drawn at random. Once sales reach $15,000 the club must stop; a small raffle cannot convert to a licensed one. The club keeps monthly records of dates and gross proceeds for three years.

Licensed lotteries and raffles. Above $15,000, the club needs a license (Form 50, $30 biennial) and at least ten members, one of whom (a member for at least a year) is licensed as the Utilization of Funds Member ($40 biennial). Licensed events require a separate bank account, at least 65% of gross proceeds paid as prizes, expenses capped at 10%, and buyers 18 or older (a $10 Special Permit waives these for one event). The club pays a 2% tax on gross proceeds by September 30 and files Form 35B by August 15. Lincoln, Omaha, Lancaster County, and Douglas County may require a local permit.

Online sales. Licensed organizations may sell tickets on their own website, paid by cash, check, or debit card; credit cards are not authorized. The Small Lottery and Raffle Act and regulations do not address online sales, so an unlicensed club should confirm with the Charitable GamingCharitable gamingRaffles, bingo, and other games of chance that state law allows a nonprofit to run to raise money, often under a state or local license with limits on prizes and on how proceeds are used. Whether a booster club may hold them varies by state.All terms Division first. See Online and Electronic Raffles.

Bingo and pickle cards require separate licenses. Nonprofits may not run sweepstakes.

Annual Compliance Calendar for Nebraska