Nebraska Nonprofit Publication Requirement: Three Successive Weeks and Proof of Publication

Direct answer: two steps, not one

A newly incorporated Nebraska nonprofit corporation publishes a notice of incorporation for three successive weeks in a legal newspaper of general circulation, and then files proof of that publication with the Secretary of State. Both steps are required and neither one substitutes for the other. The Articles of Incorporation, which came before both, do not satisfy either.

The newspaper is not a free choice. It has to be a legal newspaper of general circulation in the county of the corporation’s principal office. Where the corporation has no principal office in Nebraska, the county of the registered office is used instead.

Once the three successive weeks have run, the newspaper supplies an affidavit or proof of publication. That document goes to the Secretary of State on paper or through Corporate Document eDelivery, and the current state filing fee is $30 written or in office and $25 electronic.

Two different bills, and why that matters

There are two costs here and they belong to two different people. The newspaper charges a private rate for running the notice, and that rate varies by paper and by the length of the notice. The Secretary of State charges $30 written or in office, or $25 electronic, to accept the proof.

The state fee is not a publication fee and the newspaper charge is not a filing fee. Budgeting one of them and assuming it covered both is a reliable way to be surprised, and quoting the $30 or $25 figure as the cost of publication understates what the step actually takes.

What the incorporation notice has to say

The incorporation notice states the corporate name, the classification, the registered office and registered agent, the names and addresses of the incorporators, and whether the corporation will have members. The organization supplies that information to the newspaper and keeps the published notice.

Content is not a formality either. A notice missing statutory content can fail to satisfy the section it was published under, which means the three weeks were spent without producing the thing they were meant to produce.

The other three transactions

Publication is not only a formation step. An articles amendment subject to the section carries its own publication: a brief resume of the amendment, three successive weeks, the same legal newspaper and county framework, and its own proof filing. The Articles of Amendment filing fee, currently $30 written or $25 electronic, is separate from all of that.

A merger works the same way. A brief resume of the merger runs for three successive weeks and the proof is filed with the Secretary of State. Merger approval and any charitable asset review are separate questions again, handled elsewhere in the Nebraska guide, and a merger filing does not replace the publication and proof duties.

Dissolution is where the contents change. After dissolution, the notice runs for three successive weeks like the others, but it states the terms and conditions of dissolution, the names and titles of the persons responsible for winding up, and a statement of assets and liabilities. Proof of publication is filed with the Secretary of State at the same $30 written or $25 electronic fee, with the newspaper’s charge separate as always. An organization that hands the newspaper its old incorporation notice text will publish something that does not meet the dissolution requirement.

If the publication was never done

This happens, usually because the articles were filed by someone who did not know the second step existed. The Act provides for it. Publish the omitted notice for the required period and file the proof, and the statute addresses the effect on corporate acts before and after the completed cure.

Curing does not excuse anything else. Other filings and approvals that were independently required remain independently required, and the cure answers only the publication and proof question.

A decision checklist

Work through these in order and keep the answers with the corporate records.

One. Which transaction is this? Incorporation, an articles amendment subject to the section, a merger, or a dissolution. Each has its own publication, and mixing them up produces the wrong notice.

Two. Which county? The principal office, or the registered office if there is no Nebraska principal office. Confirm the paper is a legal newspaper of general circulation in that county before booking anything.

Three. What does this notice have to say? Incorporation contents for incorporation. A brief resume for an amendment or a merger. Dissolution terms, the persons responsible for winding up, and the statement of assets and liabilities for a dissolution.

Four. Did it run for three successive weeks? Not roughly three weeks, and not three insertions scattered around. Get the affidavit from the paper when it finishes.

Five. Has the proof been filed with the Secretary of State, on paper or through eDelivery, with the $30 written or in office or $25 electronic fee paid as a separate item from the newspaper’s invoice?

Six. If a required publication was missed at the time, has the cure been completed by publishing for the full required period and filing the proof? The complete Nebraska guide, including the formation, amendment, merger, and dissolution requirements this step attaches to, is at /states/nebraska/.