How do we change the name of our California non-profit educational organization?

If you are a corporation or limited liability company, then you can either change the legal name of the company by filing an amendment to the Articles of Incorporation or Articles of Organization with the Secretary of State or you can file a fictitious name statement and have both names. The legal name would remaing the same, but your company would also be entitled to legally use the other name, as well. If your company is just some people acting together with a fictitious name statement filed and published somewhere, then you can just file another one and have both names. I strongly urge you to conduct this business as either a corporation or a limited liability company. We can discuss the choice. If there are several of you, and especially if you have an paid employees, each of you is personally liable for any harm caused by any wrongful conduct of any of the others, including failure to pay for goods and services any of them agree the group will pay for. We form simple corporations and limited liability companies for $1200.00, about $200 of which is filing fees. That includes filing the Articles with the Secretary of State, Bylaws for a corporation and an operating agreement for an LLC, and organizational resolutions to cover certain decisions needed to get started. If you would like to discuss this further, please call me at 510-286-2200. Dana Sack