Here's a good summary of what's involved in Maryland: How to Form a Maryland Nonprofit Corporation | Nolo.com. The big problem you're going to run into is that all the incorporators of the corporation need to be over 18. Assuming your mother is willing to serve as an incorporator in your stead. You also need $170. The form is pretty simple to fill out, and importantly has the boilerplate text that the feds require. Fill out the form, pay your money, and you're a Maryland non-profit corporation. Well, you need to create bylaws, and such, but there are copy-and-paste samples out there you can use to create one from.Unfortunately, registering with the state gets you pretty close to bupkis. If you want to solicit funds from the public and have the be tax-exempt (and not have the donations be taxable income from the perspective of the feds and Maryland), you need to snag a federal 501(c)3 status, and that's a much more involved process involving more filing fees and more forms (and probably a lawyer, unless you really know what you're doing.) It took us nearly a year and a lot of back-and-forth with the IRS to get our 501(c)3, although things have evidently loosened up quick a bit since the scandals of a few years ago.