No, it's not necessary. You can be an "unincorporated association" and just give your bank the bylaws as documentation; they should take those.
But incorporating isn't a bad idea, and isn't just reserved for larger groups. Check with your state division of corporations and find out how much they charge to file as a corporation--it's usually less than $100, and then sometimes there's an annual filing fee of maybe $25 or so--depends on the state. It's good to have from a liability protection standpoint.
- mum24kids
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