Many banks will be willing to work with you, although you may have to shop around a bit. You do need an EIN to open an account, but it's an easy phone call to the IRS (that's where the easy with them ends). One word of warning is to read the fine print with the bank concerning the "extra charges" for minimum amount of money in your account, maximum number of checks allowed to be deposited per month, etc. Good Luck!
Seems to me he'd need a tax/employer ID number (EIN), which you can apply for over the phone. You'll need to decide on the official name of your organization, but I don't think the IRS requires you to be incorporated first.
Maybe you should check with a different bank, one that has someone who can help you get started or knows what the real requirements are. I remember one poster here said the bank wouldn't let them open an account without 501(c)(3) designation, but we had our account for 20 years before we finally applied for 501(c)(3). (Not that I recommend waiting that long ...)
We are just getting off the ground. My treasurer quit when he saw what he had to do in order to just open a bank account. Honestly, I can't blame him. We have $300. Isn't there an easier way to open an account just to get things going, then we will deal with the endless paperwork when we stabilize?
