California Attorney General Forms

The following message is from the Office of the Attorney General of the State of California:

Updated Forms for 2022

Updated forms will be available for download by January 1, 2022 and will be required with any filings received by the Registry on or after January 1, 2022. Significant changes include fee updates for charity, raffle and professional fundraiser applicants and registrants. Please check the appropriate program page using the menu on the right for updates. Please remember to always download the latest form when you are ready to register or renew each year.

https://oag.ca.gov/charities/forms

Charity Registration

Every charitable corporation, unincorporated association, charitable trustee and other legal entities holding property for charitable purposes, must file with the Attorney General an initial registration form and other documents required by law. Under Government Code section 12585, initial registration must be filed within 30 days of first receiving charitable assets. Assets include public donations, property, government grants, noncash donations, and/or any contribution of value. NOTE: after the initial registration, there are also annual registration renewal and reporting requirements.

Initial registration and annual renewal reporting also apply to all foreign charitable organizations (i.e., corporations formed under the laws of other states) doing business or holding property in California for charitable purposes. Doing business in California includes, active solicitation, such as soliciting donations in California by mail, by advertisements in publications, or by any other means of targeting California residents for donations. Other examples of doing business in California include engaging in any of the following activities: holding meetings of the board of directors or corporate members in California, maintaining an office in California, having officers or employees who perform work in California, and/or conducting charitable programs in California.

Certain organizations are excluded from the above registration requirements including churches, religious organizations, schools, and hospitals:

The filing, registration, and reporting provisions of this article do not apply to the United States, any state, territory, or possession of the United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, or to any of their agencies or governmental subdivisions, to any religious corporation sole or other religious corporation or organization that holds property for religious purposes, or to any officer, director, or trustee thereof who holds property for like purposes, to a cemetery corporation regulated under Chapter 12 (commencing with Section 7600) of Division 3 of the Business and Professions Code, or to any committee as defined in Section 82013 that is required to and does file any statement pursuant to Article 2 (commencing with Section 84200) of Chapter 4 of Title 9, or to a charitable corporation or unincorporated association organized and operated primarily as a religious organization, educational institution, hospital, or a health care service plan licensed pursuant to Section 1349 of the Health and Safety Code.

Gov. Code Sec. 12583

The initial registration form is Form CT-1.

The annual registration renewal is Form RRF-1, which must be accompanied by either (A) IRS Form 990, 990-EZ, or 990-PF (excluding Schedule B), or, if the registering organization is not required to file one of these IRS forms, (B) Form CT-TR-1.