Most startup charitable organizations and foreign organizations starting to operate or fundraise in California are required to register with the California Attorney General’s Registry of Charities and Fundraisers. Until very recently, registrations were completed on paper and mailed to the Registry.

A link near the top of the Initial Registration webpage on the Attorney General website takes you to a relatively simple registration page that requires you to enter your email address and then verify the code sent to your email.

You’ll see that the following services are planned, but the Early Release Online Filing Service for the Registry of Charities and Fundraisers appears to be currently set up for only the initial registration:

• Initial registration (Form CT-1)
• Registration renewal (Form RRF-1)
• Request for Dissolution, Withdrawal, or Termination
• Platform Charities – Forms PL-3 (Notification for Platform Charities) and PL-4 (Annual Fundraising Report)

Every charitable corporation, unincorporated association, charitable trustee, and other legal entities holding property for charitable purposes must register with the Attorney General as required under Government Code section 12585. Registration must occur within 30 days of first receiving charitable assets. Assets include public donations, property, government grants, noncash donations, and/or any contribution of value. Use the Online Filing Service to begin the initial registration process. 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.

The annual registration renewal may also be filed online through the old filing service or by paper/mail. The instructions are available here.

Failure to register on time can result in the Attorney General classifying a charity subject to the registration requirements (there are exceptions for certain types of organizations, including religious organizations, schools, and hospitals) as delinquent, suspended, or revoked. While an applicable charity is so classified, it is not permitted to operate or fundraise. Accordingly, a charity discovering itself to fall under such classification should work on remedying it immediately. The AG provides a webpage addressing how to cure a delinquency here.

A charitable organization that is not in good standing because it is delinquent may not operate or solicit donations in California. This includes not being able to be listed in solicitations or receive donations through charitable fundraising platforms. If the delinquency is not fixed, the organization’s status will be further changed to Suspended, and/or Revoked and may result in penalties. The Franchise Tax Board will also be notified about the delinquent status and the organization may lose its tax exemption.

A delinquency, suspension, or revocation of a charity’s registration in California (as well as other states) may have broader consequences. For example:

• charitable fundraising platforms may refuse to allow the charity to use their platforms for fundraising (in any state),
• the charity may find itself in breach of its contracts and grant agreements if those contracts and grant agreements include a provision that the charity shall be compliant with applicable laws,
• the charity may find itself disqualified from receiving a grant from a funder, and
• the charity and its leadership may be subject to critical and negative public attention for allowing the charity to become noncompliant.

For organizations worried about the federal administration’s attacks on nonprofits and threats to its 501(c)(3) status for political reasons, state registration compliance may be the low-hanging fruit for a state to be able to prevent a charity from operating, particularly if that state’s political leaders have priorities aligned with the federal administration.

California is not one of those states and may in practice may be more forgiving of a delinquency, suspension, or revocation, but it would be best for charities not to leave it up to the good graces of a state regulator. If a charity is unsure about its registration status, it should check on it immediately by using the online Registry. It’s super simple and a charity’s board should insist on receiving confirmation of its timely registration each year.