Single Portal Registration – Making the complicated more complicated? The single portal registration initiative announced last year by the National Association of State Charity Officials (NASCO) and the National Association of Attorney Generals (NAAG) is the next attempt at a “one-stop shop” for charity registration. A visit to the NASCO website shows no update on
Colorado Wants to Hear From You! Colorado Secretary of State (SoS) Wayne Williams is seeking input on the CO Charitable Solicitation Act rules. In my opinion CO already has one of the most user friendly online charity registration sites, but it is great that the Secretary is asking for your input on section 24-4-103. (2.5) C.R.S. Some
Its back! The much-hoped for, but difficult to achieve, initiative to develop on online system that allows nonprofits and professional fundraisers to comply with all states registration and annual filing requirements through a single portal has resurfaced.
Last month the National Association of State Charities Officials (NASCO) and the National Association of Attorneys General (NAAG), in cooperation with The Multistate Registration and Filing Portal, Inc. (a Delaware nonprofit corporation), posted a Request for Information to invite input and proposals for development of this “one-stop” portal. See mrfpinc.org.
The goal is to create a portal that will maximize efficiency, data transparency, and information sharing by enabling compliance with registration requirement for all participating states without duplication of data entry. It will also make the collected data available to the public in a searchable and interactive format. State filing fees will be collected and disbursed to states through the Single Portal.
Don’t forget to renew your Alaska charity registration statement in the month of August! You can find the renewal forms required at http://law.alaska.gov/department/civil/consumer/charityreg.html. The deadline to register as a charitable organization is September 1 of each year. If you are renewing, just submit your registration form and the appropriate filing fee. Although Alaska does not
Although Alabama law requires that organizations and institutions that solicit contributions from Alabama to register with the Attorney General’s Office, they are one of the states that have made the registration process relatively painless. For initial registration an organization can choose to use either the state form or the Unified Registration Statement. Renewal is simple; the state form is one page long requiring the attachment of an organization’s most recent IRS Form 990 or a Written Report. Visit http://www.ago.state.al.us/Page-Consumer-Protection-Consumer-Charities for details and links to the forms. Both initial and renewal registrations require a notarized signature along with a check for $25 made out to Alabama Office of the Attorney General.
Unfortunately, the downside of the Alabama charity registration process is that the annual renewal is due within 90 days of the close of the organization’s fiscal year. We all know this is almost impossible for most nonprofits, especially those requiring audits prior to completion of the IRS Form 990! The Attorney General may approve an extension to file up to 180 days.
The Alabama law governing charity registration is found in Section 13A-9-70 through 13A-9-84 of the Code of Alabama.
The Unified Registration Statement for nonprofit organizations. You may also download this registration kit at http://www.multistatefiling.org/urs_webv401.pdf.