Alliance of Nonprofit Mailers
October 23, 2001
The District of Columbia and thirty-eight states
require nonprofit organizations to register with the state. If the nonprofit
has an office in the state or otherwise has a physical presence in the
state, or if the nonprofit raises money in the state, it is likely required
to register. And there are 39 different registration forms for the nonprofit
organization to complete. The National Association of Attorney General (NAAG)
and the National Association of State Charities Officials (NASCO)
have worked to develop a Unified Registration Statement
(URS).
The URS is an easier way for charities that work in
several states to register with each state by using one registration form.
Six of the states also require supplementary forms (indicated by an asterisk
in the list below). As noted throughout the URS, most states requiring
registration also require annual
financial reporting. Note, the URS CAN NOT BE USED
FOR THIS PURPOSE.
As with many regulations involving nonprofit
organizations there may exemptions. A link to the regulations is provided to
from the following list of states that accept the URS:
*Require supplementary forms
The following five states require registration but do
not accept the URS:
Alaska,
Arizona,
Florida,
North Carolina, and
Utah.
Should an organization use the services of a
professional solicitor, it is required that
disclosure information appear on all the
charitable solicitations.
Much of information was gathered from the
National Association of State Charities Officials
web site and was current as of February 2001.
