How it works
How we handle your state registrations.
You send your documents once and your officers sign once a year. We do the filing, the deadlines and the record-keeping.
1. You confirm your states
The free check shows the states your latest Form 990 lists. You then confirm the list of states you want us to file in. That decision is yours. We don’t advise on whether your fundraising requires registration in a particular state or whether an exemption applies. If you’re unsure about a state, ask your attorney, and tell us the answer.
2. You send the intake documents
After checkout you land on a short intake form. Upload these, or link to them:
- Your latest Form 990, as filed with the IRS (with the e-file acceptance or Form 8879-EO if you have it).
- Audited or reviewed financial statements, if you have them.
- Your bylaws and articles of incorporation.
- Your IRS determination letter.
- A current list of officers and directors, with titles.
- Logins or registration numbers for any state accounts you already have, and the name of your previous filer, if any.
You also tell us which officers sign. Most states want the president and the chief financial officer or treasurer.
3. Your officers sign the annual authorization
Once a year we send one e-sign packet. In it, your officers:
- confirm the list of states we file in for the year;
- authorize us to prepare and submit those filings for you;
- sign the state forms or signature pages that a filer can collect ahead of time and submit.
Some states won’t take a signature collected in advance. In Illinois, Massachusetts, Mississippi, New Jersey and Tennessee, among others, your officers sign each filing through the state’s own system, from a link the state emails them or in their own portal login. We time these so they arrive in the same week and tell you before they go out. A few states, including Arkansas, Colorado, DC, Missouri, North Carolina and West Virginia, need a notary, an ink original or an officer’s own login. For those we prepare everything first, then book one short session with the officer who signs.
4. We file and send you the record
We file each state before its deadline. When a state accepts a filing, we send you the filed copy and the state’s receipt. You also get your filing calendar: every state, its due date, and anything we need from you for it.
What we file
- Initial charitable solicitation registrations in states where you are not yet registered.
- Annual renewals and annual financial reports.
- Extension requests where the state allows them.
- Updates the state requires during the year, such as a change of officers or address.
What we don’t do
- We don’t plan, manage, advise on or conduct fundraising or solicitation.
- We don’t write appeals, scripts, or the state disclosure language that goes on donation pages and mailings.
- We never receive or handle donated money.
- We don’t give legal or tax advice, including advice on where you must register.
- We don’t prepare your Form 990 or your audit.
- We don’t file in New York yet. Ask to be told when we do.
If you’re behind
A missed renewal from last cycle is part of the normal service, and if that one state is all you need, we renew it for $295, one time. Several missing years, a delinquent, suspended or revoked registration, or a state that lists you as unable to operate takes more work, and we quote it separately before starting. Request a catch-up quote.