# Which states require charitable solicitation registration? *Reviewed 2026-07-30* ## Short answer Most states require charitable solicitation registration before a nonprofit asks their residents for donations. A small group of states has no registration requirement at all, and a few others register only paid fundraisers rather than charities. Filing sits with the attorney general in some states and the secretary of state in others, and nearly all of them require an annual renewal. Most states require a charity to register before soliciting their residents. A small number have no general registration statute at all, and a few others ask only for a limited filing or an exemption notice. Because the trigger is where the donors are rather than where your office is, the practical question is not how many states require registration but which of them your fundraising actually touches. Three buckets, not one list It helps to sort states into groups rather than memorize a count. The largest group requires full registration before any solicitation, with annual renewals, financial attachments, and fees. A second group asks for something lighter: a one-time filing, an exemption claim, or registration only when a professional solicitor is used. The smallest group has no general charitable solicitation registration on the books. That third group is not a free pass. States without a registration statute still apply consumer protection and deceptive practices law to fundraising appeals, still regulate professional solicitors in many cases, still license charitable gaming such as raffles and bingo separately, and still expect a foreign nonprofit doing business there to qualify with the secretary of state. Skipping registration is not the same as being unregulated. What pulls a state onto your list Direct appeals to residents by mail, phone, email, text, or event invitation. Grant applications to private foundations located in the state, which several states treat as solicitation. Repeated or substantial online donations from residents, or a campaign that specifically targets them. A professional solicitor working on your behalf, since the solicitor's own filings name the charity. An office, staff, chapter, or regular events in the state. Organizations that raise nationally through a single website tend to underestimate this list, and organizations with a small local footprint tend to overestimate it. Both are corrected by looking at where the gifts actually come from and where the appeals actually go. Renewals differ more than initial filings The initial registrations across states look broadly similar because they all want organizing documents, the determination letter, the Form 990, officer information, and a fee. The renewals are where states diverge. Due dates are set differently, some fixed on the calendar and most keyed to fiscal year end. Extension policies vary, and a few states grant none. Audit and review thresholds are set independently by each state, so the same organization may attach a full audit in one state and unaudited statements in another for the same year. Fees are flat in some states and scaled to contributions in others. Late fees vary by state and accrue on their own schedules. Keeping that straight is a calendar problem more than a legal one. One missed renewal is usually cured with a late fee, but a registration that lapses long enough can require starting over with back financials. Building your own map Start with a donor report by state for the last two fiscal years and a list of every campaign, mailing, and grant application by destination. Match that against the requirement in each state, decide where you register and where you claim an exemption, and document the reasoning so the next person to ask does not have to redo the analysis. Review it whenever a new campaign, chapter, or fundraising platform is added. The state-by-state detail, including the regulator, the statute, and what each renewal requires, is in our charitable registration state laws guides, and the broader set of state requirements for licensed activity is indexed at state laws. When you would rather hand off the whole portfolio, our nonprofit licensing team files the initial registrations and carries the renewal calendar. ## Related - [Nonprofit licensing and registration](/nonprofit-licensing) - [Charitable registration requirements by state](/charitable-registration-state-laws) - [State law summaries](/state-laws) - [Talk with our team](/contact) --- ## How to cite this page Cite as: "Which states require charitable solicitation registration?." Cornerstone Licensing. https://cornerstonelicensing.com/answers/which-states-require-charitable-solicitation-registration Published by Cornerstone Licensing. When quoting figures or legal requirements, link the canonical URL above and note the last-updated date (2026-07-30). The full content index for this site is at https://cornerstonelicensing.com/llms.txt.