The IRS letter makes your donations tax deductible. Your state decides whether you are allowed to ask for them in the first place. In 40 states plus Washington DC that means a charitable solicitation registration, and in most states a second filing for state tax exemption. Here is the full 50-state picture, free.
Incorporate, then get the IRS letter. That is where almost every guide stops. The two steps after it are the ones that decide whether you can legally fundraise and whether you pay state tax.
Articles of incorporation, registered agent, bylaws and a board. This creates the legal entity.
Form 1023 or 1023-EZ. The determination letter makes donations to you tax deductible at the federal level.
Permission from your state to ask the public for money. Required in 36 states and DC before your first appeal.
The IRS letter does not exempt you from state income, franchise or sales tax. Many states need their own application.
Every state that regulates fundraising runs a register of the charities allowed to ask its residents for money. You file with the state before your first appeal, disclose your finances and your board, pay a fee that usually runs from about $10 to $400 depending on the state, and renew every year alongside your Form 990.
Soliciting means asking, not receiving. A donate button on your website, a grant application, a GoFundMe, a fundraising email, an event invitation and a phone call all count. It is the asking that triggers the rule, whether or not a single dollar comes in.
Founders assume the IRS determination letter exempts them everywhere. It does not. It settles federal income tax. State corporate income tax, franchise tax and sales tax are decided by your state, and states handle it in three different ways.
Some states accept your IRS letter and exempt you from state income tax with no separate application. You may still need to file for sales tax exemption on its own.
Others recognise your exemption once you send the department of revenue a short form with your determination letter attached. Quick, but it does not happen on its own.
A handful run their own review. California uses Form 3500 or 3500A with the Franchise Tax Board. Texas uses Form AP-204. New York handles sales tax exemption on Form ST-119.2. Miss it and you are taxable in your own state.
Tell us your state on a free 30-minute call and we will map every filing you actually owe, in order, with the deadlines. No charge and no obligation.
All 50 states plus Washington DC, current for 2026. If you fundraise online or across state lines you may owe registration in more than one state, not just the one you incorporated in.
| STATE | REGISTER TO FUNDRAISE | WHERE YOU FILE, AND WHAT IT MEANS |
|---|---|---|
| Alabama | YES | Attorney General. Register before your first appeal, then renew every year. |
| Alaska | YES | Attorney General. Register before your first appeal, then renew every year. |
| Arizona | SOMETIMES | Secretary of State. Veterans and veterans-related charities only. |
| Arkansas | YES | Secretary of State. Register before your first appeal, then renew every year. |
| California | YES | Attorney General. Register before your first appeal, then renew every year. |
| Colorado | YES | Secretary of State. Register before your first appeal, then renew every year. |
| Connecticut | YES | Dept. of Consumer Protection. Register before your first appeal, then renew every year. |
| Delaware | NO | No statewide charitable solicitation registration. Local rules can still apply. |
| District of Columbia | YES | Dept. of Licensing and Consumer Protection. Register before your first appeal, then renew every year. |
| Florida | YES | Dept. of Agriculture. Register before your first appeal, then renew every year. |
| Georgia | YES | Secretary of State. Register before your first appeal, then renew every year. |
| Hawaii | YES | Attorney General. Register before your first appeal, then renew every year. |
| Idaho | NO | No statewide charitable solicitation registration. Local rules can still apply. |
| Illinois | YES | Attorney General. Register before your first appeal, then renew every year. |
| Indiana | NO | No statewide charitable solicitation registration. Local rules can still apply. |
| Iowa | NO | No statewide charitable solicitation registration. Local rules can still apply. |
| Kansas | YES | Attorney General. Register before your first appeal, then renew every year. |
| Kentucky | YES | Attorney General. Register before your first appeal, then renew every year. |
| Louisiana | SOMETIMES | Attorney General. Only if you use a paid professional solicitor. |
| Maine | YES | Dept. of Professional and Financial Regulation. Register before your first appeal, then renew every year. |
| Maryland | YES | Secretary of State. Register before your first appeal, then renew every year. |
| Massachusetts | YES | Attorney General. Register before your first appeal, then renew every year. |
| Michigan | YES | Attorney General. Register before your first appeal, then renew every year. |
| Minnesota | YES | Attorney General. Register before your first appeal, then renew every year. |
| Mississippi | YES | Secretary of State. Register before your first appeal, then renew every year. |
| Missouri | SOMETIMES | Attorney General. Required by statute, with a broad exemption for 501(c)(3) organizations. |
| Montana | NO | No statewide charitable solicitation registration. Local rules can still apply. |
| Nebraska | NO | No statewide charitable solicitation registration. Local rules can still apply. |
| Nevada | YES | Secretary of State. Register before your first appeal, then renew every year. |
| New Hampshire | YES | Attorney General. Register before your first appeal, then renew every year. |
| New Jersey | YES | Attorney General. Register before your first appeal, then renew every year. |
| New Mexico | YES | Attorney General. Register before your first appeal, then renew every year. |
| New York | YES | Attorney General. Register before your first appeal, then renew every year. |
| North Carolina | YES | Secretary of State. Register before your first appeal, then renew every year. |
| North Dakota | YES | Secretary of State. Register before your first appeal, then renew every year. |
| Ohio | YES | Attorney General. Register before your first appeal, then renew every year. |
| Oklahoma | YES | Secretary of State. Register before your first appeal, then renew every year. |
| Oregon | YES | Dept. of Justice. Register before your first appeal, then renew every year. |
| Pennsylvania | YES | Dept. of State. Register before your first appeal, then renew every year. |
| Rhode Island | YES | Dept. of Business Regulation. Register before your first appeal, then renew every year. |
| South Carolina | YES | Secretary of State. Register before your first appeal, then renew every year. |
| South Dakota | NO | No statewide charitable solicitation registration. Local rules can still apply. |
| Tennessee | YES | Secretary of State. Register before your first appeal, then renew every year. |
| Texas | SOMETIMES | Secretary of State. Law enforcement, public safety and veterans organizations only. |
| Utah | NO | No statewide charitable solicitation registration. Local rules can still apply. |
| Vermont | NO | No statewide charitable solicitation registration. Local rules can still apply. |
| Virginia | YES | Dept. of Agriculture. Register before your first appeal, then renew every year. |
| Washington | YES | Secretary of State. Register before your first appeal, then renew every year. |
| West Virginia | YES | Secretary of State. Register before your first appeal, then renew every year. |
| Wisconsin | YES | Dept. of Financial Institutions. Register before your first appeal, then renew every year. |
| Wyoming | NO | No statewide charitable solicitation registration. Local rules can still apply. |
Sources: National Council of Nonprofits and the individual state charity regulators, reviewed August 2026. Rules change. This page is general information, not legal advice. Confirm with your state before you fundraise, or ask us on a free call.
Nobody knocks on your door the week you launch. The problem shows up later, usually at the worst moment, when a funder or a regulator checks the register.
Foundations and corporate giving programs routinely check state registration before they read your proposal. An unregistered charity is an easy no, and you rarely find out that was the reason.
States can assess late fees and civil penalties, and several will ask you to register retroactively for every year you solicited. A cheap annual filing becomes an expensive clean-up.
State attorneys general can issue a cease and desist that stops your fundraising until you are compliant, and payment processors have suspended donation pages over it. The record is public.
No. The IRS determination letter makes donations to you federally tax deductible. Permission to ask the public for money is granted separately by each state. In 36 states and the District of Columbia you must be registered before you make your first appeal.
Forty states plus Washington DC regulate charitable fundraising. Thirty-six of them and DC require registration broadly before you solicit. Four require it only in limited cases: Arizona, Louisiana, Missouri and Texas. Ten states have no registration requirement at all: Delaware, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Montana, Nebraska, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont and Wyoming.
Start with the state you are incorporated in. Beyond that, you generally register wherever you actively solicit. A national email campaign, targeted ads or direct outreach to donors in another state can create a registration duty there. A passive donate button alone is treated more leniently in most states, but the safest reading is to register where you deliberately ask.
Initial fees commonly run from about $10 to $400 depending on the state, and several states scale the fee to your annual contributions. Almost every registering state requires an annual renewal, usually within four to six months of your fiscal year end and usually with a copy of your Form 990 attached.
Not everywhere. Some states follow the federal exemption automatically. Others recognise it once you send your determination letter to the department of revenue. A few run their own review, including California with Form 3500 or 3500A and Texas with Form AP-204. Sales tax exemption is very often a separate application even in states that follow the IRS on income tax.
You are in the same position as most young nonprofits, and it is fixable. Register now rather than later. Several states will ask you to account for the years you solicited and may charge late fees, and the amounts grow the longer you wait. Bring us the details on a free call and we will tell you honestly what your state expects.
Free 30-minute call. Tell us your state and we will map every filing you owe, federal and state, in the order they need to happen.
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