The Attorney General's Charities office oversees nonprofits and fundraising professionals in California, though they are not the only department that requires nonprofit filings (for example, the Franchise Tax Board).

This year, the AG's office updated a number of forms that some nonprofits are required to file, including:

Registration – for new organizations (incorporating in 2021)
Renewal – annual registration renewal form, required for most organizations
Raffles – if you host a raffle during the year, you're required to file for a permit and a post-event report
Professional Fundraisers – for firms or people who charge for their fundraising services, including online fundraising platforms

Beginning January 1, 2021, the new versions are the only forms that will be accepted. The use of old forms will cause a delay in your registration/renewal.

Specific form changes include:

• The CT-TR-1 is a new form for organizations that have less than $50,000 in revenue. This can be used in place of the IRS-990. The CT-TR-1 form must be filed with the RRF-1 annual registration renewal form.
• The RRF-1 annual registration renewal form requires charities to provide additional information, including non-cash donations.
• Changes were made to all professional fundraiser forms and the raffle forms (registration and reporting).
• For newly formed charities, the CT-1 initial registration now requires additional information such as dbas and prior enforcement actions.

The official, updated forms, along with helpful videos and instructions, are available on the AG's Charities website at https://oag.ca.gov/charities.

Looking for all the state and federal forms nonprofits might be required to file? Our Nonprofit Compliance Checklist includes a list of the forms most nonprofits are required to file, explanations about each of them, and when they should be filed. It also includes links to the most updated versions of the forms.