Filings and Searches
NEW ONLINE FILING OPTIONS FOR CHARITIES AND RAFFLE REGISTRANTS
There are new online filing options for both charities and nonprofit organizations that conduct raffles. In addition to filing their IRS Form 990s electronically, charities may now file their Annual Registration Renewal Fee Report (Form RRF-1) and pay their renewal fees online. Organizations conducting raffles may complete all of the following filings online: initial registration, registration renewal, and reports of raffles conducted. To use these new filing options, please visit Registry Online Filing.
ENFORCEMENT ACTIONS
Forever Light Foundation
The Attorney General has sued the officers and directors of a California charity, Forever Light Foundation, alleging that they unlawfully transferred a $5.2 million office building in Monterey Park owned by the charity to their own for-profit company, W-Coline Management Company. The complaint, pdf further alleges that the defendants financed almost the entire purchase price with a loan from the charity, that few if any payments were ever made on the loan, and that all of the rental income from the building was kept by the defendants' for-profit company. Those named in the complaint include Oscar Chang, Joan Chang, Joshua Chang, and Wellington Chiang. The Attorney General seeks return of the building to Forever Light Foundation and also seeks damages, punitive damages, an accounting, and removal of the defendants as officers and directors of the charity..
ELECTRONIC FILING OF 990s IS HERE!
Electronic filing is now available to charities submitting IRS Form 990 or IRS Form 990-EZ to the Attorney General’s Registry of Charitable Trusts. This electronic filing capability does not yet apply to IRS Form 990-PF. To file electronically with the Registry, charities that use software programs to file their 990s electronically with the IRS need only indicate when completing the filing portion of the program that they also wish to have the 990 filed with the California Registry of Charitable Trusts.
THE NEW 990 AND ITS RELATIONSHIP TO CALIFORNIA LAW GOVERNING CHARITIES
Various lines and schedules of the new IRS Form 990 for 2008 call to mind specific requirements that, although not prescribed by federal law, must be followed by California charities. A discussion of the requirements of state law that relate to the information called for by the new 990 is set forth in the following page:
The New 990 and Its Relationship to California Law Governing Charities.
NEW REQUIREMENTS FOR INITIAL REGISTRATION BY CHARITIES
Charities registering for the first time with the Attorney General’s Registry of Charitable Trusts must now complete a new form, the CT-1, and provide the materials and information required by newly amended section 300 of the Attorney General’s regulations. For a summary of the principal documents and information needed to register, check the initial registration guide. The new initial registration requirements for charities became effective January 10, 2008.
The Attorney General’s Registry of Charitable Trusts is pleased to announce its new online search feature. The new search feature allows you to search for information on charities, charity fundraising professionals, and raffle registrants that are registered with the Registry. It also allows you to view some basic information regarding charities that either are not currently registered with our office or are exempt from registration and reporting to the Registry.
With a few exceptions, the new search feature does not currently provide access to electronic copies of documents filed with the Registry, including IRS Form 990s (informational returns) filed by charities. Electronic copies of filings by certain registrants, such as the annual financial reports filed by commercial fundraisers for charitable purposes, are available elsewhere on the Charities website. Access to these reports is available at CFR search.
To begin, use the Registry Search Feature, or use the Registry Search link on the left side of this page. The Registry's new search feature is best viewed using Internet Explorer. Access to some links within the application may not function properly using other web browsers. For help interpreting the information available on the “Search Results” screens, please review Registry Search Feature – What do the codes mean?
NOTE TO REGISTRANTS: The information that displays in the new search feature represents information currently in the Registry database. If you believe the information displayed for your organization is in error, you may send an email to the Registrar, using the Contact the Registrar link on the left side of this page. In that email, please set forth the information you believe to be incorrect and supply the documentation necessary to correct your record. If your organization is incorporated, its name and facility address information must be updated with the Secretary of State’s office in order to be corrected in our database. Send an email to the Registry.
Taking time to learn about a charity before you donate can go a long way to making sure that the nonprofit organization and cause match your intentions. However, researching charities can be daunting when you consider that there are more than 700,000 federally recognized nonprofit organizations—nearly 150,000 of them in California—and no official "seal of approval" issued.
To help Californians in making important personal decisions on charitable giving, the Attorney General offers a variety of resources here. These resources include guides for charitable giving and searchable databases to learn about specific charities and commercial fundraisers in the state.
For charities and commercial fundraisers, we have forms and other information available to help them comply with state laws. We also have information on charitable fundraising raffles and corporate transactions involving the sale or purchase of nonprofit hospitals. We offer a Guide to the Nonprofit Integrity Act of 2004 
[PDF 170 kb / 8 pg], which concerns new requirements in the conduct of charities, commercial fundraisers, fundraising counsel, unincorporated associations, and trusts.
California law requires charities and commercial fundraisers to register with the Attorney General's Office and to file financial disclosure reports. All charities must file the Annual Registration Renewal Fee Report, and those with gross revenue or assets of $25,000 or more must file annual Form 990 financial reports with the Attorney General's Registry of Charitable Trusts. Since 1965 nonprofit schools, hospitals, and churches have been exempt from the law’s reporting requirements.
As the legal overseer of charities that do business in California, the Attorney General works to protect the interest of all public beneficiaries within his jurisdiction. The Attorney General may conduct investigations and bring legal actions to protect the assets of California charities and ensure the assets are used for their intended charitable purposes.
Using CFR Search, you can look up the financial disclosure reports that commercial fundraisers in California must file with the Attorney General's Registry of Charitable Trusts. These financial reports show if a commercial fundraiser is registered with the state, on whose behalf funds are being raised, and how much of the money raised actually reaches the charity.
Publications available on this website include guides for charities, annual summaries of commercial fundraising activities, summaries of nonprofit raffle activities, and notices and reports regarding nonprofit hospital transactions.
IRS RELIEF FOR LATE FILERS
The IRS has announced that small tax-exempt organizations that have not filed returns for 2007, 2008, and 2009 have until October 15, 2010, to file the delinquent returns. After that, their tax-exempt status will be revoked. The one-time relief program applies only to nonprofits that are required to file either Form 990-N (e-postcard) or Form 990-EZ. Nonprofits required to file Form 990-EZ must pay a compliance fee. For details, see:
IRS one-time revised filing deadline for small nonprofit organizations.