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Charities

Tools

Filing a Complaint

Have a complaint against a charity? Please use our complaint form, pdf. Mail the completed form and any attachments to:

Registry of Charitable Trusts

Office of the Attorney General P.O. Box 903447 Sacramento, CA 94203-4470

The Attorney General regulates charities and the professional fundraisers who solicit on their behalf. The purpose of this oversight is to protect charitable assets for their intended use and ensure that the charitable donations contributed by Californians are not misapplied and squandered through fraud or other means. The main elements of the Attorney General’s regulatory program are:

  • The attorneys and auditors of the Charitable Trusts Section investigate and bring legal actions against charities that misuse charitable assets. If you have a complaint against a charity, please use our complaint form, pdf.
  • The Registry of Charitable Trusts administers the statutory registration program. All charitable trustees and fundraising professionals are required to register and file annual financial disclosure reports with the Registry. In addition, nonprofit organizations that conduct raffles for charitable purposes are required to register and file a financial report for each raffle held.
  • To help charities stay within the law, the Attorney General makes available various guides and publications, including the Attorney General’s Guide for Charities, pdf. Additional guidance for charities is available on our Resources page.
  • The Attorney General also offers guidance to help Californians make important personal decisions on charitable giving. These resources include the Guide to Charitable Giving for Donors, pdf and searchable databases to learn about specific charities and charitable fundraising professionals in the state. Among the databases are Registry Search, for registrants generally, and CFR Search, which provides information and documents regarding commercial fundraisers for charitable purposes. For help using and interpreting the results from Registry Search, please review Registry Search Feature – What do the codes mean?

Charity Research Tool

A searchable database of the information returns that charities file annually with the IRS (Forms 990, 990-PF, and 990-EZ) is available on the Attorney General’s website. The database allows donors to research a charity before making a decision to give. A guide to reviewing the 990 is provided on the website at pages 9-14 of the Guide to Charitable Giving for Donors, pdf. The returns available in this database are those filed with the IRS directly, not with the Registry of Charitable Trusts. If you have any questions regarding Registry filings, Contact the Registrar.


IRS Workshops for Tax-Exempt Organizations

The Internal Revenue Service will hold three one-day workshops in McClellan, California, on March 16, 17, and 18, 2010, to help small and mid-sized tax-exempt organizations comply with their tax obligations and maintain their tax-exempt status. The workshops are designed for board members, officers, volunteers, and staff of these organizations and for the tax preparers and stakeholders who work with them. IRS revenue agents will lead the workshops, which will cover the “nuts and bolts” of tax compliance for exempt organizations. Workshop topics include an in-depth discussion of activities that can jeopardize 501(c)(3) status, unrelated business income, gaming, and employment issues. Particular emphasis will be given to explaining the revised Form 990 and 990-EZ annual information returns that tax-exempt organizations submit to the IRS. The workshops will be held at the Lions Gate Hotel and Conference Center, 3410 Westover Street in McClellan, California. The workshop cost is $45 per person and includes a handbook and relevant IRS forms and publications. Pre-registration is required. For more information or to register, go to the Charities and Nonprofits page on the IRS Web site at www.irs.gov/eo and click the “Calendar of Events” link. Information and registration is also available by calling Events by Design, Inc., IRS’s registration services provider, at
800-521-3980 or 703-579-1496.