Registry Search Feature – What do the codes mean?
While most of the search criteria are defined on the main search screen, a few require additional explanation. See notes below:
Secretary of State or Franchise Tax Board Number – Organizations that are incorporated in California are assigned a corporate number by the Secretary of State’s office upon approval of the filing of their articles of incorporation. Organizations that are not incorporated but are required to register and report to the Attorney General’s Registry of Charitable Trusts (Registry), such as unincorporated associations and charitable trusts, are assigned an organization number by the Franchise Tax Board. Either of these numbers can be used to search the Registry files for information about an organization.
RCT Registration Number – Once an organization registers with the Registry, it is assigned a registration number. If you know the registration number, you may enter it in the search criteria.
Registration Status – In addition to other search criteria, you may further refine your search results by using the registration status as a filter, as follows
All – Results will display all organizations that meet your other search criteria, regardless of registration status.
Awaiting Reporting – Status for Raffle Reports and Fundraising Events for which a financial accounting report has not yet been submitted.
Closed – Status assigned by the Registry to closed files for entities that are not required to register or report to our office.
Complete – Status assigned to Raffle Reports and Fundraising Events for which a financial accounting report has been submitted.
Current – Status assigned to charity registrants that are current in reporting to the Registry.
Delinquent – Status assigned to charity registrants that are delinquent in reporting to the Registry. This may mean they have not submitted the required annual renewal report (RRF-1) or have not submitted copies of IRS Form 990s as required. Fundraising Events for which the required financial reports have not been submitted also display as delinquent.
Dissolution Pending – Status assigned by the Registry to a charity registrant who has submitted documents to the Registry for approval of the entity’s dissolution.
Dissolved – Status assigned to a charity registrant whose dissolution has been approved by the Secretary of State’s office.
Exempt - Active – Status assigned to religious or mutual benefit nonprofits incorporated in California that are exempt from registration and reporting requirements under the Supervision of Trustees and Fundraisers for Charitable Purposes Act. “Active” reflects the organization’s status with the Secretary of State’s records.
Exempt - Inactive – Status assigned to religious or mutual benefit nonprofits incorporated in California that are exempt from registration and reporting requirements under the Supervision of Trustees and Fundraisers for Charitable Purposes Act. These organizations show as “Suspended” in the Secretary of State’s records.
Exempt - Dissolved – Status assigned to religious or mutual benefit nonprofits incorporated in California that are exempt from registration and reporting requirements under the Supervision of Trustees and Fundraisers for Charitable Purposes Act. These organizations have completed the dissolution process through the Secretary of State’s office.
Expired – Status assigned by the Registry to raffle, commercial fundraiser, commercial coventurer, and fundraising counsel registrants whose registration has expired.
Extension – Status assigned by the Registry to charity registrants for which an IRS extension to file the organization’s IRS Form 990 has been received. The extension also applies to filing of the Annual Registration Renewal Fee Report (RRF-1).
Inactive – Status assigned by the Registry to raffle, commercial fundraiser, commercial coventurer, and fundraising counsel registrants converted from our old database.
Never Registered - Dissolved – Status assigned by the Registry to charitable corporations that were never registered with our office but submitted a request for dissolution waiver and received approval from the Registry.
No Raffles – Status assigned by the Registry when an organization has registered to conduct a raffle but decides not to hold the raffle as originally scheduled.
Pending – Status assigned by the Registry to an unregistered nonprofit for which we have received notice from Secretary of State that the entity is incorporated in California. Newly incorporated religious and mutual benefit corporations that the Registry has not yet identified as exempt from registration and reporting requirements may also appear as “Pending.”
Registered – Status assigned by the Registry to raffle, commercial fundraiser, commercial coventurer, and fundraising counsel registrants that are current in filing with the Registry.
Once you select the record you wish to view (by clicking on it), a new page will open, which displays more detailed information about the organization. In addition to basic information, such as identifying numbers and address, you may also view Annual Renewal Information submitted by the organization. The Annual Renewal Information section contains information from the annual financial report (RRF-1) submitted by the organization as part of its reporting requirements under the Supervision of Trustees and Fundraisers for Charitable Purposes Act. Information regarding the organization’s revenue and assets is displayed in this section, with the most recent information toward the bottom of the screen.
If the organization is registered to hold a raffle or a commercial fundraiser is holding an event or campaign on the nonprofit’s behalf, you may see information in the section labeled Prerequisite Information. If there is information in this section you may click on the Registration No. link to be directed to a page that displays more detailed information about the raffle or fundraising event
The last section on the detail page, labeled IRS Return Data, is for future display capabilities of the Registry’s new search page and will display key data elements from the IRS Form 990 informational returns filed electronically by the organization.
TIPS FOR SEARCHING FOR FUNDRAISING EVENTS IF YOU KNOW THE FUNDRAISING PROFESSIONAL’S NAME
First, choose “Fundraising Professional” from the drop-down menu labeled Record Type and enter as much of the name as you know. You can do a wild card search by placing an “*” before or after your search criteria. For example, if you know the name starts with “Da” but aren’t sure of the rest of the name, you can enter “Da*” and the results will return a list of fundraising professionals whose names start with “Da." Scroll the search to find the fundraising professional you are searching for. NOTE: The fundraising professional may be listed multiple times, once by Registration Type (i.e., commercial fundraiser, commercial coventurer, or fundraising counsel), and once or multiple times by Registration Type of fundraising event. Registration Status of Fundraising events is listed as Awaiting Reporting, Complete, or Delinquent. Once you select a fundraising event to view (by clicking on the name) you will be directed to the detail information for the event. Please note that only events starting with a Registration Number of “E” will display detailed financial information for the event. In the Prerequisite Information section of the detail screen you will see information displayed for the nonprofit organization for which the event was held. You can link to the detail information for the nonprofit by clicking on the Registration No. link.
TIPS FOR FINDING FUNDRAISING EVENT INFORMATION IF YOU KNOW THE NAME OF THE NONPROFIT FOR WHICH THE EVENT IS HELD
First, search for the nonprofit by selecting “Charity” from the Record Type drop-down menu and “Charity Registration” from the Registration Type drop-down menu. Enter the Organization Name, RCT Registration Number, FEIN, Secretary of State or Franchise Tax Board Number of the nonprofit you are looking for and then click on the Search button. From the Search Results screen, select the nonprofit by clicking on the name. A new screen will open which displays the detail information for the nonprofit. Under the section labeled Prerequisite Information, data will display for any fundraising events, or raffles being held, on the nonprofit’s behalf. You can view the detail information for the event by clicking on the Registration No. link.