Illinois Form CO-1 Charitable Registration: Attachments, Signatures, Fee

To register your charity in Illinois, complete Form CO-1, the Charitable Organization Registration Statement, together with Form CO-2 (the financial information form), attach your governing documents and IRS paperwork, have two officers or trustees sign under penalty of perjury, and submit the packet with a $15 fee to the Attorney General’s Charitable Trust Bureau before you solicit any donations from Illinois residents or hold more than $4,000 in charitable assets.1Office of the Illinois Attorney General. Illinois Charitable Organization Laws Submitting CO-1 without CO-2 is one of the most common reasons packets are returned.2Illinois General Assembly. 14 Illinois Administrative Code 400 – Solicitation for Charity Act

Out-of-state charities are not off the hook. If you solicit Illinois residents or hold charitable assets in Illinois, you register here too, and you include a Certificate of Authority from the Illinois Secretary of State with the packet.3Illinois Attorney General. Form CO-1 Charitable Organization Registration Statement

What CO-1 Asks For

The form itself is short, but every field needs to match your organization’s records exactly. Gather this before you open the form:3Illinois Attorney General. Form CO-1 Charitable Organization Registration Statement

  • Organization name and phone number.
  • Federal Employer Identification Number (EIN).
  • Type of legal entity (corporation, trust, unincorporated association, or other), plus the date, method, and place the organization was legally established.
  • Fiscal year-end date. This sets the clock for every future annual report, so pick it with that in mind.
  • A specific purpose statement describing what the organization does and how contributions will be used. The form instructs filers to “be specific”; language like “charitable purposes” will not satisfy the Bureau.
  • Names, mailing addresses, and daytime phone numbers of all officers, directors, or trustees.
  • IRS tax-exempt status, including whether an application is still pending.

Documents to Attach

What you attach depends on your entity type. The Attorney General’s instructions list the following combinations:4Office of the Illinois Attorney General. Charitable Organization Registration Statement Illinois

  • Corporations: Articles of Incorporation (with all amendments) and Bylaws. Out-of-state corporations also attach the Illinois Secretary of State Certificate of Authority.
  • Unincorporated associations: Constitution (with all amendments) and Bylaws.
  • Charitable or living inter vivos trusts: Declaration of Trust (with all amendments), inventory, and a recent accounting.
  • Probate estate representatives: the will, letters of office, inventory, and declarations of trust.
  • IRS Determination Letter if 501(c)(3) or other exempt status has been granted. If the application is still pending, include a copy of Form 1023 or 1024.
  • Any professional fundraiser contract already in place.2Illinois General Assembly. 14 Illinois Administrative Code 400 – Solicitation for Charity Act

Form CO-2 is a required attachment, not an option. It is explicitly required for organizations in operation less than one year, and it accompanies CO-1 for everyone else as the financial snapshot that completes the registration.5Office of the Illinois Attorney General. Charitable Organization Financial Information Form CO-2 CO-2 asks for two sets of numbers:

  • Gross receipts: contributions, gifts, and grants; program service revenue; dues; interest and dividends; rents; fundraising event income; and other revenue.
  • Assets: cash, accounts receivable, other receivables, inventory, investments, land, buildings, and equipment, and other assets.

If your organization already produces a treasurer’s report covering substantially the same information, you can substitute that report rather than filling out CO-2 line by line. The numbers must reflect the organization’s standing at the time of filing.

Who Signs

The registration statement must be signed and verified under penalty of perjury by two officers of a corporate organization or two trustees of a non-corporate organization.6Justia Law. Illinois Compiled Statutes 760 ILCS 55 – Charitable Trust Act An organization with only one officer or trustee can file with a single signature. Each signer is personally responsible for the accuracy of everything in the packet, so check the attachments against the form before anyone signs.

Fee and Where to Send It

The filing fee is $15, payable to the “Illinois Charity Bureau Fund.” Both the Solicitation for Charity Act and the Charitable Trust Act set the same amount, and a single CO-1/CO-2 packet can satisfy registration under both statutes at once. A packet submitted without the correct fee will not be accepted.4Office of the Illinois Attorney General. Charitable Organization Registration Statement Illinois

File Online

The Attorney General has moved to an online filing system at charitable.illinoisattorneygeneral.gov. Online submissions receive priority processing over paper filings.7Office of the Illinois Attorney General. Charitable Trust Filing System You create an account and upload scanned copies of every attachment.

File by Mail

To file on paper, send the completed CO-1, CO-2, all attachments, and a check or money order for $15 to:

Office of the Illinois Attorney General
Charitable Trust Bureau
100 West Randolph Street, 11th Floor
Chicago, Illinois 60601-3175

Keep copies of everything. The Bureau does not return original documents.

When It Must Be Filed

Under the Solicitation for Charity Act, registration must be in place before any solicitation. There is no grace period, and a “donate” button on a website counts as a solicitation aimed at Illinois residents.8Legal Information Institute. Illinois Administrative Code tit. 14, Section 400.30 – Registration Under the Charitable Trust Act, a trustee holding more than $4,000 in charitable property must register before making any disbursement or within six months of receiving the property, whichever comes first.9Legal Information Institute. Illinois Administrative Code tit. 14, Section 480.30 – Registration If both apply, the solicitation rule controls, because it is the earlier trigger.

The Attorney General can cancel the registration of a noncompliant organization and, through court proceedings, seek to collect and redistribute its charitable assets under court supervision.10Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Compiled Statutes 225 ILCS 460/4 Late annual reports (which come after registration) carry a $100 late fee on top of the regular $15 report fee.

If Your Organization Already Operated

If donations were collected or charitable assets held before you registered, the packet gets heavier. You must include financial statements for each of the past three years, copies of IRS returns filed for those years, and all applicable back fees. The Bureau can also require a full accounting of prior years.8Legal Information Institute. Illinois Administrative Code tit. 14, Section 400.30 – Registration Late registrations draw more scrutiny, so pull the records together before you file rather than after a Bureau request.

After You File

Registration is not a one-time event. Every registered organization files an annual financial report (Form AG990-IL) with required attachments within six months of its fiscal year-end. Organizations with more than $25,000 in annual revenue or assets pay a $15 fee with each annual report.11Office of the Illinois Attorney General. AG990-IL Filing Instructions The fiscal year-end you put on CO-1 is what sets that cycle, which is why it is worth getting that single field right the first time.