A:  Charitable organization is defined by the Charitable Solicitations Act to mean any person, joint venture, partnership, limited liability company, corporation, association, group, or other entity

1. that is or holds itself out to be:
   1. a benevolent, educational, voluntary health, philanthropic, humane, patriotic, religious or eleemosynary, social welfare or advocacy, public health, environmental or conservation, or civic organization;
   2. for the benefit of a public safety, law enforcement, or firefighter fraternal association; or
   3. established for any charitable purpose;
2. who solicits or obtains contributions solicited from the public for a charitable purpose; or
3. in any manner employs a charitable appeal as the basis of any solicitation or employs an appeal that reasonably suggests or implies that there is a charitable purpose to any solicitation.

A:  A charitable solicitation occurs upon the making of any request, directly or indirectly, for money, credit, property, financial assistance, or any other thing of value on the plea or representation that it will be used for a charitable purpose.  A charitable solicitation may be made in any manner.

A:  Utah Code Annotated §13-22-8 sets forth a list of organizations that are exempt from the registration requirement.  Any organization that claims an exemption based on this list is required to apply to the Division for that status.  The organization has the burden of proving its eligibility for, or the applicability of, the exemption claimed.  Please note that the exempt status applies only to the registration requirement.  Exempt organizations remain subject to all other provisions of the Charitable Solicitations Act.

A:  No.  Claims of exemption are usually made in the format of a letter to the Division.  Your notice of claim of exemption must contain:  1) a detailed description of your organization and your purposes;  2) a citation to the exemption that is claimed and a detailed explanation of why the exemption applies;  3) any documents supporting your notice of claim of exemption; and  4) a notarized statement from you certifying that the statements are made to the best of your knowledge.  After reviewing your claim of exemption, the Division may request other information from you.  At this time, the Division has not established a fee for this filing.

A:  No.  The division accepts checks, money orders or cash.

A:  State of Utah

A:  No.  You can obtain the application online and type directly onto the form.  However, you will need to print and mail or deliver the completed application to:

Division of Consumer Protection
160 East 300 South
PO Box 146704
Salt Lake City, Utah  84114-6704

A:  Yes.  However, the URS application form must be accompanied by the Supplement to the URS Form that is available from the division or online.

A:  No.  You must be issued a certificate of registration by the division before you solicit any charitable contributions.  It will take us up to 20 business days to review and process your application.

A:  Yes.  Once the application has been approved, the division will send an approval letter and certificate of registration.

A:  No.  The Charitable Solicitations Act requires you to file your most recent IRS Form 990 or annual financial report.  Therefore, the Division will accept the IRS Form 990 that was submitted with last year's application.  Once you have filed with the IRS, you will need to submit your new IRS Form 990 to the division within 30 days to update your application.  In order to avoid this situation in the future, please contact the Division for further information prior to submitting your renewal application.

A:  Yes.  The Registered and Exempt Charities lists are available on the right side of this page.