* If you have any questions for the Charitable Organizations Division, please email us at dlcharity_sos@maryland.gov or call us at 410-974-5534 *
Maryland Attorney General and Secretary of State, with the FTC,
Due to the large volume of annual charity registration applications received during this time of the year, we anticipate a processing time of approximately 6-8 weeks after receipt of your annual charity registration application. We appreciate your patience as we work as quickly as we can to review and respond to all annual charity registration applications.
If you already submitted a paper application,
do not submit an additional online application for the same fiscal year(s). If you already submitted an online application,
do not submit an additional paper application for the same fiscal year(s).
The following SOS Handbook is available for purchase:
| TO ORDER THE MARYLAND SOLICITATIONS ACT HANDBOOK |
MD Solicitations Act Handbook (July 2018) ............... $18.00
You may purchase the Solicitations Act handbook in one of the following ways:
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Online Charity Database System Info Effective August 2022
You may now submit your initial and subsequent annual charitable solicitation registrations online on Maryland's OneStop Portal: https://onestop.md.gov. If you are filing an annual registration form, you will need to log into your OneStop account, move to your charity's entity account, and complete the renewal application in the system. Be sure to log into OneStop with the same email address that you have used to claim the organization's record, or that you were designated as a user by the organization's record holder, so that you'll be able to successfully navigate to the renewal application online.
If you haven't claimed the organization's record so that you can file annual registrations online, you will need to do that first. The record holder email address in the system should be the last email address provided on your prior annual registration form. If you are unable to claim the records, contact dlcharity_sos@maryland.gov to let us know that you cannot claim the record and provide us with the email address that you want to use to access the organization's records in OneStop so that you can file online. We will update the system to make that email address the record holder so that you can claim the records in the system and file online.
If your organization has not previously registered with the Secretary of State to solicit charitable contributions in Maryland, you will want to complete a new registration form. You can do that from this link: https://onestop.md.gov/tags/5d1538807ccc6701ed6141d6. You can access the new filing form for both charities and paid fundraisers from this link.
The user guides below will help you with setting up your account, claiming your record, and filing annual registrations.
If you previously submitted charity registration paperwork via U.S. Mail, it will be processed. Submitting it online will cause a duplicate entry and double-payment.
Links to user guides and a video are below, they may help you to set up and use the online system.
CHARITY REGULATIONS IN EFFECTIVE
| The Maryland State Department of Assessments and Taxation (SDAT) serves as the central repository of all required business filings that must be submitted to the State of Maryland. These filings include Articles of Incorporation to create a tax-exempt nonstock corporation, Articles of Organization to form an LLC, and the required Annual Report that every entity registered with SDAT must submit each year by April 15 to remain in good standing in Maryland. SDAT strongly encourages the use of Maryland Business Express, SDAT's award winning online business filing portal, when submitting any of these documents to the Department, as online filing provides the fastest processing speeds and the easy tracking of filing status. For general support regarding the filing of documents with SDAT, please call 410-767-1330. SDAT is not a part of the Secretary of State's Office. |
Charity Town Halls
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11/18/2024: Charity Town Hall Recording: Donor Awareness-Tips for Donating Wisely
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10/29/2024: Charity Town Hall Recording: Charitable Organizations Registration Requirements Through the Lens of the Secretary of State, Comptroller, State Department of Assessments & Taxation
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9/16/2024: Charity Town Hall Recording: How to Come Back Into Compliance-Fixing Registration Issues
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5/28/2024 Charity Town Hall Recording: Professional Solicitor and Fundraising Counsel Registration Requirements
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4/15/2024 Charity Town Hall Recording: Registration Requirements for Charitable Organizations
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10/25/23 Charity Town Hall Recording: Cryptocurrency and Charities
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4/3/23 Charity Town Hall Recording: Compliance & Enforcement...How to Avoid Complaints
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10/21/22 Charity Town Hall Recording: How to Escape a Cyberpunk! How charities can avoid becoming a victim of cybercrime
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10/22/2021 Charity Town Hall on Cybercrime-Tips from Charity Leaders (video from the town hall) - - To view the slides from this town hall
click here
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10/19/21 Charity Town Hall: Stop Cybercrime in its Tracks...Tips for Protecting Charities (video from the town hall) - - To view the slides from this town hall
click here
Charities and Legal Services Division Annual Reports
The Charitable Organizations Division annually registers, regulates and renews charitable organizations, Professional Solicitors and Fund-Raising Counsel soliciting charitable contributions in the State of Maryland. This includes the review of a charitable organization's financial and governing documents, as well as the review of all fund-raising contracts.
The Division administers and reviews applications for participation in the Maryland Charity Campaign for Maryland State Employees and Retirees. In order to encourage public confidence in the integrity of charities, current law mandates that charities reveal to the public their financial and programmatic activities, with the view that an informed public will exercise prudence in giving.
Legislation also established a
Charitable Giving Information
Program comprised of a toll-free line, a speaker's bureau and the production of charitable giving literature. The program is designed to increase public awareness and encourage questions regarding charitable giving, as well as to offer the public a means of voicing concerns and reporting suspected violations of the charitable law.
Statutory Authority: Business Regulation Article, §§6-101—6-701 of the Annotated Code of Maryland.
Many states have solicitation acts similar to the Maryland Solicitations Act. These statutes also generally require registration of charitable organizations soliciting in their states.
Click here for the print version of the Maryland Solicitation Act. Please be advised that although every effort has been made to reproduce the current text of the Maryland Code for these sections, this office does not warrant the accuracy of this content.
If a charitable organization is soliciting or is planning on soliciting charitable contributions in other states, the organization should contact the state agency responsible for the regulations of charitable solicitations and determine whether registration is required.
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Questions: |
Telephone Numbers: |
| Stephanie Marsiglia | (410) 974-2620 |
Jordan Graves
| (410) 260-3834 |
Triston Mosley
| (410) 974-5549
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| Kimberly Smith | (410) 260-3879
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