ROB BONTA                                                    State of California
Attorney General                                               California Department of Justice

             General Guide for Initial Registration with the
          Attorney General’s Registry of Charitable Trusts 

All charitable corporations, unincorporated associations, trustees, or other persons 
holding assets in trust for charitable purposes must register with the Attorney 
General’s Registry of Charitable Trusts within 30 days of initially receiving assets 
(funds, property, etc.) in/from California. 

To complete initial registration, submit the following documents and information to  the 
Registry: 

1.  Form CT-1, available for download on    oag.ca.gov/charities/initial-reg

2.  Founding documents, as follows: 
• Corporations: endorsed articles of incorporation, all amendments, 
  and current bylaws. 
• Associations: instrument creating the organization (bylaws, constitution, 
  and/or articles of association). 
• Trusts: trust instrument or will and decree of final distribution. 
• Trustees for charitable purposes: statement describing your operations 
  and charitable purpose. 

3.  IRS Form 1023 or IRS Form 1024, if submitted to the IRS. 

4.  IRS determination letter, if received from the IRS. 

5.  $50.00 initial registration fee (check or money order-payable to the Department 
of Justice). 

Once the organization is registered and has been assigned a state charity 
registration number (CT#), the Registration Renewal Fee report (RRF-1), and  IRS 
Form 990 report (if applicable) must be filed annually. If the organization has been 
operating as an unregistered entity in California in previous fiscal years, past RRF-1 
reports (plus fees if applicable) must be filed to clear the delinquent status.  

Please wait until the organization is registered and provided a CT# before 
submitting any RRF-1 reports.

                             MAILING ADDRESS
                 California Attorney General’s Office 
                      Registry of Charitable Trusts 
                 P.O. Box 903447 Sacramento,  CA 
                                    94203-4470 
                                                                                 Effective 01/2022