Address provided is not a physical address (27.92%)

The Colorado Charitable Solicitations Act and the Rules for the Administration of the Colorado Charitable Solicitations Act require all registrants to provide the principal place of business of the organization. “Principal Place of Business” means the street address of the organization’s usual place of business and does not include a post office box or private mailbox. See section 6-16-104(2)(b), C.R.S. and 8 CCR 1505-9, Rule 1.15.   

A P.O. Box, private mailbox vendor, or other mailing address may be entered in addition to a street address, but it cannot substitute for one, not even in mountain and rural communities.

If the organization in fact has no street address, it may provide the street address of its registered agent in Colorado, or if all else fails, it may list the street address of the officer who has custody of the organization’s corporate and financial records.

Balance sheet info missing or incorrect (18.49%)

It is extremely rare for an organization to have $0.00 in assets at the end of a reporting period. However, if this is the case, please send an explanatory email to charitable@coloradosos.gov prior to filing the document.

Note that staff routinely compare balance sheet information from an earlier reporting period to revenue, expenses, and balance sheet information in the current period, so please confirm that the current period’s information is consistent with what was reported in the earlier period.

Revenue or expense items missing (16.25%)

One frequent reason for returning a document is a failure to list any revenue or expense items on the financial statement. It would be unusual for this to be a complete and accurate depiction of the financial activity of the organization.

If the organization in fact had $0.00 in revenue and expenses during the reporting period, please send an explanatory email to charitable@coloradosos.gov prior to filing the document.

Established charity may not provide estimated financial figures on initial registration (4.79%)

Established organizations that have completed their first fiscal year must provide actual (not estimated) financial figures for their most recently completed fiscal year.

If an organization is unable to provide actual financial information for its most recent fiscal year in the initial registration statement, it should change the period covered by the report in Step 7 to the previous accounting period, and then enter complete and accurate financial information from the previous period. Be advised, however, that financial figures for the most recent fiscal year are still due within 7-1/2 months of the close of the fiscal year, so if you choose to file information from an earlier period, you will need to file an extension immediately after the initial registration is approved by our office.

Fundraising professional(s) not listed (4.74%)

If you list an amount for outside professional fundraiser fees, but do not list any fundraising professionals in Step 8, the document will be returned for corrections. Please list all paid solicitors and/or professional fundraising consultants to whom you paid professional fundraiser fees.

Invalid authorized officer (4.59%)

An "authorized officer" must be an officer of a nonprofit corporation, a trustee of a charitable trust, or a senior manager member of any other entity subject to the filing requirements of the Colorado Charitable Solicitations Act. The authorized officer is also considered the account manager. An example of a role that is not an “authorized officer” is a third-party service provider that helps organizations with state registration. The e-file application features separate login credentials for preparers who can enter data but cannot submit filings by themselves.

Invalid legal form and/or place and date of formation (4.34%)

The Colorado Charitable Solicitations Act (CCSA) requires that all registration statements include the place and date when the charitable organization was legally established and the form of its organization (see 6-16-104(2)(f), C.R.S.). Please avoid terms such as charity, church, 501c3, animal shelter, etc. A domestic nonprofit corporation is incorporated. Other (unincorporated) legal forms include unincorporated nonprofit association, charitable trust, and limited liability company (LLC).

Estimated financial info not replaced with actual figures (1.99%)

Make sure the box in Step 7 for estimated or actual financial information indicates the figures are actual and not estimated. Our office will not approve a financial report containing estimated financial information if the organization’s first fiscal year ended more than 10-1/2 months ago.

Incorrect reporting period (1.79%)

Groups that were subject to registration under the Colorado Charitable Solicitations Act (6-16-104 C.R.S.) in previous years but were not in fact registered must file at least two financial reports retroactively. This gives potential donors a better sense of past performance. If an organization only submits its most recent financial report under these circumstances, we will return the document so the filer can submit an earlier year first.

All officers, directors, trustees, and executive personnel not listed (1.35%)

The Colorado Charitable Solicitations Act requires a complete list of the names and addresses of the officers, directors, trustees, and executive personnel of the charitable organization (6-16-104(2)(c), C.R.S.). More specifically, this means that you should (at a minimum) list every member of the board of directors and each key employee in Step 5 of the online form.