Illinois charitable solicitation registration

Start with the Illinois filing route

The Attorney General's current portal guide says a new charitable organization starts with a CO-1 registration statement. Portal intake then determines whether the package also needs CO-2 or up to three AG990-IL forms, CO-3, or an IFC campaign form. A CO-1 package uses one financial form route—CO-2 or AG990-IL, not both—and all required forms and attachments must be complete before submission.

Separate registration from Illinois reporting exemptions

Illinois uses more than one charitable-organization law, so a fundraising threshold is not a safe substitute for a registration decision. Section 3(a) of the Solicitation for Charity Act describes a report-filing exemption for an organization that does not intend to receive and does not actually receive more than $15,000 during the stated 12-month period. The same provision begins with an initial registration filing and an Attorney General determination that the exemption facts are genuine. That is different from the categories in section 3(b) that are not required to register.

The Charitable Trust Act has a separate scope rule for trustees holding charitable property valued above $4,000 and separate exclusions for specified governmental, religious, school, and hospital activity. A religious organization may also need Form CO-3 with the registration package to request the applicable annual-report exemption. Record the organization type, Illinois assets, solicitation audience, expected contributions, paid-fundraiser use, and claimed exemption before answering the portal intake questions.

Build the online package in the order Illinois expects

1. 1. Create the filing account. Use a monitored email address because the portal uses email for account activation, filing notices, and secure signature links.
2. 2. Start the CO-1 intake. Enter entity type, formation date, fiscal year end, prior Illinois activity, professional-fundraiser use, and any religious-exemption request so the portal can generate the correct child forms.
3. 3. Complete every generated form. The package may include CO-2 or one to three AG990-IL forms, CO-3, and an IFC for each applicable professional-fundraiser campaign. Do not submit CO-2 and AG990-IL together in the same CO-1 package.
4. 4. Upload the requested evidence. Reconcile formation records, IRS material, officer or director information, financial records, fundraiser contracts, and other portal-requested attachments before sending signatures.
5. 5. Finish signatures and preserve proof. The portal emails secure attestation links to the required signers. Save the submitted package, payment record, confirmation, deficiency messages, accepted status, and first annual-report date.

Illinois registration packet checklist

Use the current CO-1 and its instructions as the controlling checklist. The form identifies organizational records and financial information that may be needed and requires signatures from two authorized officers, directors, or trustees for most charitable-organization filings, using secure email links in the portal. Facts vary by entity type and operating history, so do not treat this summary as a substitute for the live intake and generated forms.

Bring prior Illinois activity into the filing

A late initial filing is not prepared like a newly formed organization with no Illinois history. The Attorney General's current registration instructions say an organization that already held or solicited charitable funds in Illinois generally supplies executed AG990-IL reports, required attachments, and federal returns for each of the most recent three reportable years, subject to further requests. Reconcile those periods to the CO-1 intake before uploading documents so the filing does not create mismatched fiscal years or duplicate financial forms.

The same instructions list a $200 late-registration fee when an organization solicited before registering, a $200 re-registration fee after cancellation, a $15 fee for each annual report due, and a $100 late-report fee for each late report. Confirm the live portal-generated amount for the record rather than paying from a static summary. Keep payment evidence and the regulator's acceptance or deficiency message with the filing.

Keep the CO-1 record current after acceptance

Form CO-1 revised October 2024 says a registered organization should notify the Attorney General within 10 days of a change to information submitted on the form. That record includes the legal and solicitation names, Illinois registered agent, offices, fiscal year, officers and directors, professional-fundraiser relationships, and other filing facts. Route changes to a monitored owner instead of waiting for the next AG990-IL, and retain the change notice and confirmation with the accepted registration.

Do not lose the annual-report handoff

Registration begins an ongoing reporting cycle. The current AG990-IL instructions state that a complete annual financial report is due within six months after fiscal year end and is not considered filed unless the required form, attachments, and applicable fees are complete. The instructions also address federal-return attachments, financial-statement thresholds, fundraiser campaign reports, signatures, extensions, and late-report fees. Calendar the first annual report when the registration package is prepared—not after approval arrives.

Official Illinois sources

Source review completed September 24, 2026. Confirm live portal instructions, generated forms, fees, and record-specific notices before filing.

Illinois registration FAQ