Michigan charity registration recovery

Search the Attorney General charity database and save the legal name, AG file number, displayed status, expiration date, last financial period, and any pending or deficiency message. Compare the result with the prior registration confirmation. Michigan calculates expiration from the financial period supplied with the registration, so an assumed calendar anniversary can point to the wrong cure date.

Separate an expired solicitation registration from charitable-trust reporting, corporation standing, IRS status, gaming licenses, and professional-fundraiser licensing. Michigan organizations registered to solicit may also be registered as charitable trusts, but the records and forms still need to be reconciled. A federal extension or corporation report does not extend the Attorney General solicitation registration.

The April 2026 CTS-02 instructions expressly include organizations whose prior registration expired. CTS-01 is for an organization registering to solicit for the first time. Preserve the prior AG file number and legal name in the catch-up package so the Attorney General can connect the renewal to the existing record instead of creating avoidable identity confusion.

If the registration expired, provide copies of changes to organizing documents, bylaws, IRS status, or charitable purposes since the previous submission. Prepare a change log even when nothing changed, so the filing decision is supportable. If the legal name, fiscal year, resident agent, addresses, officers, or fundraising arrangements changed, reconcile them throughout the form and attachments.

Use the current CTS-02 and its attachment instructions for the relevant financial year. Reconcile the Form 990 or other financial accounting, officer and director information, solicitation methods, and professional-fundraiser relationships to approved records. Attach fundraiser contracts or campaign information when required, and verify that each professional fundraiser is licensed before continuing covered work.

Michigan currently charges no state fee to register to solicit, but no-fee does not mean no-document. Incomplete or inaccurate information can delay review. Save the final PDF set, source financials, officer approval, and a list of every attached change document. Do not expose donor information that the current form does not request.

Michigan permits a five-month extension when the written request is received before the current registration expires. The extension then applies to future renewals. Once the record is already expired, use the CTS-02 expired-registration route and current agency direction rather than assuming a late extension restores the prior period.

Michigan accepts forms by email, e-filing, fax, or mail and identifies email as preferred. Follow the live channel instructions and include the AG file number and legal name where directed. A pending label can have a specific meaning for a timely complete renewal, but an organization with an already expired record should not infer fundraising authority without applying the form instructions and any Attorney General notice to its facts.

Save transmission evidence, the full filing, attachments, agency correspondence, and any corrected submission. Recheck the Michigan search after processing for the expiration date and status. A sent email or e-file receipt is not the final status record. If the Section identifies missing or inaccurate information, answer from the reconciled package and preserve the resolution.

Calendar the next renewal at least 30 days before the printed expiration, with earlier checkpoints for the annual accounting, document changes, fundraiser records, signatures, and database verification. CharityClarity can provide a quick state status signal where available, but the Michigan Attorney General’s registration confirmation and search result control the state filing conclusion.