West Virginia charity registration close-out

Close-out begins with facts, not a form label. Obtain the board or authorized-management decision, identify the last date the organization requested or received contributions, donations, or grants in West Virginia, and preserve the campaign and donation-channel evidence. West Virginia’s definition of solicitation includes requests made where they are received, so review websites, email, mail, events, peer-to-peer tools, vendors, grant activity, and campaigns run on the charity’s behalf.

Stop West Virginia-targeted asks, disable or geofence donation paths if that is the organization’s operational decision, update campaign copy, and give written stop instructions to professional fundraisers and platforms. Preserve the final transaction and contract dates. An internal decision to stop is not enough if public or vendor-controlled solicitation continues.

West Virginia Code section 29-19-5 is unusually direct: if an organization discontinues solicitation after its last registration filing, it must file a registration statement reflecting activities during the last fiscal year in which solicitation in West Virginia took place. Do not simply allow the registration to expire and assume the public record is closed.

Use the current CHR-1 and the Charities Division’s current instructions for that last fiscal year. Identify the filing as the final period in the cover communication and ask how the state wants the cessation documented. Keep the written answer. The statute supplies the final-reporting duty, while the regulator’s record-specific instructions control how the transaction is coded and reflected publicly.

The last-period CHR-1 still requires the organization identity, solicitation names, officers, financial custodians, fundraising responsibility, prior-year financial information, IRS materials, and professional-fundraiser contracts that apply to the period. Reconcile contributions and expenses through the final activity date. If a fundraiser contract ended, preserve its termination and any required reports rather than omitting the relationship from the last filing.

Apply the current CPA review or audit thresholds to the final filing period and confirm any boundary issue with the Charities Division. Calculate the ordinary registration fee and any late amount from the correct due date. A close-out label does not erase a missing period or late fee, and the statutory $500 late cap applies to one annual statement or report rather than the entire organization history.

Save the final submission, all attachments, payment, delivery evidence, agency correspondence, and the public charity-search result after processing. Record the status displayed and the lookup date. If the state search still shows an active, expired, or otherwise confusing entry, obtain written clarification instead of describing the charity record as withdrawn based only on an internal stop date.

Retain the board authorization, final campaign inventory, vendor notices, last West Virginia receipts, restricted-fund analysis, and final state proof under the organization’s retention policy. Monitor stale landing pages, recurring donation links, third-party profiles, and fundraiser scripts for a defined period so a dormant channel does not silently restart West Virginia solicitation.

Stopping solicitation does not automatically dissolve a West Virginia nonprofit or withdraw a foreign entity. The Secretary of State provides separate entity termination routes, including the One Stop portal and special instructions for unincorporated nonprofit associations. Decide whether the organization is merely ending West Virginia fundraising, withdrawing its authority, or terminating completely; those outcomes are not interchangeable.

Likewise, the IRS final-return process applies when the exempt organization itself terminates, not merely when it leaves one state. A terminating organization may need a final Form 990-series return and Schedule N, plus asset-distribution evidence. Preserve the charity, entity, tax, contracts, and restricted-asset workstreams separately and link them in one close-out index.