Indiana Charity Registration and Nonprofit Compliance

Indiana organizations draw support from members, donors, and partners across the state and across the country. Leadership teams often ask how charitable solicitation rules, state taxes, and exemptions line up for churches, ministries, and other nonprofits based in Indiana or raising funds among Indiana residents.

Charitable Solicitation in Indiana

Indiana does not require most charitable organizations to register before asking for contributions. Oversight instead centers on professional fundraiser consultants and professional solicitors who work under contract with a charity. Those firms register with the Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Division, disclose key terms for each campaign, and submit information on activity and fundraising results. Charities relying on staff and volunteers for appeals often fall outside this registration program but still operate under general consumer protection law.

Professional solicitors follow detailed disclosure rules during phone calls and other live outreach. Scripts include the name of the fundraiser, the charity served, the location of the caller, the share of each contribution supporting charitable work after fundraising costs, and summary figures on gross receipts and net amounts for board review.

Online Giving, Events, and Campaigns

Online donation pages, email appeals, and social media links directed to Indiana residents function much like traditional mail or phone outreach. Indiana law focuses on who asks for support, which methods appear in the campaign, and whether professionals stand behind the work. A simple “Donate” button tied to a national website often draws attention from Indiana consumer protection staff when marketing targets residents or when a professional solicitor manages the underlying campaign.

Banquets, golf outings, auctions, and walks often rely on ticket sales, sponsorships, and peer to peer fundraising. Professional firms running phone banks or digital campaigns for those events carry Indiana registration and contract requirements, even where the host charity faces no registration mandate. Churches and ministries engaging outside vendors for pledge drives or affinity programs benefit from a tailored review of scripts, disclosures, and agreements before launch.

Indiana Tax Considerations for Nonprofits

Income and Unrelated Business Tax

Federal tax exemption provides a foundation, yet Indiana revenue authorities still expect separate attention. Nonprofit organizations interact with the Department of Revenue through nonprofit reports and a dedicated return for unrelated business income. Revenue from rentals, advertising, sponsorships, or sales outside core exempt purposes often triggers questions under Indiana rules for unrelated business income and related guidance. Boards monitoring these activities closely often avoid surprises surrounding state filing obligations.

Sales and Use Tax

Indiana sales tax rules feature a distinctive threshold approach for nonprofit fundraising. Sales of goods tied to nonprofit purposes remain exempt while total sales stay under a dollar threshold currently set at one hundred thousand dollars in either the current or prior year. Once activity crosses this line, the organization begins to collect and remit sales tax like a retail merchant. Churches, public schools, parochial schools, monasteries, convents, and certain youth agricultural organizations stand outside this threshold and hold broader exemptions on sales activity.

Separate rules address tax on purchases. Qualifying nonprofits seek recognition from the Department of Revenue and then present exemption documentation when purchasing goods and some services for organizational use. Events blending exempt and nonexempt purchases, such as conferences including both program materials and lodging or meals, often require careful planning so invoices and payment flows match Indiana guidance.

Property Tax

Indiana property tax law grants exemption for buildings and land owned, occupied, and used for educational, religious, or charitable purposes. The link between use and exemption receives close review from county assessors, especially where property supports mixed purposes such as worship space plus commercial rentals or fee based programs.

Entity Specific Considerations

Churches and Ministries

Congregations and ministries in Indiana often focus on two questions. First, whether property, parsonages, and ministry facilities align with state property tax standards for religious and charitable use. Second, how sales tax rules apply to ongoing bookstore operations, regular fundraising sales, and conference registrations, especially in light of the higher dollar threshold and the special treatment for churches and similar bodies. Boards also weigh how professional fundraising contracts, pledge drives, and relief campaigns interact with Indiana disclosure rules for solicitors.

Religious and Other Faith Based Nonprofits

Religious nonprofits organized outside a congregational structure, such as mission agencies, schools, counseling centers, or campus ministries, often share many of the same questions as churches but with distinct facility and staffing patterns. Leasing space from another ministry or from a commercial landlord often raises separate property tax concerns. Revenue from program fees, counseling services, camps, and resource sales also raises questions regarding unrelated business income and sales tax thresholds.

Hospitals and Health Related Organizations

Hospitals and health systems in Indiana hold complex footprints involving exempt hospital facilities, joint ventures, and physician practices. Property tax exemptions require close alignment between property use and charitable health purposes, and separate statutes address hospital related property and joint service organizations. Large development campaigns involving professional fundraising firms also raise solicitor registration and disclosure questions, especially when campaigns reach households through extensive phone outreach or digital channels.

Educational Institutions

Private schools, colleges, and related educational organizations look to Indiana rules for both property tax and sales tax relief. Campuses, athletic fields, and academic facilities often qualify for exemption when owned and used for educational purposes. At the same time, bookstores, ticketed events, and camps generate sales requiring review under the nonprofit sales tax threshold and unrelated business tax concepts. When development offices retain outside fundraising counsel for capital campaigns, those contracts bring Indiana professional fundraiser rules to the planning process.

Next Steps

Each organization faces a unique mix of solicitation channels, fundraising structures, and assets. For guidance tailored to an Indiana charity, church, school, or health related nonprofit, please use the form below to schedule a consultation with our team.