Georgia Charity Registration and Nonprofit Compliance

Georgia brings together a large number of churches, ministries, and community nonprofits, along with strong corporate and philanthropic donors. That mix creates opportunity, but it also draws close attention from the Georgia Secretary of State and the Department of Revenue. Leaders who raise funds from Georgia residents or run Georgia programs need a clear picture of when registration, disclosures, and tax filings come into play.

This overview highlights common pressure points for organizations that ask Georgia residents for support, receive online gifts from Georgia, or operate missions, schools, and health programs in the state. The goal is to help your board and development team spot risk areas early and decide when a focused Georgia review makes sense.

Donor Solicitation in Georgia

Registration expectations for Georgia fundraising

Georgia’s Charitable Solicitations Act reaches most organizations that ask Georgia residents for contributions, whether requests arrive by mail, email, phone, events, or online donation pages. Charitable organizations that raise more than a modest amount from contributions and do not fit within an exemption often register with the Charities Division of the Secretary of State before solicitation.

Georgia law includes several exemptions, including a revenue threshold for organizations with smaller contribution levels and no paid solicitor, along with exemptions for certain religious and educational organizations. The details matter. Factors such as group tax exemptions, relationships with umbrella ministries, and use of third party platforms often shift the analysis. Many churches, campus ministries, and community nonprofits in Georgia face close questions about whether they fall inside or outside a particular exemption.

Paid solicitors and solicitor agents face their own registration rules before working with Georgia donors. Boards that rely on professional fundraising firms, call centers, or cause marketing arrangements need to understand who registers, who files financial reports, and how contracts assign responsibility for filings and disclosures.

Online giving and communication with Georgia supporters

Donation pages, email campaigns, and peer fundraising platforms reach Georgia residents even when the organization has no physical presence in the state. Regulators look at patterns of communication, the volume of gifts from Georgia mailing addresses, and any targeted outreach to Georgia audiences when they evaluate registration duties.

Organizations that serve national audiences often treat Georgia as part of a broader multi-state plan. Questions tend to center on thresholds, exemptions for religious or educational work, and how to handle legacy donors who move to Georgia. Many leaders want help aligning online giving tools and website disclaimers with Georgia’s expectations while still keeping giving flows simple for donors.

Events and campaigns in Georgia

Fundraising dinners, conferences, concerts, and short-term campaigns inside Georgia often trigger more scrutiny than remote online giving. A single high-profile event in Atlanta with ticket sales, sponsorships, and public promotion can draw interest from state charity officials, especially when the host organization has not yet registered or filed for an exemption.

Many organizations also partner with local churches or community groups for events and campaigns. That kind of cooperation raises questions about whose tax identification number appears on receipts, which entity holds funds, and which organization handles any required Georgia charity filings. Early planning helps avoid confusion about who carries compliance duties for a joint event or seasonal campaign in the state.

Tax Issues for Georgia Nonprofits

Income tax

Organizations that hold federal 501(c)(3) status often seek recognition of exemption from Georgia income tax as well. Georgia ties its income tax rules to federal recognition and allows eligible 501(c)(3) organizations to avoid state corporate income tax on related charitable activity once the Department of Revenue accepts their status.

Leaders still need to watch unrelated business income, joint ventures, and revenue from non-charitable activities. Those streams may create Georgia tax exposure even when the organization holds exemption for its core programs. Boards also need a process for filing required information returns with the state when Georgia expects copies of federal forms or other reports.

Sales and use tax

Georgia takes a stricter approach to sales and use tax than many other states. As a general rule, the state does not grant broad sales or use tax exemption for churches, religious ministries, or most charitable organizations. Nonprofits usually pay sales tax on their own purchases of tangible personal property and collect sales tax when they sell taxable items at retail, unless they fall within a narrow statutory exemption.

Limited categories, such as licensed nonprofit hospitals, certain private schools, nonprofit health centers, and specified library-support organizations, qualify for sales tax exemptions on purchases when they follow Georgia’s rules and present the ST-5 Certificate of Exemption. Churches and ministries sometimes receive targeted exemptions for particular items, such as pipe organs or steeple bells, while everyday purchases remain taxable. Leadership teams in Georgia often want a structured review of their purchasing and retail activity to clarify where sales tax applies and where a special exemption might exist.

Property tax

Georgia’s constitution and statutes provide property tax exemption for property owned by religious, charitable, and educational institutions when the property is used exclusively for qualifying purposes and not for private profit. Courts and tax authorities in Georgia apply the “purely public charity” standard closely, with attention to both ownership and use of land and buildings.

Questions often arise when a church or charity leases portions of a campus, operates a café or bookstore, shares space with another organization, or holds property for future development. Educational institutions and hospitals that run fee-based programs also face detailed analysis of how each parcel supports the exempt mission. A targeted property review helps boards understand how county assessors approach mixed use sites and what documentation supports exemption under Georgia law.

Entity Types with Special Questions in Georgia

Churches and religious ministries

Many churches and ministries in Georgia rely on religious exemptions from charitable solicitation registration and focus most of their attention on property tax and sales tax questions. Issues often include whether a particular ministry program falls under the church umbrella, how to handle separate entities for schools or mercy ministries, and how joint events with non-religious charities affect exemption status.

Board members and pastors also face governance questions that intersect with tax and fundraising rules, such as how to structure supporting organizations, how to receive designated gifts for new campuses, and how to manage donor restrictions while staying inside Georgia and federal law.

Religious nonprofits outside the local church

Statewide ministries, regional mission agencies, and faith-based social service providers often sit in a gray area between church exemptions and general charity rules. Their Georgia presence, level of public fundraising, and relationship to local congregations all influence whether regulators view them as exempt from registration or subject to the full charitable solicitation framework.

These organizations also wrestle with sales tax questions on conference merchandise, curriculum, and event tickets, along with property tax treatment for retreat centers, office space, or shared church facilities.

Hospitals and health organizations

Nonprofit hospitals, nursing homes, and health centers in Georgia rely on a mix of income, sales, and property tax provisions that tie exemption to their health-care mission and to specific statutory categories. Capital campaigns, grateful patient programs, and related hospital foundations bring Georgia charitable solicitation rules into play, especially when external vendors play a role in fundraising.

Boards often seek guidance on how separate hospital foundations interface with the main health system for registration, reporting, and disclosure language, and how property tax exemptions apply to outpatient sites, parking structures, or mixed-use medical office buildings.

Educational institutions

Private schools, colleges, and seminaries in Georgia often qualify for specific sales tax exemptions for purchases and hold strong positions for property tax exemption when they use their campuses for educational activities. At the same time, annual funds, alumni campaigns, and athletic fundraising still raise charitable solicitation questions, especially once outreach reaches beyond Georgia borders.

Leadership teams frequently ask how to coordinate Georgia rules with multi-state appeals, online giving platforms, and booster or support organizations that raise funds in the school’s name.

Next steps

If your organization raises funds from Georgia residents, holds events in the state, or maintains Georgia property, a short legal review often brings clarity and a practical plan for next actions. Use the consultation form below to describe your Georgia presence and your current fundraising and program activity. Our team will follow up to schedule a private consultation focused on your organization’s needs in Georgia.