California Assembly Bill 488

Many nonprofits may have heard about California Assembly Bill 488, but you may not be fully aware of how it will impact your organization outside of your communication with the State of California. While this law primarily regulates digital fundraising platforms, nonprofits still need to be aware of the downstream ramifications of its implementation and what you can do to ensure your organization is protected.

For background, California Assembly Bill 488 went into effect on January 1, 2023 and final amended regulations were released on March 26, 2024. Among the many new requirements imposed by the law, digital fundraising platforms must display the status of California organizations that May Not Operate or Solicit for Charitable Purposes. Organizations whose charitable registration falls out of compliance with the State of California will be deemed, in most cases, delinquent and be added to the list. If your organization’s status is delinquent with the State of California, online fundraising platforms (Such as Network for Good, Facebook, and Paypal Giving) may not solicit on your behalf.

What this means for your Charity Navigator Profile 

Under this law, Charity Navigator cannot allow our users to make donations through the Charity Navigator Giving Basket while your organization is delinquent in the State of California. Charity Navigator will also issue a “Review Before Proceeding” alert (per our Alerts system) for Confirmed Delinquency for all organizations listed on our website that appear on the California May Not Operate or Solicit for Charitable Purposes List. Other online donation platforms will be required to take similar steps and may block donations to delinquent organizations. 

How can Nonprofits stay in Compliance?

We implore organizations to pay close attention to all of their state-level registrations and ensure that all relevant requirements are fulfilled annually.  Make sure that you know who in your organization is responsible for maintaining your charitable registrations. Oftentimes, changes in staffing can lead to missed reporting deadlines when those responsibilities are unclear. 

If your organization is delinquent, the California Department of Justice has published this webpage, where you can learn more about how organizations can resolve their delinquent status and what the annual requirements for your organization are. Charity Navigator ingests California’s dataset as it is released (on the first and third Wednesday of each month), and we update Giving Basket access as well as remove the alert as the status is resolved.  If organizations resolve their delinquent status prior to those updates, we welcome them to email that information to alerts@charitynavigator.org so that we can reflect your organization’s updated standing as quickly as possible. 

Have more questions on the law? We recommend contacting your lawyer or you can read more here.