GivingTuesday 2026: 7 Things Every Nonprofit Should Check Before Launching Its Year-End Fundraising Campaign

1. Know Where You’re Asking for Donations

This sounds simple enough. You know where your nonprofit is located, and you probably have a pretty good idea where most of your supporters live.

But where your organization operates and where it solicits contributions aren’t necessarily the same thing.

Imagine a nonprofit headquartered in Massachusetts.

Historically, most of its fundraising has been local. But this year, the development team expands its email campaign, runs targeted social media advertisements, and asks board members to reach out to supporters across the country.

Suddenly, its fundraising activities extend well beyond Massachusetts.

That matters because many states regulate charitable solicitation, and registration requirements can apply before an organization asks for donations, not just after it receives them.

An organization may need to evaluate charitable registration requirements in states where it actively targets potential donors, even if it has no physical office or employees there.

There is an important distinction, however.

Receiving an unexpected donation from someone in another state is not necessarily the same as actively soliciting that person. Online fundraising rules are more nuanced than that, and each state’s requirements need to be considered individually.

For example, Connecticut’s Department of Consumer Protection distinguishes between an out-of-state donor independently finding a charity’s website and an organization directing fundraising solicitations to Connecticut residents.

Before GivingTuesday: Review the geographic reach of your email campaigns, donor mailing lists, paid advertising, fundraising events, and other planned outreach. Identify the states where you’re actively requesting contributions.

You may discover that your fundraising audience has expanded more than you realized.

2. Make Sure Your State Registrations Are Actually Current

Here’s a situation we encounter more often than you might expect.

A nonprofit believes it’s registered in a particular state because somebody submitted an application a few years ago.

Unfortunately, submitting an application and maintaining an active registration are two different things.

Depending on the state, registrations may require annual renewals, financial reporting, updated organizational information, or additional documentation.

And those requirements don’t necessarily follow your organization’s fiscal year or the calendar year.

One state might have a renewal deadline tied to your fiscal year-end. Another may use a fixed deadline. Some filing requirements depend on the organization’s revenue or contribution levels.

It’s easy for something to fall through the cracks, especially when nonprofit employees wear multiple hats.

One person handles fundraising. Another manages finances. Someone else submitted the original registrations.

Then one of those people changes jobs, and suddenly nobody knows who is responsible for renewing anything.

Sound familiar?

Before GivingTuesday, take a few minutes to verify your registration status in the states where your organization plans to solicit contributions.

Don’t assume that an old confirmation email means you’re still in good standing. And don’t assume a filing marked “pending” has the same legal effect as an accepted registration. Status terminology and filing rules vary by state.

Before GivingTuesday: Use official state databases to verify existing registrations, confirm upcoming deadlines, and address any expired or delinquent filings.

Our State Compliance Status resource can help you locate the appropriate state registration tools.

If you haven’t reviewed your registrations in a while, this is a particularly good time to do it.

3. Don’t Assume You Need to Register Everywhere (or Nowhere)

One of the most common questions nonprofits ask about online fundraising is:

“If someone in any state can donate through our website, do we have to register in every state?”

The short answer is no, not automatically.

But the opposite assumption can be just as problematic.

“We’re only fundraising online, so state registration doesn’t apply to us.”

That isn’t necessarily true either.

The National Association of State Charity Officials (NASCO) developed guidance known as the Charleston Principles to help address charitable solicitation over the internet.

Among other considerations, those principles discuss organizations that specifically target residents of a state or receive donations from that state on a repeated, ongoing, or substantial basis.

Importantly, the Charleston Principles are advisory guidance, not a single nationwide law. States have their own statutes, regulations, interpretations, and exemptions.

Some organizations may qualify for exemptions based on their activities, organizational classification, fundraising amounts, or other circumstances.

And not every state has the same registration requirements.

The goal shouldn’t be to register in as many states as possible just to be safe.

It should be to understand where your organization is actually required to register.

For nonprofits operating on tight budgets, that’s an important distinction.

Before GivingTuesday: Review your planned solicitation activities against the requirements and available exemptions in each relevant state.

If you’d like a deeper explanation, we’ve previously covered whether a Donate button requires registration in every state.

4. Find Out What Your Fundraising Platforms Actually Handle

Online fundraising platforms have made giving easier than ever.

With a few clicks, nonprofits can launch donation pages, create peer-to-peer campaigns, accept recurring contributions, and promote matching gifts.

That’s fantastic for fundraising.

But there’s an important question organizations sometimes forget to ask:

What exactly is the platform responsible for?

A payment processor may handle transactions, payment security, and donation confirmations.

That doesn’t necessarily mean it handles your organization’s charitable solicitation registrations.

Similarly, a fundraising platform’s own compliance obligations do not automatically satisfy every requirement that may apply to the charities using it.

California, for example, has specific rules governing charitable fundraising platforms and platform charities. Those requirements can involve registration, fundraising disclosures, consent, donation processing, and reporting.

The California Attorney General’s guidance explains the responsibilities of platforms and related organizations.

If your nonprofit is using third-party services for GivingTuesday, make sure you understand the arrangement.

Ask questions such as:

• Who is legally receiving the contribution?
• Who provides the donor’s tax acknowledgment?
• Are donations transferred directly to our organization or through another entity?
• What fees are deducted?
• Will we receive sufficient donor and geographic information for compliance purposes?
• Is the platform simply processing donations, or does our agreement actually include charitable registration services?

You don’t need to turn every fundraising conversation into a legal seminar.

But a quick review of your platform agreements can prevent misunderstandings.

Before GivingTuesday: Confirm what your fundraising providers handle and what remains your organization’s responsibility.

5. Check Your Fundraising Disclosures Before Hitting Publish

Here’s something that rarely gets the same attention as choosing the perfect fundraising photo:

The fine print.

Certain states require charities to include specific disclosures when soliciting contributions.

Depending on the state and circumstances, these requirements may involve registration information, notices explaining how donors can obtain financial information, or prescribed language concerning state registration.

Florida is one example.

Under Florida Statutes Section 496.411, covered charitable organizations must provide specified disclosures, including a registration and financial-information notice on certain solicitation materials and applicable donation-processing webpages.

And Florida isn’t the only state with disclosure requirements.

This can become particularly important when a nonprofit launches one national campaign using the same email, donation page, and promotional materials everywhere.

A design that looks great isn’t necessarily one that satisfies every applicable disclosure requirement.

It also explains why copying the legal language from another nonprofit’s website isn’t always the best idea.

Their organization may have different registration obligations, exemptions, or operating circumstances.

Before GivingTuesday: Review your donation pages, fundraising emails, printed appeals, and other solicitation materials to determine whether any state-specific disclosures are required.

It’s considerably easier to adjust a webpage before launching a campaign than to track down and revise materials after they’ve already been distributed.

6. Make Sure the Donation Experience Works From Start to Finish

Let’s move away from registration requirements for a moment.

Even the best fundraising campaign can struggle if making a donation is confusing or frustrating.

And just because your donation page worked six months ago doesn’t mean everything still works today.

Before GivingTuesday, make a small test donation.

Try it on your phone.

Check the confirmation screen.

Make sure the transaction goes through.

Then check the receipt.

Does it show the correct organization’s name? Does the acknowledgment contain the necessary donation information? If a fundraising platform is involved, is it clear which organization received the gift?

Donor acknowledgments deserve particular attention.

According to the IRS’s charitable contribution guidance, donors generally need a written acknowledgment from the charitable organization to substantiate a deductible contribution of $250 or more.

Additional disclosure rules may apply when a donor receives goods or services in exchange for a payment.

There are also practical questions worth checking.

If you’re offering a matching gift, are the matching terms accurate and easy to understand?

If you’re encouraging recurring donations, is the frequency clearly disclosed?

If a donor wants to contact your organization, can they easily find someone?

And if someone makes a contribution, does the transaction actually appear in your organization’s records?

Donors should feel confident about where their money is going.

A smooth, transparent donation experience helps build that confidence.

Before GivingTuesday: Walk through the entire giving process as though you’re a first-time donor, including the receipt and follow-up communication.

Bonus points if you ask someone outside your organization to test it. They’ll probably find something your team has been overlooking for months.

7. Have a Plan for What Happens After GivingTuesday

Everyone loves to talk about the campaign launch.

Fewer people get excited about the administrative work that follows.

But GivingTuesday doesn’t end when the clock strikes midnight.

Your organization may gain new donors, recurring contributors, and supporters from states you haven’t previously engaged.

That’s a good problem to have.

It’s also a reason to review your fundraising activity after the campaign.

Suppose your nonprofit historically receives only occasional donations from another state.

During GivingTuesday, a targeted campaign or growing donor relationship leads to a meaningful increase in contributions from that state.

Depending on the applicable law and the nature of your fundraising, that change may affect your registration obligations.

Your organization should be able to identify where its fundraising appeals went, where contributions originated, and whether the campaign created new compliance considerations.

It’s also a good opportunity to review your calendar for upcoming registration renewals and financial reporting requirements.

After GivingTuesday: Review campaign results by state, document any significant changes in solicitation activity, and determine whether your registration strategy needs to change.

Your fundraising report shouldn’t just tell you how much was raised.

It should help you understand where your organization is growing.

The Bigger Picture: Fundraising and Compliance Should Work Together

GivingTuesday is a wonderful opportunity for nonprofit organizations to connect with supporters, introduce new people to their missions, and raise money for important work.

And those efforts deserve to succeed.

The purpose of charitable solicitation compliance isn’t to make fundraising unnecessarily difficult.

It’s to promote transparency, accountability, and confidence in charitable giving.

Unfortunately, the administrative side of nonprofit operations doesn’t always receive the same attention as fundraising strategy.

We understand why.

If you’re managing programs, working with donors, coordinating volunteers, and trying to keep the budget balanced, reviewing registration deadlines probably isn’t the highlight of your week.

But these responsibilities become much easier to manage when they’re part of your normal fundraising planning process rather than something you address after a problem appears.

A little preparation can go a long way.

One Last Thing Before December 1

If you’re preparing for GivingTuesday 2026, take some time to review where your organization is fundraising and whether your current registrations reflect those activities.

You don’t necessarily need registrations in every state.

You do need to understand which requirements apply to your organization.

At RegiSTAR-US, we work with nonprofits to evaluate multi-state charitable solicitation requirements, manage registrations, and keep renewals organized.

If you’re unsure where your organization stands, you can request a free 50-state compliance review. We’ll help identify the states that deserve a closer look based on your fundraising activities.

In the meantime, keep planning that GivingTuesday campaign.

Tell your story. Celebrate your supporters. Make it easy for people to contribute.

And maybe double-check those registration deadlines before somebody schedules another email blast.

Happy fundraising!