Nonprofit compliance in Massachusetts

Massachusetts screens volunteers through CORI, the Department of Criminal Justice Information Services’ name-based record check, and mandates it in several volunteer settings. Any organization primarily engaged in programs for children 18 or younger must obtain CORI before accepting a volunteer (M.G.L. c. 6, § 172H); camps must obtain CORI, juvenile data and a sex offender registry check on every volunteer (c. 6, § 172G; 105 CMR 430.090); public and private schools must check volunteers with direct and unmonitored contact at least every three years (c. 71, § 38R); and long-term care facilities and home care, municipal and publicly funded elder and disability services must check volunteers too (c. 6, §§ 172C, 172E). Any organization that runs five or more background checks a year must keep a written CORI policy (c. 6, § 171A; 803 CMR 2.18).

• M.G.L. Chapter 71, Section 38R — School Volunteer CORI Checks (Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 71, § 38R) — Mandates that all schools conduct criminal background checks on current and prospective employees and volunteers who may have direct and unmonitored contact with children. CORI must be obtained at least every three years. Applies to volunteers who regularly provide school-related transportation to students.
• CORI Reform Act — M.G.L. Chapter 6, Sections 167–178B (Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 6, §§ 167–178B (as amended by 2010 Acts Ch. 256)) — The Criminal Offender Record Information (CORI) Reform Law governs access to and use of criminal records maintained by the DCJIS. Establishes procedures for how organizations may request, use, and store CORI information. Organizations that run five or more criminal background checks a year, from any source, must have a written CORI policy (§ 171A; 803 CMR 2.18).
• M.G.L. Chapter 6, Section 172H — Children’s Programs Must Obtain CORI (Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 6, § 172H) — Requires any entity or organization primarily engaged in providing activities or programs to children 18 or younger to obtain all available CORI from DCJIS before accepting any person as an employee, volunteer, vendor or contractor. DCJIS lists organizations that run programs for children under 18 at Required 2 access, which adds non-conviction records and adult convictions of any age to what a Standard check returns.
• M.G.L. Chapter 6, Section 172G and 105 CMR 430.090 — Camp Volunteers (Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 6, § 172G; 105 CMR 430.090(D)) — Camp operators must obtain CORI and juvenile court data from DCJIS and a sex offender registry check from SORB on every volunteer, each camping season, and make a suitability determination before the volunteer starts. Written documentation is kept three years.
• M.G.L. Chapter 6, Sections 172C and 172E — Elder, Disability and Long-Term Care Volunteers (Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 6, §§ 172C, 172E) — Long-term care facilities, assisted living residences and continuing care facilities shall obtain CORI on volunteers (§ 172E), as must home care, municipal and publicly funded agencies whose volunteers serve elders or people with disabilities at home or in the community, including meal delivery (§ 172C); a § 172C violation is also a c. 93A violation.
• Who it reaches: School volunteers with direct and unmonitored contact with children (M.G.L. c. 71, § 38R — mandatory); Volunteers at any organization primarily engaged in activities or programs for children 18 or younger — CORI before acceptance (M.G.L. c. 6, § 172H); Volunteers at recreational camps for children — CORI with juvenile data plus a SORB sex offender registry check, every camping season, before service (M.G.L. c. 6, § 172G; 105 CMR 430.090(D), (F)); Child care volunteers with unsupervised access to children in EEC licensed, approved or funded programs, and every volunteer in a family child care home (606 CMR 14.05 — CORI, DCF, SORI, national registry and fingerprint checks); Volunteers with potential unsupervised contact with clients in EOHHS agencies and their contracted vendor programs, including DCF, DMH, DDS and Elder Affairs vendors (101 CMR 15.03–15.04); Volunteers at long-term care facilities, assisted living residences and continuing care facilities, and volunteers who serve elders or people with disabilities at home or in the community for home care, municipal or publicly funded agencies (M.G.L. c. 6, §§ 172C, 172E).
• Check types in use: CORI (Criminal Offender Record Information) check via DCJIS iCORI system; Sex Offender Registry check (Massachusetts Sex Offender Registry Board, SORB); DCF child abuse registry check (run through programs whose regulator performs it, such as EEC background record checks under 606 CMR 14.00); FBI national fingerprint check (required for school employees and for EEC child care volunteers who need an EEC background record check, including every family child care volunteer; optional for school volunteers under § 38R); Required-level CORI (Required 1–4) for organizations a statute or regulation authorizes, adding older convictions, non-convictions, juvenile records or sealed records beyond Standard access (803 CMR 2.05).
• Administered by: Massachusetts Department of Criminal Justice Information Services (DCJIS), iCORI system; Sex Offender Registry Board (SORB); Department of Early Education and Care (EEC) for licensed childcare; Department of Public Health (recreational camps, 105 CMR 430.090); Executive Office of Health and Human Services (101 CMR 15.00).
• Typical processing: We found no published DCJIS or SORB turnaround standard; confirm current processing times with the agency..

Massachusetts is one of the 39 states that generally require a charitable organization to register before soliciting contributions from its residents — typically before the first ask, not after the first gift, and usually with an annual renewal.

• Registration is generally required before soliciting, including by mail, phone, email, or a public donate page.
• Soliciting residents of other states can trigger registration in those states regardless of where you are based — an online donate button reaches all fifty.
• Exemptions exist in most registering states (small organizations, religious organizations, membership appeals) but they are specific and usually must be claimed rather than assumed.
• Confirm current requirements with your state charity office before relying on this — thresholds and exemptions are amended frequently.

These apply regardless of which state you operate in, and they are the ones most commonly missed by small organizations that assume state registration is the whole picture.

• Annual Form 990, 990-EZ, or 990-N. Three consecutive years of non-filing revokes exempt status automatically — this is the single most common way small nonprofits lose their status.
• If you run background checks on volunteers, the Fair Credit Reporting Act applies to you as a user of consumer reports: a standalone written disclosure, separate written authorization, and the pre-adverse and adverse action sequence before acting on a result.
• Public disclosure: your exemption application and recent 990s must be made available on request.
• Employment obligations attach to paid staff regardless of exempt status — payroll tax, worker classification, and wage and hour law all apply.