Nonprofit compliance in Minnesota

Minnesota has no law requiring every nonprofit to screen its volunteers. It requires checks in specific settings: schools must request BCA checks on every athletic or extracurricular academic coach, paid or unpaid, except enrolled student volunteers (Minn. Stat. § 123B.03); child care programs study volunteers who help care for children or have unsupervised access to them (§ 245C.02, subd. 6a); and DHS-licensed and long-term care programs study volunteers whose direct contact is not under continuous, direct supervision (ch. 245C; § 144.057). Other organizations that provide care to children, older adults or people with disabilities may use the voluntary BCA route (§§ 299C.60–.64). It creates no duty to check, and evidence that a BCA check of a volunteer was not requested under the Act is inadmissible in litigation against a nonprofit (§ 299C.62, subds. 5–6) — an evidence rule, not immunity.

• Human Services Background Studies (Minn. Stat. ch. 245C (esp. §§ 245C.02, 245C.03, 245C.13)) — Requires background studies, run by DHS and DCYF through NETStudy 2.0, for people affiliated with licensed programs. Volunteers are study subjects only when their direct contact is not under continuous, direct supervision — within sight or hearing of a supervisor able to intervene at all times (§§ 245C.02, subd. 8; 245C.03, subd. 1(a)(4)). Child care is broader: volunteers who help care for children, or who have unsupervised physical access to a child, are covered (§ 245C.02, subd. 6a). Studies use fingerprints and a photo; pending results, most subjects may provide direct contact only under continuous, direct supervision (§ 245C.13, subd. 2).
• Minnesota Child, Elder, and Individuals with Disabilities Protection Background Check Act (Minn. Stat. §§ 299C.60–299C.64) — Lets a qualified entity that provides care to children, older adults or people with disabilities request BCA state and FBI fingerprint checks, with the person’s signed consent, for listed background check crimes. The Act creates no duty to check (§ 299C.62, subd. 5). Evidence that a BCA check of a volunteer was not requested under the Act is inadmissible in any litigation against a nonprofit (subd. 6) — an evidence rule, not immunity from negligence claims. The BCA makes reasonable efforts to respond within 15 business days.
• School Background Checks (Minn. Stat. § 123B.03, subd. 1) — A school hiring authority must request a BCA criminal history check on everyone offered employment and on everyone, except enrolled student volunteers, offered athletic or extracurricular academic coaching, regardless of whether any compensation is paid. Checks on other school volunteers are at the school’s discretion, and the volunteer pays unless the school chooses to. Applies to public, charter and nonpublic schools, not home schools.
• Long-Term Care Background Studies (Minn. Stat. § 144.057, subd. 1) — Nursing homes, home care agencies, assisted living facilities and boarding care homes use DHS background studies for the people ch. 245C covers, including volunteers whose direct contact is not under continuous, direct supervision.
• Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund Grant Condition (Laws 2025, 1st Spec. Sess. ch. 1, art. 2 (project requirements, par. (m)); Laws 2026, ch. 104) — Organizations receiving Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund money to conduct children’s services must certify to the Legislative-Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources, in their work plan, that checks for § 299C.61 background check crimes are performed on all employees, contractors and volunteers who have or may have access to those children. It is a condition on these grants, not an amendment to ch. 245C. The bill often cited for it, S.F. 506 (2025), was not enacted; the condition passed in the 2025 special session and was repeated in 2026.
• Who it reaches: Anyone, except enrolled student volunteers, offered athletic or extracurricular academic coaching at a public, charter or nonpublic school, regardless of whether any compensation is paid (§ 123B.03, subd. 1(a)); Child care volunteers who help care for children, or who have unsupervised physical access to a child without staff supervision, at licensed centers, family child care, certified license-exempt centers and legal nonlicensed providers (§§ 245C.02, subd. 6a; 245C.03, subd. 5c); Volunteers whose direct contact is not under continuous, direct supervision in DHS-licensed programs, including adult foster care, adult day care, 245D home and community-based services and residential or substance use disorder treatment (§ 245C.03, subd. 1(a)(4), (c)); Any adult working in a children’s residential facility or foster residence setting, with or without direct contact, plus child foster care and Head Start volunteers whose direct contact is not continuously supervised (§ 245C.03, subds. 1(a)(8), 5c); Volunteers who provide direct contact services, not under continuous, direct supervision, in nursing homes, home care agencies, assisted living facilities and boarding care homes (§ 144.057, subd. 1(a)(2)); Employees, contractors and volunteers with access to children at organizations using Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund grants for children’s services (grant condition: Laws 2025, 1st Spec. Sess. ch. 1; Laws 2026, ch. 104).
• Check types in use: Ch. 245C background study through NETStudy 2.0: fingerprints and a photo taken by an authorized vendor, checked against BCA records, with an FBI check where the statute requires one; Predatory offender registration information from the BCA (part of a ch. 245C study); Child abuse and neglect registry information from each state lived in during the past five years (covered ch. 245C studies); BCA criminal history check requested by the school for employees and coaches (§ 123B.03); Voluntary BCA state and FBI fingerprint checks through a qualified entity (§§ 299C.60–.64).
• Administered by: Minnesota Department of Human Services and Department of Children, Youth, and Families — jointly the state agency for ch. 245C background studies (NETStudy 2.0); Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) for school checks and volunteer-organization checks under §§ 299C.60–.64.
• Typical processing: a 15-business-day target for BCA volunteer-organization checks, which the BCA must make reasonable efforts to meet (§ 299C.62, subd. 1).

Minnesota requires charitable organizations to register with the Attorney General before soliciting unless exempt (Minn. Stat. § 309.52). The main exemption covers organizations that receive no more than $25,000 a year in contributions, are run wholly by unpaid people, pay nothing to any officer and use no professional fundraiser (§ 309.515). An organization that crosses $25,000 must register within 30 days (§ 309.52, subd. 1a). Registration costs $25, and the annual report, also $25, is due July 15 for calendar-year books (§§ 309.52, subd. 2; 309.53).

• An all-volunteer charity that raises $25,000 or less a year, pays no officer and uses no professional fundraiser does not register with the Minnesota Attorney General (§ 309.515, subds. 1(a), 2).
• 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.