Nonprofit compliance in Nevada

Nevada has no general volunteer screening mandate. The duties are setting-specific: licensed child care facilities must fingerprint every volunteer 18 or older who is not a parent of an enrolled child within 24 hours and every five years (NAC 432A.200); public and charter schools must fingerprint volunteers likely to have unsupervised contact with pupils before they start and every five years (NRS 391.104, 388A.515); and foster care and child-placing agencies must fingerprint volunteers who work with children (NRS 424.155, 127A.340). Other nonprofits serving children, people 60 and older or people with disabilities may choose fingerprint checks through the state’s voluntary VECHS program (NRS 179A.325).

• Child Care Facility Volunteer Checks (NRS §§ 432A.170–432A.1755; NAC § 432A.200) — Licensed child care facilities must have every employee and adult resident, and every volunteer 18 or older other than a parent of an enrolled child, fingerprinted for a Nevada and FBI check within 24 hours and every five years, with a Statewide Central Registry check. No unsupervised contact with children until the check is done.
• School Volunteer Fingerprint Checks (NRS §§ 391.104, 391.105, 388A.515, 394.155; NAC § 391.800) — Public and charter schools must obtain fingerprints and a Statewide Central Registry check for volunteers likely to have unsupervised contact with pupils, including unpaid coaches and chaperones, before they start and at least every five years. Since 2023 a nonprofit’s own fingerprint check no longer substitutes for the school’s, and private schools need only the Central Registry check (2023 AB 503).
• Voluntary Qualified-Entity (VECHS) Screening (NRS § 179A.325) — Lets a qualified entity that serves children, people 60 and older or people with disabilities open an account with the Central Repository and submit fingerprints of covered individuals, contractors and vendors for a Nevada and FBI check. Each request must be voluntary; the organization makes the fitness decision and must tell the person of the right to see and challenge the record.
• Name-Based Conviction Search Service (NRS §§ 179A.100(3), 179A.103) — An employer, volunteer organization or screening service that contracts with the Central Repository can run name-based searches on employees and volunteers with written consent; results show Nevada convictions only.
• Revolving Account for Volunteers Who Work With Children (NRS §§ 179A.310, 179A.140(3)(b); NAC §§ 179A.150, 179A.180) — A state account that may pay the Central Repository’s costs of checking nonprofit volunteers who work directly with children; whether it is funded today is unverified. Grants go only to nonprofits registered with the Secretary of State that serve children under 16, and the nonprofit must apply before submitting the check. Not applying is not evidence of negligence.
• Mandated Reporting — Named Volunteer Roles (NRS § 432B.220) — School volunteers, youth shelter volunteers and volunteers of child abuse advice and referral services are mandated reporters; reports are due as soon as reasonably practicable and no later than 24 hours, and a school must give each volunteer written or electronic notice of the duty and keep an acknowledgment.
• Who it reaches: Volunteers 18 or older at licensed child care facilities, other than a parent of an enrolled child: fingerprints within 24 hours and every five years (NAC 432A.200); Public and charter school volunteers likely to have unsupervised contact with pupils, including unpaid coaches and chaperones: fingerprints before starting and every five years (NRS 391.104, 388A.515); Volunteers of licensed foster care agencies who may come into direct contact with a placed child: fingerprints and child abuse and neglect screening (NRS 424.145, 424.155); Volunteers of licensed child-placing (adoption) agencies who provide services to children: fingerprints, rechecked every five years (NRS 127A.330, 127A.340); Private school volunteers likely to have unsupervised contact with pupils: Statewide Central Registry check before starting and every five years; no fingerprint requirement since 2023 (NRS 394.155); Optional, not required: volunteers of nonprofits serving children, people 60 and older or people with disabilities, through the voluntary VECHS fingerprint program (NRS 179A.325); Possibly required (the law is unclear): seasonal or temporary recreation programs such as camps, clinics and leagues must check each staff member within 3 days of hire and every 5 years (NRS 432A.710); the law does not say whether unpaid volunteers count, though § 432A.700 refers to a staff member or volunteer; Optional, not required by any Nevada statute we found: volunteers at hospitals, nursing homes and other licensed care facilities; NRS 449.123 covers employees, temp workers and contractors and does not mention volunteers, though federal rules, facility policy or contracts may still require checks.
• Check types in use: Fingerprint-based Nevada criminal history check through the Central Repository (DPS Records, Communications and Compliance Division); FBI national fingerprint check forwarded by the Central Repository; Statewide Central Registry check for substantiated child abuse or neglect (required for child care, school and foster care agency checks, and for care-facility staff); Name-based Nevada conviction search through a Central Repository contract (convictions only; NRS 179A.103); Sex offender registry check.
• Administered by: Nevada Department of Public Safety, Records, Communications and Compliance Division (Central Repository for Nevada Records of Criminal History); Division of Social Services Child Care Licensing for child care facility checks.
• Typical processing: not published for volunteer fingerprint checks; Child Care Licensing tells facilities to allow up to 90 days for NABS account information to be processed and updated.

Nevada requires a charitable organization to register with the Secretary of State before soliciting contributions in the state, including solicitations from outside Nevada (NRS 82A.100(1), 82A.070). A Nevada nonprofit corporation files the charitable information and a financial report (a Form 990 may be accepted) with its initial list and then with each annual list, due by the last day of its anniversary month; the annual list fee is $50 (NRS 82A.100(3), (5); 78.150(2); 82.193(3)). Organizations established for and serving bona fide religious purposes are outside the definition (NRS 82A.025(2)). There is no dollar threshold: the only exemptions cover appeals to fewer than 15 people a year, to relatives of the officers, for a named person and family, or by alumni associations, and an exempt charity must still file a declaration of exemption before soliciting and every year (NRS 82A.110).

• Nevada has no small-charity revenue exemption; a charity that solicits files with its annual list (or yearly, if it files no list), and even an exempt charity files a yearly declaration of exemption (NRS 82A.100(3), 82A.110(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.