Nonprofit compliance in New Hampshire

New Hampshire mandates criminal history records checks for designated school volunteers under RSA 189:13-a and for childcare volunteers under RSA 170-E:7. Municipal and county governments may require checks on volunteers who work with children, elderly, or manage money (RSA 41:9-b; RSA 28:10-c). All checks are processed through the NH Division of State Police using both state and FBI databases. The state participates in the National Crime Prevention and Privacy Compact for interstate records sharing.

• School Employee and Designated School Volunteer Criminal History Records Check (RSA 189:13-a) — Requires criminal history records checks — including fingerprints, state records, and FBI records — on all applicants for school employment and on designated school volunteers. Checks must cover NH records and the FBI database; applicants must submit a signed release form to the NH Division of State Police.
• Child Care Personnel Background Check (RSA 170-E:7; RSA 170-E:29-a) — Requires criminal history record checks including fingerprints for child care personnel and residential facility staff. DHHS checks NH sex offender and abuse/neglect registries, sex offender registries from all states of residence in the past five years, and the National Sex Offender Registry.
• Municipal Volunteer Background Check Authority (RSA 41:9-b) — Authorizes towns to require background investigations and criminal history checks on candidates for volunteer positions who will work with children or elderly persons, enter homes of citizens, or manage money.
• County Volunteer Background Check Authority (RSA 28:10-c) — Authorizes county commissioners to require background checks on candidates for volunteer county positions; the definition of 'candidate for employment' explicitly includes volunteers.
• Who it reaches: Designated school volunteers with regular unsupervised student access; Childcare facility volunteers and residential childcare facility staff; Volunteers in municipal roles involving children, elderly persons, home access, or money handling (at municipality's discretion); Volunteers in county roles (at county commissioners' discretion).
• Check types in use: NH Division of State Police state criminal history records check; FBI national criminal history records check (via National Crime Prevention and Privacy Compact); NH Sex Offender Registry check; NH child abuse and neglect registry check; National Sex Offender Registry check; Sex offender registry checks from all states of residence in past 5 years (childcare context).
• Administered by: NH Division of State Police (Criminal Records Unit); NH DHHS (childcare licensing and eligibility determinations).

Yes. New Hampshire names certain professionals AND requires any person to report, regardless of profession — so your volunteers are covered by the universal provision whatever role they hold. Confirm New Hampshire's current statute before writing your policy — these are amended often.

• In every state, territory and the District of Columbia, ANY person is permitted to report suspected abuse even when not required to. A volunteer who is not a mandated reporter can still call, and should.
• The safest operating posture, whatever the statute says, is to train every volunteer on what to report and to whom — a policy that only trains "mandated" staff leaves the person most likely to witness something untrained.
• Reporting duties are personal. A volunteer who is a mandated reporter cannot discharge the duty by telling a supervisor and stopping there in most states.
• Screening and reporting are different obligations. Clearing a background check does not satisfy a reporting duty, and no reporting policy substitutes for screening.

New Hampshire is one of the 40 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.