Nonprofit compliance in Wisconsin

Wisconsin has no general volunteer background check law. Checks follow the setting: the DHS Caregiver Law (Wis. Stat. § 50.065; ch. DHS 12) reaches volunteers at DHS-regulated entities such as nursing homes, assisted living, hospice and home health only when they replace a staff person or are counted toward staff-to-client ratios; licensed or certified child care and licensed day camps require a DCF fingerprint check before starting and every 5 years for anyone with direct contact and unsupervised access, including volunteers counted in ratio (Wis. Stat. § 48.686; DCF 13.02(4)); overnight camps must screen all paid or unpaid camp staff at least every 2 years (ATCP 78.26(1)); and since June 1, 2026 group homes must check every volunteer (DCF 57.15). Separately, it is a Class F felony for a person convicted of a serious child sex offense to take a volunteer position working primarily and directly with children under 16 (Wis. Stat. § 948.13).

• Wisconsin Statutes § 50.065 — Caregiver Law (Wis. Stat. § 50.065; ch. DHS 12, Wis. Admin. Code) — Requires every DHS-regulated entity (nursing homes, assisted living, hospice, home health and others) to obtain a DOJ criminal history search, caregiver misconduct registry and other records for each caregiver before hire and at least every 4 years (Wis. Stat. § 50.065(2)(b), (3)(b)). The statute defines caregivers as employees and contractors with regular, direct client contact; DHS applies it to volunteers only when they replace a staff person or are counted toward staff-to-client ratios (DHS P-00038 § 2.1.2).
• Wis. Stat. §§ 48.685 and 48.686 — Child care, foster care and group home checks (Wis. Stat. §§ 48.685, 48.686; chs. DCF 12, DCF 13, DCF 56 and DCF 57, Wis. Admin. Code) — Licensed and certified child care and licensed day camps must submit a fingerprint-based DCF background check for each caregiver and household member age 10 or older before they start and at least every 5 years (Wis. Stat. § 48.686(2)(ab)); caregivers include volunteers counted toward staff-to-child ratios (DCF 13.02(4)(b)). Foster homes, group homes and residential care centers follow Wis. Stat. § 48.685 on a 4-year cycle; group homes must check every volunteer before they begin (DCF 57.15, effective June 1, 2026), and Level 5 foster homes must check volunteers every 4 years (DCF 56.135(8)).
• Who it reaches: Child care volunteers counted toward staff-to-child ratios, and anyone else with direct contact and unsupervised access to children, at licensed or certified child care and licensed day camps — fingerprint check before starting and every 5 years (Wis. Stat. § 48.686; DCF 13.02(4)); Volunteers who replace a staff person or are counted toward staff-to-client ratios at DHS-regulated entities such as nursing homes, assisted living, hospice and home health — for example, a hospice volunteer who acts as staff in clients’ homes (Wis. Stat. § 50.065; DHS P-00038 § 2.1.2); Overnight (recreational and educational) camp staff, paid or unpaid — sex offender registry review before starting and a background check at least every 2 years (ATCP 78.03(13), 78.26(1)); Group home volunteers (age 18 or older) — background check before starting and a background information disclosure every 4 years (DCF 57.15, effective June 1, 2026); volunteers at Level 5 foster homes — disclosure form and background check before starting and every 4 years (DCF 56.135(8), effective Dec. 1, 2025).
• Check types in use: Wisconsin Department of Justice (DOJ) Crime Information Bureau database search; FBI fingerprint-based check (required for child care and day camps under Wis. Stat. § 48.686; DHS-regulated entities may require fingerprints when the person lived outside Wisconsin in the past 3 years or records warrant it, Wis. Stat. § 50.065(2)(bm)); Wisconsin sex offender registry check; National sex offender registry search (before hire at overnight camps, ATCP 78.26(1)(b); part of DCF’s child care check, Wis. Stat. § 48.686(2)(am)8.); DHS misconduct/abuse registry check (caregiver misconduct registry).
• Administered by: Wisconsin Department of Justice (DOJ) — Crime Information Bureau (CIB); Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS) — Division of Quality Assurance for caregiver checks; Wisconsin Department of Children and Families (DCF) for childcare/foster care checks; Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP) for overnight camps (ATCP 78).
• Typical processing: We found no published turnaround: WORCS name-based requests are submitted and results retrieved online, and we found no DOJ or DCF standard timeline for fingerprint checks.

Wisconsin requires a charitable organization to register with the Department of Financial Institutions (DFI) before soliciting in the state unless exempt (Wis. Stat. § 202.12(1)(a)); registrations expire each July 31, and the annual report is due within 12 months after the fiscal year ends (§ 202.12(1)(e), (3)(a)). An organization that does not intend to raise more than $25,000 in a fiscal year (subject to adjustment under § 202.12(8)), whose functions, solicitation included, are all performed by unpaid people, and whose assets and income benefit no officer or member is exempt; if its contributions pass $25,000 it must register within 30 days (§ 202.12(5)(a)3., (5)(b)). Since May 7, 2026, a donation website solicits in Wisconsin if it targets or appeals to Wisconsin donors, receives 50 or more Wisconsin contributions in a fiscal year totaling more than $25,000, or belongs to an organization whose principal place of business is in Wisconsin (Wis. Admin. Code DFI-CCS 11.09(3)).

• An all-volunteer charity that expects to raise $25,000 or less a year and pays no officer or member does not register with DFI, but must register within 30 days after its contributions pass $25,000 (Wis. Stat. § 202.12(5)(a)3., (5)(b)).
• 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.