There are at least four churches that will find out in the video below that they have been involuntarily dissolved as a nonprofit corporation. There are probably 400 other churches that will be checking their status really soon to see if they are in Good Standing with the State. If you were to call me up, here’s what I’d tell you:
- It’s not the end of the world. Your church is now operating as an unincorporated church. This changes how you would handle certain legal matters, and the leaders no longer have the protection of the corporate umbrella.
- Don’t beat yourself up. In a church that depends on volunteers, this form from the State can easily get put aside and forgotten. After all, in North Dakota and South Dakota the fee is only $10. Maybe with a larger fee, it would be easier to remember?
- We can fix this. This happens often enough that States have a process for being reinstated. In the video, I show you how to find your church’s status and give you a head start on fixing this. I know I kind of poking fun at the North Dakota Secretary of State Al Jaeger, but I’ve found most of our State offices to be pretty helpful when you call them up.
I included links below for several Secretary of State offices.
Useful Links
- Minnesota Sec of State: https://mblsportal.sos.state.mn.us/Business/Search
- South Dakota Sec of State: https://sosenterprise.sd.gov/BusinessServices/Business/FilingSearch.aspx
- North Dakota Sec of State: https://firststop.sos.nd.gov/search/business
- South Dakota Reinstatement: https://sosenterprise.sd.gov/BusinessServices/Business/ReinstatementInstr.aspx
- Minnesota Reinstatement: https://mblsportal.sos.state.mn.us/Business/Amendments?filingGuid=8caa6b54-b6d4-e011-a886-001ec94ffe7f
- North Dakota Reinstatement: https://sos.nd.gov/business/nonprofit-services/nonprofit-corporation/nonprofit-corporation-annual-report#:~:text=A%20nonprofit%20corporation%20must%20file,by%20the%20Secretary%20of%20State.
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