NGO, Trust & CSR Registration — Built to Actually Attract Funding, Not Just Exist Legally

It depends on how you'll operate: a Trust suits a small, founder-led charitable purpose; a Society fits a membership-based organisation with a managing committee; a Section 8 Company suits larger NGOs wanting a corporate structure, easier bank/donor trust, and cleaner CSR eligibility. We assess your actual activities and funding plans before recommending one, since converting later is far more work than choosing correctly at the start.

12A exempts your NGO's own income from income tax, provided it's used for charitable purposes. 80G is what benefits your donors — it lets them claim a tax deduction (typically 50%) on what they give you, which is often the single biggest driver of individual and corporate donations. Both are filed via Form 10A on the Income Tax e-filing portal and are generally valid for 5 years, needing renewal before expiry.

Only if you intend to receive foreign contributions — domestic donations, government grants, and CSR funding don't require it. FCRA registration (Ministry of Home Affairs) needs your NGO to have existed for at least 3 years with a minimum of Rs 15 lakh spent on core charitable activities, plus a dedicated FCRA bank account (mandatorily with SBI's designated branch) kept separate from your regular account. Approval typically takes 90-120 working days, so this isn't something to start once foreign funding is already on the table.

Form CSR-1, filed with the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, is mandatory before an NGO can receive CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) funds from companies — it generates a unique CSR Registration Number that corporate donors will ask for. Without it, even a willing corporate funder legally cannot route CSR money to you.

NGO Darpan is a free registration on NITI Aayog's portal that generates a unique ID — it's required for accessing central government grant schemes and is increasingly asked for by CSR donors and crowdfunding platforms too, even when not strictly mandatory for that specific channel. It's typically the first registration we complete, since several later steps reference the Darpan ID.

Your registration certificate (trust deed, society bylaws, or Section 8 incorporation), PAN, financial statements if you've been operating more than a year, notes on your activities and objectives, and NGO Darpan details if already registered. Missing or inconsistent documents are the most common cause of processing delays here.

No — they're separate. NGO Darpan (NITI Aayog) is a prerequisite for FCRA and is required in the FCRA application form, but registering there doesn't grant any FCRA approval. You still need to apply for FCRA separately once you meet its 3-year/₹15 lakh eligibility.

You must stop receiving and spending foreign funds immediately until it's renewed — Form FC-3C, filed at least 6 months before your 5-year registration expires, is what keeps it current. A late renewal application risks a compliance gap that can affect ongoing foreign-funded projects.

Form FC-6F is a new filing required under the FCRA Amendment Rules 2026 (in force from 22 June 2026) for every NGO that already holds FCRA registration — not new applicants. It specifies the exact purposes and states/UTs your foreign-contribution activity covers. You have one year from the rules taking effect (until approximately 21 June 2027) to file it; missing the deadline risks cancellation of your existing registration.

Yes. Beyond the FC-6F filing, renewal now carries a ₹10 lakh utilisation benchmark and expanded disclosure requirements. If your registration is approaching its 5-year renewal alongside this new filing requirement, we handle both together so you're not caught filing twice in close succession.

For the state layer, yes — societies and trusts register with the state where they incorporate, so the registrar and local rules differ across Delhi, UP and Haryana. For everything funders verify — 12A, 80G, Darpan, CSR-1 and FCRA — the approvals are central and identical across NCR. We help you choose the incorporation state based on where your governing activity sits, then sequence the central registrations.

A trust is simplest to form and run but concentrates control in trustees; a society suits member-driven organisations with elected governance but needs annual general-body compliance; a Section 8 company carries the highest credibility with corporate CSR donors and institutional funders, at the cost of full Companies Act compliance. All three can obtain 12A, 80G, Darpan, CSR-1 and FCRA. We recommend the structure based on who will fund you and who will govern you — then register it.

CSR-1 is the mandatory MCA registration an NGO needs to legally receive corporate CSR funds — filed on the MCA portal with a DSC and certification by a practising CA/CS/CMA, generating a lifetime CSR registration number. Since mid-July 2025, newly-formed NGOs generally cannot file CSR-1 directly and must route projects through an already-eligible implementing agency; established NGOs with 12A/80G and a track record register directly. We advise the right route and file it.

Three things make you fundable: activities mapped to Schedule VII of the Companies Act (education, health, environment, livelihoods etc.), the compliance stack corporates verify (12A, 80G, Darpan, CSR-1), and targeted outreach — companies' CSR-2 filings publicly disclose what they fund and through whom, which is a prospecting map most NGOs never use. Listed-company CSR spend alone crossed Rs 22,000 crore in FY 2024-25, with health and education dominating. We build the stack and the pitch.