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HomeCorporations CodeCh. 6§ 3001 Corporate Status Conversion Rules

§ 3001 Corporate Status Conversion Rules

Corporations Code·California
AI Summary·Official Text·Key Terms·Related Statutes·References
AI SummaryVerified

§ 3001 Corporate Status Conversion Rules

Key Takeaways

  • •A company that helps people (social purpose corporation) can change into a nonprofit or cooperative company.
  • •If the company has shares, they must be canceled or turned into memberships when changing to a nonprofit or cooperative.
  • •All shareholders must agree to the change, no matter what type of shares they have.
  • •If the company is a water company, it can change to a nonprofit if all shares turn into memberships and all shareholders agree.

Example

A company that sells fair-trade coffee and helps farmers wants to become a nonprofit to focus more on helping farmers instead of making money.

The company must get all its shareholders to agree. If they have shares, those shares will be canceled or turned into memberships in the new nonprofit. This way, the company can focus on helping farmers without worrying about making money for shareholders.

AI-generated — May contain errors. Not legal advice. Always verify source.

Official Source
View on CA.gov

§ 3001 Corporate Status Conversion Rules

(a) A social purpose corporation may, by amendment of its articles pursuant to this section, change its status to that of a nonprofit public benefit corporation, nonprofit mutual benefit corporation, nonprofit religious corporation, or cooperative corporation. (b) The amendment of the articles to change its status to a nonprofit corporation shall revise the statement of purpose, delete the authorization for shares and any other provisions relating to authorized or issued shares, make other changes as may be necessary or desired, and, if any shares have been issued, provide either for the cancellation of those shares or for the conversion of those shares to memberships of the nonprofit corporation. The amendment of the articles to change status to a cooperative corporation shall revise the statement of purpose, make other changes as may be necessary or desired, and, if any shares have been issued, provide for the cancellation of those shares or for the change of those shares to memberships of the cooperative corporation, if necessary. (c) If shares have been issued, an amendment to change status to a nonprofit corporation shall be approved by all of the outstanding shares of all classes regardless of limitations or restrictions on their voting rights and an amendment to change status to a cooperative corporation shall be approved by the outstanding shares of each class regardless of limitations or restrictions on their voting rights. (d) If an amendment pursuant to this section is included in a merger agreement, the provisions of this section shall apply, except that any provision for cancellation or conversion of shares shall be in the merger agreement rather than in the amendment of the articles. (e) Notwithstanding subdivision (c), if a social purpose corporation is a mutual water company within the meaning of Section 2705 of the Public Utilities Code and under the terms of the status change each outstanding share is converted to a membership of a nonprofit mutual benefit corporation, an amendment to change status to a nonprofit mutual benefit corporation shall be approved by the outstanding shares of each class regardless of limitations or restrictions on their voting rights. (Amended by Stats. 2014, Ch. 694, Sec. 48. (SB 1301) Effective January 1, 2015.)

Last verified: January 23, 2026

Key Terms

social purpose corporationnonprofit public benefit corporationnonprofit mutual benefit corporationnonprofit religious corporationcooperative corporationamendment of its articlescancellation of those sharesconversion of those shares to membershipsoutstanding shares of all classesoutstanding shares of each class

Related Statutes

  • § 911 Corporate Status Change Rules
  • § 9621 Religious Corporation Status Change
  • § 1112 Nonprofit Merger Shareholder Approval
  • § 3202 Merger Approval Requirements
  • § 5046 Corporation Definitions By Part

References

  • Official text at leginfo.legislature.ca.gov
  • California Legislature. Corporations Code. Section 3001.
View Official Source