Charitable and Civic Fundraisers and organizations that solicit funds on behalf of charitable and civic organizations are regulated by the Internal Revenue Service, the Federal Trade Commission and the states. If you are planning a cause marketing or charitable sales promotion, you need to carefully consider the regulations that may apply.
The IRS has announced its intention to revoke the tax exempt status of upwards of 400,000 organizations by the end of 2011. Under current statutes the IRS does not have any discretion and must cancel or deny the tax exempt status of any organization that is out of compliance. The IRS has a very short, specific instructions that all tax exempt organizations must follow (http://www.irs.gov/charities/article/0,,id=217087,00.html). States can be expected to follow suit. Charities can complete and electronically file IRS Form 990, 990-EZ, 8868 (extension request) and State Charity Registration Forms online at efile.form990.org.
If you collect donations or are instrumental in a campaign to collect funds for a unqualified recipient, you may be subject to state and Federal legal actions, be required to return the donated funds or other be subject to other civil and criminal penalties. If a commercial company works with a charitable or civic organization, it may become subject to rules applicable to fundraising companies, typically called commercial co-venturers under state laws. If you are judged to be a commercial co-venturer, even it this happened inadvertently, there can be serious penalties and other legal consequences.
These articles are a good way to start identifying the issues you must review:
Below are the state offices that regulate charitable organizations and charitable solicitations. If soliciting in multiple states, the Unified Registration Statement may be applicable. Use this hyper-menu to jump to information for each of the following states.
Hyper-index AL AK AZ AR CA CO CT DE DC FL GA HI ID IL IN IA
Attorney General
Secretary of State Office of the Attorney General
Attorney General http://www.arkansasag.gov/consumers_protection_charitable_registration.html California http://ag.ca.gov/charities.php http://caag.state.ca.us/charities/statutes.htm http://info.sen.ca.gov/pub/07-08/bill/sen/sb_1351-1400/sb_1400_cfa_20080407_162733_sen_comm.html
Department of Justice California Department of Consumer Affairs Consumer Information Center at: (800) 952-5210 http://www.dca.ca.gov/publications/legal_guides/u-3.shtml Secretary of State Licensing Division Charitable Solicitations Section 1700 Broadway, Suite 300 Denver, CO 80290 303-860-6487 http://www.sos.state.co.us/pubs/charities/charitable.htm
Attorney General Consumer Protection Section 1525 Sherman Street, 7th Floor Denver, CO 80203 303-866-5079 http://www.ago.state.co.us/index.cfm
Office of the Attorney General
Department of Justice
Department of Cons. & Regul. Affairs Florida
Office of the Secretary of State
Dept. of the Attorney General (Tax Division) http://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/hrscurrent/Vol10_Ch0436-0474/HRS0467B/ (Hawaii's Charitable Solicitation Law) Iowa
Office of the Attorney General
Office of the Attorney General http://www.ag.state.il.us/charities/index.html
Office of the Attorney General The following links include the 2005 amendments for the Fundraiser Code and Trust Code, respectively: Kansas Office of the Attorney General http://www.ksag.org/page/assisting-consumers
Office of the Attorney General http://ag.ky.gov/civil/consumerprotection/charity/
Dept of Justice/Office of the Attorney General Department of Justice Massachusetts
Office of the Secretary of State
Office of Licensing & Registration Department of the Attorney General
Office of the Attorney General
Office of the Attorney General 651-296-9412 651-296-6172 for registration/forms Missouri
Office of the Secretary of State Office of the Attorney General
Department of Administration
Office of the Attorney General Nebraska
Office of the Attorney General Nevada Consumer Affairs Division
Department of Justice
Department of Law & Public Safety, OAG New Mexico
Department of Law
Office of the Secretary of State Department of Justice
Office of the Secretary of State Office of the Attorney General Ohio Ohio Charitable Trust and Charitable Solicitations Registration
Office of the Secretary of State Office of the Attorney General
Department of Justice Pennsylvania Office of the Attorney General Department of Business Regulation Cranston RI 02920 (401) 462-9583 http://www.dbr.state.ri.us/divisions/securities/charitable.phpl Dept. of the Attorney General
Office of the Secretary of State Offfice of the Attorney General
Office of the Attorney General Tennesee Office of the Attorney General Public Benefit Hospital Sales and Conveyance Act of 2006
Office of the Attorney General
Department of Commerce Registration Forms: http://consumerprotection.utah.gov/registrations/charities.html
Law: http://le.utah.gov/~code/TITLE13/13_22.htm
Rules: http://www.rules.utah.gov/publicat/code/r152/r152-022.htm
Vermont
Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services Office of the Attorney General Washington Office of the Attorney General
Office of the Secretary of State Office of the Attorney General
Department of Regulation & Licensing Dept. of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection http://www.datcp.state.wi.us/core/consumerprotection/consumerprotection.jsp Department of Justice http://www.doj.state.wi.us/dls/crimlitt.asp
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