Fundraising Registration Update 2013 Marc Lee, CFRE, President, Affinity Fundraising Registration February 2013 Handout: www.fundraisingregistration.com/documents/registrationupdate2013.pdf Presenter I am not an attorney. I do not practice law. Do not consider what you learn today to be legal advice. The sources of information shared today include personal experience registering over 50 organizations, conversations and email exchanges with state charity officials, conversations with attorneys, my own and others, extraordinarily careful readings of published instructions and state forms, state statutes, the Unified Registration Statement instructions, and the book, The Law of Fundraising by Bruce R. Hopkins. 2 1
What I Won t Present Today Fundraising Registration 101 http://www.affinityseminars.com/pgs/registerfree090924.html or Q & A IRS 990 details Exemptions State Fees Renewals & Annual Reports Differences Charleston Principles Consultant Registration Details Political Fundraising Online Raffles 3 Overview What Registration Forces NPOs to Do Who Cares? Online Registration Online Fundraising Social Media Cause-Related Marketing Authority to Conduct Business Fundraising Consultants Recent Changes State Fines Costs and Savings Q & A 4 2
What Registration Forces NPOs To Do Audits Accrual Accounting Accurate Reporting of Fundraising Expenses Clarity on Details Name, President s Role, Documents Conflict of Interest Policy Registered Fundraisers Board Awareness Transparency Know the Rules and Work with Regulators 5 Who Cares? It s the law as far back as 1955 The Legislature finds that there exists in the area of solicitations and sales solicitations for charitable purposes a condition which has worked fraud, deceit and imposition upon the people of the state which existing legal remedies are inadequate to correct. Many solicitations or sales solicitations for charitable purposes have involved situations where funds are solicited from the citizens of this state for charitable purposes, but an insignificant amount, if any, of the money solicited and collected actually is received by any charity. Prior to solicitation. 6 3
Who Wants to Know? State Charity Regulators www.statedb.fundraisingregistration.com IRS Individual Donors Foundations Corporations 7 Solicitation Requires Registration Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware? District of Columbia Florida Georgia Hawaii Illinois Iowa? Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina Tennessee Texas* Utah Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin 8 4
Online Registration Required: Colorado Hawaii New Mexico Ohio Optional Michigan New York* South Carolina Tennessee Utah 9 Cloud-Based Solutions Single-Portal 10 5
Solicitations TV Radio Newspaper Newsletter Letter Telephone Face To Face Foundation Corporation Cell phone campaigns Cause-Related Marketing Email Social Media 11 Online Fundraising Do you have to register out-of-state if you are receiving online donations from out-of-state? ME, RI, NJ, NY, IL, NC, [FL] Charleston Principles: AR, CO, TN [AK] 12 6
Online Solicitations Do you accept donations on your website? Do you send communications directing prospects to a page with a donate now button? Do you follow best fundraising practices? Fundraiser in a box Social media (next slide) 13 Social Media Word of mouth Facebook ads, postings 14 7
Cause Related Marketing Coventure Alabama Arkansas Colorado Florida* Maine Massachusetts New Jersey New York North Carolina South Carolina 15 Authority to Conduct Business Certificate of Authority CO DC IL ND Resident Registered Agents MI NM UT Optional HI MS VA Conducting Business All other states Employees Sale of goods or services Providing services or labor Owning or renting property 16 8
Fundraising Consultants Solicitors: telephone, planned giving by non-staff. All but 7 states require professional solicitor registration. Schedule G: professional fundraising services = Services requiring the exercise of professional judgment. Planning, management, preparation of materials (direct mail solicitation packages) provision of advice and consulting regarding solicitation of contributions direct solicitation of contributions direct mail consulting, email consulting data analysis for solicitation feasibility study plan/produce programming for any media campaign, side agreements with staff Does not include tasks, such as printing, mailing services 32 states require registration. 23 require copies of contracts. www.statefundraiser.fundraisingregistration.com 17 Recent Changes Massachusetts New Mexico South Carolina Mississippi Ohio DC Louisiana North Carolina Illinois Colorado California Connecticut Georgia Miscellaneous 18 9
Some States With Fines California New Mexico Pennsylvania Mississippi DC Rhode Island Illinois Ohio South Carolina Utah Massachusetts Colorado 19 Costs and Savings Lawyers Out-sourcing Do-It-Yourself Start selectively Shop around Talk with references 20 10
Keep In Touch! www.fundraisingregistration.com Resources Webinars Pointers FREE Estimates Follow on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/affinity-fundraising-registration Team@FundraisingRegistration.com 21 11