Читать книгу The Law of Fundraising - Bruce R. Hopkins - Страница 40

An organization that is subject to a substantial number of the charitable solicitation laws—and that undertakes to register and report under them—should design a system by which it can remain abreast of its varied compliance responsibilities.

The state charitable solicitation laws are published as part of each state's code of statutes. County, city, and town ordinances are similarly published. Other “law” with respect to these statutes and ordinances will appear as administrative regulations and rules, administrative and court decisions, and instructions with regard to applications and report forms.

Therefore, the first step is to ascertain which of the 51 jurisdictions (50 states and the District of Columbia) do not have some form of a charitable solicitation act. At the present, there are three of these jurisdictions: Delaware, Montana, and Wyoming.

The second step is to identify the municipal ordinances that are applicable. No one has identified them all, but assuredly there are several in each state.⁶¹ (Probably the most well known and stringently enforced of these ordinances is the one in effect in the city of Los Angeles.)

The third step is to identify the jurisdictions in which, for one reason or another, the organization voluntarily refrains from conducting a solicitation.

The fourth step is to identify the status of the organization's compliance with the applicable solicitation laws. A typical evaluation would utilize the six items in this analysis of jurisdictions:

1 States in which the organization is registered.

2 States in which the organization is exempt from one or more requirements.

3 States in which the organization is pursuing initial registration.

4 States in which the organization does not know its status but is investigating its status.

5 States in which the organization is registered but where one or more questions are being raised that may lead to revocation or modification of the registration.

6 States in which the organization is registered but is operating under some type of conditional, temporary, or probationary status.

The fifth step is to identify any jurisdictions in which the organization has been prohibited from soliciting contributions.

The sixth step is to make an inventory of due dates for filing renewals of registration and reports.

The seventh step (an ongoing one) is to persist in all reasonable endeavors to remedy the organization's difficulties as reflected in the fourth (items 5 and 6) and fifth steps.

Any professional fundraiser or professional solicitor retained by a charitable organization has independent registration and reporting responsibilities. Therefore, the organization's compliance efforts should be carefully coordinated with those of its fundraiser(s), solicitor(s), or both.