Читать книгу The Law of Fundraising - Bruce R. Hopkins - Страница 54

The discussion about the traditional and contemporary roles of professional fundraisers and professional solicitors is to be recalled, in understanding the confusion between the two terms as seen from the perspective of the term professional solicitor.

The term professional solicitor is generally defined in a state charitable solicitation act in one of two ways.

Most states define the term professional solicitor to encompass one of three types of persons or relationships. One is a person who, for a financial or other consideration, (1) solicits contributions for or on behalf of a charitable organization, where the solicitation is performed personally or through agents or employees; or (2) solicits through agents or employees specially employed by or for a charitable organization, who are under the direction of such a person. The other is a person who, for a financial or other consideration, plans, conducts, manages, carries on, advises, or acts as a consultant to a charitable organization in connection with the solicitation of contributions but does not qualify as a professional fundraiser (or equivalent term).

When this definition (or something comparable to it) is used, about one-half of the states employ the term professional solicitor. A few use the term paid solicitor. Other phrases used are professional commercial fundraiser, professional fundraising firm, paid fundraiser, and commercial fundraiser.

This definitional approach is usually accompanied by exclusions for officers, employees, lawyers, investment counselors, and bankers. On rare occasions, there will be other exclusions, such as for persons whose sole responsibility is mailing fundraising literature.

Some states define the term professional solicitor to mean any person who is employed or retained for compensation by a professional fundraiser to solicit contributions for charitable purposes. With this definition, the terms used are professional solicitor, paid solicitor, or professional fundraiser.

The confusion in the law in this area, regarding the appropriate line of demarcation between the terms professional fundraiser and professional solicitor, is seen in use of the prevailing definition of the term professional solicitor in defining the term professional fundraiser. One law defines a professional solicitor as a commercial fundraiser for charitable purposes, while another law terms what is generally known as a professional solicitor as a paid fundraiser. The law in a state dubs what is usually defined as a professional solicitor a professional fundraiser and separately defines the term professional solicitor.