Читать книгу The Law of Fundraising - Bruce R. Hopkins - Страница 68

Charitable solicitation acts are designed to apply to solicitations of the public to protect its members from fundraising fraud and other misuses of charitable dollars. This body of law is intended to ward off misrepresentation in charitable giving by ensuring an appropriate flow of information to prospective and actual donors, thus preventing their being duped into giving in circumstances where the contributions are diverted to noncharitable ends.

Consequently, when a charitable organization solicits its own “constituency” (such as a college soliciting its alumni), it is appropriate to regard the solicitation as a private one and thus exempt from the regulatory requirements.⁵¹ This exemption is based on the proposition that the regulatory protections are unnecessary because the donor's relationship with the donee charitable organization, by means of the membership status, is such that he, she, or it can easily obtain the requisite information without the need for intervention by the law.⁵²

In reflection of this rationale, many states exempt organizations (or, in some instances, only certain categories of organizations)—but only from the registration or like requirements—that confine their solicitation to their membership. As noted, the scope of this exemption is confined by the definition accorded the term member or membership.

A few jurisdictions exempt organizations soliciting only their membership from the entirety of their charitable solicitation act.

These exemptions often are limited, such as where the solicitation is conducted only by members or where the conduct of the solicitation is solely by volunteers.