The NonProfit Times - February 15, 2008 - (Page 17)

REGULATION Continued from page 16 First, at least 39 states and the District of Columbia have statutes governing the solicitation of charitable contributions. Is your organization properly registered in all states where it solicits that have registration requirements? For charities that aren’t excluded or exempt from registering, this can be a time-consuming and costly process. However, it’s the law and a charity that solicits in a state with a registration requirement without being properly registered risks having significant fines imposed against it if caught. For example, Section 17(b)(3) of Pennsylvania’s solicitation law authorizes fines of up to $1,000 per violation and additional penalties of up to $100 per day for every day a violation takes place. If a charity isn’t registered and should be, technology is increasingly enabling regulators to document this fact. For example, Pennsylvania has obtained information in electronic format on all Pennsylvania-based charities that reported to the Internal Revenue Service on their federal Form 990 that they had contributions. Pennsylvania has run this information against its database of registered charities and has started to follow up with each organization that needs to get registered based on the information reported on the organization’s Form 990. In Pennsylvania, like in most states, it’s always better for a charity to register “voluntarily”rather than wait until it gets “caught” because the fines and penalties for voluntary registrants are typically far less than for those the states have to have their investigators and attorneys follow up on.So,if a char- ity is supposed to be registered and isn’t, its number one priority should be to get into compliance in every state where registration is required. Second, are all your organization’s professional fundraisers properly registered and have they filed copies of their contracts with the appropriate state oversight agencies? Not only do charities that aren’t specifically exempt or excluded have to typically register with the states before they solicit contributions, any private, for-profit professional fundraisers the charities hire must also register and file copies of their contracts too. Failure to do so can again result in the unregistered entities being subjected to significant fines and penalties as trouble was that there wasn’t always a real little check that actually transferred the entire sums in question to the research facility.As part of the Settlement Agreement, the charity was required to live up to the representations it had made over the years and, among other things, actually transfer four million dollars to the research facility.This is just one example of how critical it is that you make sure your organization is living up to the representations it makes to the public. Fourth, do your organization’s solicitation materials contain all statutorily-required disclosure statements? Many states have disclosure statement requirements. For example, Section 9(k) of Pennsylvania’s solicitation Do your organization’s solicitation materials contain all statutorilyrequired disclosure statements? well as other legal sanctions. In Pennsylvania, an unregistered fundraiser that failed to file hundreds of contracts was fined $45,000. Third, are all your organization’s solicitation materials truthful and free of material false statements, misrepresentations, and/or omissions? For example, Pennsylvania recently settled a case with a prominent regional charity that regularly represented to the public in promotional materials and otherwise that it had given significantly more to a medical research center than it actually had. Some years the charity’s founder would even hold a press conference where he would present one of those big, oversized checks to a representative of the research facility. The only law requires that every solicitation, written confirmation, receipt, and reminder of a contribution clearly and conspicuously state that “The official registration and financial information concerning the soliciting charity is available by calling [Pennsylvania’s] toll-free number and that registration . . . does not imply endorsement.” Failure to include this statutorily-required disclosure statement is a fairly common violation and each solicitation, written confirmation, receipt, and reminder of a contribution made without the required disclosure statement could result in up to a $1,000 fine being imposed for each violation. Fifth, and finally, is your organization keeping true and accurate fiscal records? This is a fairly uniform and commonsense requirement and,yet,unfortunately, it’s also a very common violation for charities of all sizes -whether they’re run completely by volunteers or by full-time paid professional staff.All charities soliciting contributions have to be able to clearly show exactly how much money they’ve collected and how they’ve spent it -- even if they’re exempt from the annual registration requirements. Therefore, a charity needs to make sure it can clearly account for every dollar collected and show it spent every dollar for purposes consistent with its charitable purposes. In fact, the failure to keep “true and accurate” fiscal records is itself a violation in many states. So, how do you feel right now? “Good” because your organization is in compliance in all these areas, or “somewhat concerned” because it isn’t? If it’s the latter, resolve to start the new year right by getting your organization into compliance in all these areas as soon as possible. You’ll sleep a lot better and will look forward to picking up the morning paper because you’ll know that, should your organization be featured in an article on the front page, it will be for all the good work it’s been doing rather than because it was found to not be in compliance in one or more of the above areas. NPT Karl Emerson, after a 25-year career with the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, retired in June 2007 as director of the Pennsylvania Bureau of Charitable Organizations. He now practices law with Montgomery, McCracken, Walker & Rhoads, LLP in Philadelphia, Pa. His email is KEmerson@mmwr.com www.nptjobs.com EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Executive Director to oversee operations of Abilities Plus, an agency located in Kewanee, IL serving persons with developmental disabilities. Qualifications: MS in human services & 2 yrs. of admin.exp. Minimum of BS in human services & 3 yrs. exp. Must be willing to live in the service area. Send resume, career objective and salary requirements marked CONFIDENTIAL—Attention: Janet Stover, Exec. Dir., Illinois Association of Rehabilitation Facilities—IARF, 206 South Sixth St., Springfield, IL 62701. Closes March 10, 2008. AA/EOE. CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER (CEO) For 30 years, Justice and Peace Office has served low-income families in Central Florida with free after-school programming, parenting skills, and emergency assistance. The CEO will work to promote a team-oriented environment, lead internal operations including collaborating with the Development Director, Bookkeeper, and staffs of the Board Finance Committee. S/he will build relationships with participants and represent JPO at community functions. CEO must have strong managerial and interpersonal skills, excellent communication skills, and a solid work-ethic. S/he will be diplomatic, creative, and have the ability to work with all members of our multi-ethnic community. For more information, please visit our website at www.apopkajpo.org. Send resume and cover letter to Sandy Battaglia, Board President, Justice and Peace Office, 800 S. Hawthorne Avenue, Apopka, FL 32703 by February 28, 2008. Please e-mail resume with salary requirements to: resume@covenanthouse.org. EOE CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER Child & Family Center, Santa Clarita, California ABOUT THE ORGANIZATION The Child & Family Center (C&FC) is dedicated to meeting the mental health, educational and behavioral therapy needs of children, adolescents, adults and their families in the Santa Clarita Valley (a community of 250,000, located in No. Los Angeles ASSOCIATE VP OF NEW VENTURES County). Established in 1976 as a private, nonprofit IN DIRECT MARKETING 501(c) (3) public benefit corporation; the Child & Covenant House, the largest privately funded non- Family Center has an active Governing Board of fifprofit agency that providing shelter and other ser- teen members and its own Foundation with a thirtyvices to homeless and runaway youth is currently five member Board. looking for an Associate VP of New Ventures in DiThe Center is recognized today as the leading rect Marketing. Identify, solicit, secure, manage, de- provider of comprehensive, prevention, early intervelop and oversee new fundraising initiatives vention, diagnostic evaluation, education and theraincluding internet and revenue generating opportu- peutic services. C&FC services encompass clients nities. Bachelor’s Degree plus 8 years related experi- ranging in age from infancy into adults focusing on ence. Excellent organizational and communication mental health, substance abuse, behavioral rehab, edJobs, page 18 skills. Competitive salary and benefits package. THE NONPROFIT TIMES www.nptimes.com 17 FEBRUARY 15, 2008 http://www.nptjobs.com http://www.nptjobs.com http://www.apopkajpo.org http://www.nptimes.com

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The NonProfit Times - February 15, 2008 Raising $1 Billion Rebranding A Tradition Making The Pitch Contents Message Matters Consolidation Continues Coordinating Your Message All About The Money Ho-Ho-Hoping At Christmas Best Practices It’s A New Year NPT Jobs Resource Directory

The NonProfit Times - February 15, 2008

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