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Net Charity Registration Requirements

By Jonathan Bick
June 28, 2005

Historically, states, not the federal government, have been responsible for regulating charities. And it seems a logical given: State regulation is designed to protect consumers of the individual states from fraud and general abuse; the federal government's role is generally limited to providing tax incentives that benefit, or are aimed at benefiting, valid charities.

All well and good.

As part of states' efforts to shield their residents against the fraud and other crime that might be perpetrated against them in the name of a sham charity, most charitable organizations must register within the state in which they are domiciled. Thirty-eight states and the District of Columbia, for instance, require charities to register in-state, and to file financial and other information prior to soliciting in those states. States, however, also routinely impose their registration requirements on out-of-state charities that solicit in state in traditional ways (eg, by having solicitors enter the state) or over the Internet. Charitable organizations that use the Internet to solicit contributions must register if they use their Internet solicitation specifically to target people in that state, or receive Internet contributions from the state on a repeated, ongoing basis, or what's defined as “a substantial basis.”

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