57-57 - Prohibited acts.
§ 57-57. Prohibited acts.
A. No charitable organization shall use or exploit the fact of registrationunder this chapter so as to lead the public to believe that such registrationin any manner constitutes an endorsement or approval by this Commonwealth.The use of the following statement shall not be deemed a prohibitedexploitation, "Registered with the Commissioner as required by law.Registration does not imply endorsement of a public solicitation forcontributions."
B. No person shall, in connection with the solicitation of contributions orthe sale of tangible personal property or services represent, or lead anyoneby any manner, means, practice or device whatsoever to believe, that theperson on whose behalf such solicitation or sale is being conducted is a bonafide charitable organization or that the proceeds of such solicitation orsale will be used for charitable purposes, if he has reason to believe suchnot to be the fact.
C. No person shall, in connection with the solicitation of contributions orthe sale of tangible personal property or services for charitable purposes,represent or lead anyone by any manner, means, practice or device whatsoeverto believe, that any other person sponsors or endorses such solicitation ofcontributions, sale of tangible personal property or services for charitablepurposes or approves of such charitable purposes or a charitable organizationconnected therewith when such other person has not given written consent tothe use of his name for these purposes.
Any member of the board of directors or trustees of a charitable organizationor any other person who has agreed either to serve or to participate in anyvoluntary capacity in the campaign shall be deemed thereby to have given hisconsent to the use of his name in said campaign. Nothing contained in thissection shall prevent the publication of names of contributors without theirwritten consents, in an annual or other periodic report issued by acharitable organization for the purpose of reporting on its operations andaffairs to its membership or for the purpose of reporting contributions tocontributors.
D. No person shall denominate any membership fee or purchase price of goodsor services sold, as a contribution or as a donation or in any other mannerrepresent or imply that the member or the purchaser of such goods or serviceswill be entitled to an income tax deduction for his cost or any portionthereof unless:
1. A signed opinion of counsel or an Internal Revenue Service ruling ordetermination letter holding such cost to be deductible has been obtained; or
2. The member or purchaser is informed in writing that such cost may not bedeductible.
No person shall represent or imply that a contributor will be entitled to anincome tax deduction for his contribution unless a signed opinion of counselor an Internal Revenue Service ruling or determination letter holding giftsto such organization to be deductible has been obtained.
E. No person shall make any representation that he is solicitingcontributions for or on behalf of a charitable or civic organization or shalluse or display any emblem, device or printed matter belonging to orassociated with a charitable or civic organization for the purpose ofsoliciting or inducing contributions from the public without first beingauthorized to do so by the charitable or civic organization.
F. No professional solicitor shall solicit in the name of or on behalf of anycharitable or civic organization unless such solicitor has:
1. Written authorization of two officers of such organization, a copy ofwhich shall be filed with the Commissioner. Such written authorization shallbear the signature of the solicitor and shall expressly state on its face theperiod for which it is valid, which shall not exceed one year from the dateissued.
2. Such authorization with him when making solicitations and exhibits it onrequest to persons solicited, police officers, or agents of the Commissioner.
G. No charitable or civic organization shall accept any contributionexceeding $5 in cash or tangible property without providing, on request ofthe donor, a written receipt acknowledging such contribution on behalf of theorganization.
H. No person, and no organization of which such person is an officer,professional fund-raising counsel or professional solicitor, shall solicitwithin this Commonwealth if:
1. Such person has been convicted in any jurisdiction of embezzlement,larceny or other crime involving the obtaining of money or property by falsepretenses or the misapplication of funds impressed with a trust, unless suchperson has received a pardon for such offense or the public is informed ofsuch conviction in a manner approved in writing by the Commissioner beforeany solicitation occurs; or
2. Such person has ever been enjoined by any court or otherwise prohibitedfrom soliciting in any jurisdiction, unless the Commissioner first determinesin writing that such person is entitled to solicit in such jurisdiction atthe time of soliciting within this Commonwealth or that the reason for suchinjunction or prohibition does not involve moral turpitude.
I. No person shall solicit within this Commonwealth for the benefit of anyother person located without the Commonwealth, if such other person refusesto supply any information which the Commissioner deems necessary to assurehimself that the provisions of this chapter are complied with. A solicitationshall be deemed to be on behalf of every person who or which receives,directly or indirectly, more than 10 percent of the gross amount collected.
J. No charitable or civic organization shall allow a professional solicitorto solicit on its behalf if the professional solicitor has not registeredpursuant to § 57-61.
K. No charitable or civic organization, professional fund-raising counsel orprofessional solicitor shall solicit in this Commonwealth without being dulyregistered or granted the appropriate exempt status under this chapter.
L. No person shall employ in any solicitation or collection of contributionsfor a charitable purpose any device, scheme or artifice to defraud or obtainmoney or property by any misrepresentation or misleading statement.
M. No officer, agent, director or trustee of any charitable or civicorganization, professional fund-raising counsel or professional solicitorshall refuse or fail, after notice, to produce to the Commissioner any booksand records of such organization.
N. No person shall use or permit the use of the funds raised by a charitablesolicitation for any purpose other than the solicited purpose or, withrespect to funds raised by general appeals, the general purposes of thecharitable or civic organization on whose behalf the solicitation was made.
O. No person shall knowingly and willfully make any false statements in anyregistration application or statement, report or other disclosure required bythis chapter.
P. No professional solicitor shall solicit on behalf of a charitable or civicorganization unless the charitable or civic organization has registered orbeen granted the appropriate exempt status under this chapter.
Q. No person shall represent, in any solicitation, that tickets to eventswill be donated for use by another unless he complies with the followingrequirements:
1. He shall have obtained commitments, in writing, from persons or charitableor civic organizations stating that they will accept donated tickets andspecifying the number of persons for whom they are willing to accept tickets;
2. He shall not collect or accept more contributions for donated tickets thanthe number of ticket commitments he has received from persons or charitableor civic organizations;
3. He shall have printed in advance on each ticket the exact number ofpersons to be admitted by the ticket and the dollar price or value of eachticket;
4. He shall distribute the tickets in a timely fashion to those having givencommitments; and
5. He shall maintain during the solicitation and for a period of three yearsthereafter: (i) records reflecting the name and address of each contributorand the amount of money and number of tickets donated by each suchcontributor; and (ii) the written commitments of each person or charitable orcivic organization to accept tickets and specifying the number of persons onwhose behalf tickets were to be accepted, as required in subdivision 1 ofsubsection Q of this section.
R. No person shall knowingly use or permit the use of funds raised by asolicitation or by contribution to benefit or provide support, directly orindirectly, in cash or in kind, to terrorists, terrorist organizations,terrorist activities or to family members of any terrorist.
(1974, c. 574; 1979, c. 595; 1983, c. 374; 1987, c. 561; 1988, c. 322; 1990,c. 711; 2003, cc. 977, 1009.)