Nonprofit Spark – Charitable solicitation news and Internet/online fundraising – 10/15/2012

Summary: This week's show is a delightful interview - it's true! - about charitable solicitation rules and the people who make sure nonprofits are operating legitimately. You'll learn about filing the right paperwork with the right people but also, there is new information here for even the most seasoned fundraisers. My guest is Kristalyn Loson of the Venable law firm (http://www.venable.com/nonprofits/publications)in Washington, D.C. She says that if you solicit or receive donations from people in other states, you must know whether you have to register your nonprofit in multiple states to legally raise money there. This relates to mailed letters and thank yous, and Internet fundraising. She describes the Charleston Principles (http://www.afpnet.org/ResourceCenter/ArticleDetail.cfm?ItemNumber=3309 (http://www.afpnet.org/ResourceCenter/ArticleDetail.cfm?ItemNumber=3309)) which focus on Internet fundraising. And did you know you may be randomly selected for a review of your fundraising materials to see if you're making fraudulent claims? Kristalyn describes this new initiative of the Better Business Bureau's (BBB) Wise Giving Alliance which is starting to aggressively root out bad charities. Finally, my guest says there is good news for nonprofits who spend hours each year filling out legal paperwork so they can operate and fundraise in other states. The National Association of State Charity Officers announced a new pilot project this month to streamline this filing process with a single online form! To Kristalyn, who's practice focuses on nonprofits and associations, this news was exciting as for an Apple customer finding out about a new mobile device. It's a big deal! This is an energetic show about rules that you cannot afford to be ignorant about.