ATTORNEY GENERAL LAUNCHES PROFESSIONAL FUNDRAISER REGISTRATION AND FINANCIAL REPORTING SYSTEM FOR CHARITY SOLICITORS AND FUNDRAISERS

News Release from Hawaii Attorney General, September 25, 2015

Attorney General Douglas S. Chin announced that the Department of the Attorney General has launched the Professional Fundraiser Registration System for paid professional solicitors and professional fundraising counsels (“Fundraisers”) that contract with charities. The online system allows these Fundraisers to register with the Department of the Attorney General and to annually renew their registrations.  The Attorney General’s Tax and Charities division partnered with Hawaii Information Consortium to develop the system.

Hawaii laws require Fundraisers that solicit contributions on behalf of a charity in Hawaii to register with the Attorney General prior to commencing their services.  Fundraisers are required to submit with the registration and annual renewal: copies of the contracts with their client charities, surety bonds, copies of legal actions taken against the Fundraiser by government agencies, and End of Solicitation Campaign Financial Reports. The End of Solicitation Campaign Financial Reports inform the public how much money was raised by a Fundraiser and how much money the charity ultimately received from donors through charitable solicitation services provided by the Fundraiser.

Now that the system is online all of the registration data, contracts, and financial reports are readily available to donors, charities and the public at large at the following website: https://ag.ehawaii.gov/fundraiser

Attorney General Chin said “the Professional Fundraiser Registration System will allow donors to make better informed decisions about their charitable giving. It will also help maximize the amount of the donation that is actually received by the charity.  The system will simplify the administrative burdens of registering with our office and facilitate compliance with Hawaii law. It will allow the nonprofit sector to better evaluate professional fundraisers offering their services.”

The State joins only a handful of state agencies nationally that provide for electronic registration and reporting by professional fundraisers and telemarketers for charities.

Attorney General Chin added, “Hawaii continues to be on the forefront of state charities regulation. We will keep using new technologies such as our mobile phone app ‘Hawaii Charity Finder’ to protect donors from charitable solicitation fraud.”

####