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Pennsylvania House of Representatives
04/19/2024 06:19 PM
Pennsylvania House of Representatives
https://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/Legis/CSM/showMemoPublic.cfm?chamber=H&SPick=20150&cosponId=20725
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House Co-Sponsorship Memoranda

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House of Representatives
Session of 2015 - 2016 Regular Session

MEMORANDUM

Posted: September 16, 2016 02:55 PM
From: Representative Harold A. English
To: All House members
Subject: Improving Disclosures Under the Solicitation of Funds for Charitable Purposes Act
 
Charitable organizations do important work and must gain the trust of the contributing public in order to raise the funds that are necessary to perform this work. While the Solicitation of Funds for Charitable Purposes Act requires both charitable organizations and professional solicitors to disclose information regarding the charitable work and the contracts they enter into, I believe that potential contributors deserve to know more about the proportion of funds going to charitable purposes and professional solicitation services.

That is why I intend to introduce legislation in the near future that will require the following additional disclosures:
  • For charitable organizations and professional fundraising solicitors, on behalf of the charity represented, information regarding the percentage of contributions expended by the charitable organization for charitable purposes in the previous calendar year.
  • For charitable organizations and professional fundraising solicitors, when making an oral request for contributions, a statement as to whether the representative making the request is a volunteer or a paid staff person.
  • For professional fundraising solicitors, a statement of the guaranteed minimum percentage of the gross receipts from contributions that will be remitted to or retained by the charitable organization for the solicitation campaign.
  • For professional fundraising solicitors, a statement of the percentage of the gross revenue which the professional solicitor will be compensated for the solicitation campaign, or a reasonable estimate thereof, as provided in the written contract for the campaign.
There are many charitable organizations competing for contributions in this day and age. Given the generosity of Pennsylvanians and Americans, it is particularly important that charities and the solicitors acting on their behalf become more transparent regarding their charitable efforts. For this reason, I encourage you to consider cosponsoring this proposal.

I will be introducing this legislation Monday morning. Thank you for your consideration

Introduced as HB2358