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House Co-Sponsorship Memoranda
House of Representatives
Session of 2017 - 2018
Regular Session
MEMORANDUM
| Posted: | June 21, 2017 12:09 PM |
|---|---|
| From: | Representative Anthony M. DeLuca |
| To: | All House members |
| Subject: | Amending the Solicitation of Funds for Charitable Purposes Act - regarding the Percentage of Funds Spent on Charitable Missions |
Recently I received a mailer from an organization with “cancer research” in their name. When reading the fine print, I learned that organization spends only 5% of every dollar raised, on cancer research! While many Charitable Organizations spend their dollars wisely and ethically, we must further ensure that those who operate within the Commonwealth continue to allocate their funds toward that which allows them to call themselves a “charity”. How many times have we read stories of “charities” that spend a disproportionate amount of money on advertising, fundraising or worse yet – on perks for their CEOs and staff instead of putting their money where their donors believe it is going? Each time it happens there is a hue and cry that something should be done, but then very little changes. People donate money again to a charity, only to find out after the fact that just a few of their dollars actually went to research, or what is touted to be the mission for that organization. When the fleecing is egregious, state’s Attorneys General can take action. However, that can only happen in the most unscrupulous and criminal situations. We need to be able to give the public a level of confidence about their charitable donations on an ongoing basis. Our constituents’ money is valuable and should be protected with every tool we have available to us, on their behalf. When people donate their hard-earned money to a charity they deserve the peace of mind that a good portion of their funds are going to the intent and mission of a charity, and not simply to line the pockets of a CEO or to hire outside fundraisers to simply raise more money to keep the group in existence. I will be introducing legislation requiring charitable organizations to spend not less than 65% of their funds raised, to further their charitable missions as set forth under Act 55 of 1997 in order to retain their registration with the Department of State under the Solicitation of Funds for Charitable Purposes Act. If an organization fails to meet that spending threshold on their mission, they will be prohibited from further solicitations as a charitable organization within the Commonwealth until the Department of State determines they are spending the minimum required on goods and services that actually allow them to be called a “charity”. Please join me in supporting this legislation. |
Introduced as HB1669