AB 2855: Charitable solicitations: financial disclosures.

Existing law requires a solicitor or seller, prior to any solicitation or sales solicitation for charitable purposes, to provide the prospective donor or purchaser with certain disclosures, including, among others, the name and address of the combined campaign, each organization or fund on behalf of which money collected will be utilized, and the percentage of the total gift or purchase price that may be deducted as a charitable contribution under both federal and state law. Under existing law, a violation of certain advertising restrictions, including charitable solicitation requirements, is a crime.

This bill would require an Internet Web site produced by, or on behalf of, a charity Clarity, as specified, to contain an Internet Web page that includes a disclosure of the charitys administrative overhead expenses and a copy of the charitys most recent Internal Revenue Service Form 990 filing and would further require each Internet Web page on the Internet Web site to contain a direct link to that financial disclosures Internet Web page, as specified. The bill would also require a document produced by, or on behalf of, a charity for solicitation for charitable purposes to include a disclosure statement indicating the percentage of the charitys funding spent on those administrative overhead expenses, as specified. a prominent link to the Attorney Generals Internet Web site which contains information about consumer rights and protections and charity research resources. The bill would also require any solicitation document produced by a charity to also include the address for the Attorney Generals Internet Web site. As a violation of these requirements would be a crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.

This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.