The Law of Fundraising. Bruce R. Hopkins

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Название The Law of Fundraising
Автор произведения Bruce R. Hopkins
Жанр Экономика
Серия
Издательство Экономика
Год выпуска 0
isbn 9781119873457



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Florida nonprofit corporation, resolving the attorney general's claims that the organization deceptively raised $1.4 million nationwide in 2015. The organization's solicitations stated that funds would be used for breast cancer research grants. In reality, all of the money raised, other than one grant, was paid to professional fundraisers and for other expenses unrelated to breast cancer research. As part of the settlement, the Foundation was required to pay $150,000, with $125,000 paid for breast cancer research and the remaining $25,000 to recover the state of Michigan's investigative costs. The organization was also banned from soliciting in Michigan for 10 years.

      In November 2017, New York's attorney general announced a settlement with Yisroel Schulman, the former president of the New York Legal Assistance Group, Inc. (NYLAG), for breaching his fiduciary duties of care, loyalty, and obedience to NYLAG, a charity providing free legal services to low-income New York residents, and other charities with which Schulman was affiliated. The settlement was reached after an extensive investigation by the Charities Bureau of the attorney general's office, which led to the filing of a complaint in the New York Supreme Court. The attorney general's investigation found that from around 1998 through 2013, Schulman diverted millions of dollars from NYLAG to other charities that he controlled. These funds were diverted to various donor-advised funds and similar accounts. In choosing donor-advised funds to hold NYLAG's funds instead of an investment account, Schulman breached his duty to prudently invest and safeguard the assets of NYLAG. Schulman settled with the attorney general. Pursuant to the settlement agreement, Schulman agreed to pay $150,000 to NYLAG. The settlement also banned Schulman from serving as an officer or director of any New York nonprofit organization for five years.

      In October 2018, the Minnesota attorney general filed a lawsuit against the American Federation of Police and Concerned Citizens, Inc. (AFPCC) for deceptively representing that contributions it received would be used to help families of officers killed in the line of duty. The attorney general found that only 17 percent of AFPCC's spending in 2017 and just 9 percent of the $4 million it received in total donations were used for charitable purposes. In July of that year, the Virginia attorney general announced that the office was taking legal action against two charities, Hearts for Heroes, Inc., and Operation Troop Aid, Inc., alleging they both had used donations to benefit their organizations instead of helping veterans and troops. This suit and settlement were part of a 16-state action. According to a release from the Virginia attorney general's office, the Operation Troop Aid, Inc. settlement required it to dissolve and prohibits its CEO from assuming any fiduciary role with a nonprofit corporation or soliciting on a nonprofit corporation's behalf.

      In July 2019, the New York attorney general announced an investigation into the website www.NYCharities.org, alleging that the online fundraising platform failed to distribute hundreds of thousands of dollars to New York charities in 2018 and 2019. This investigation was based on more than 100 complaints from individuals and organizations, including those with unpaid contributions ranging from $200 to more than $100,000.