H. B. 3109
(By Delegate Manuel)
[Introduced March 30, 2001; referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary.]
A BILL to amend and reenact section thirteen, article nineteen,
chapter twenty-nine of the code of West Virginia, one thousand
nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to prohibiting
professional solicitors for charities from receiving more than
fifty percent of contributions collected.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section thirteen, article nineteen, chapter twenty-nine
of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one,
as amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 19. SOLICITATION OF CHARITABLE FUNDS ACT.
§29-19-13. Prohibited acts.
(a) No charitable organization, professional fund-raising
counsel or professional solicitor subject to the provisions of this
article may use or exploit the fact of registration so as to lead
the public to believe that such registration in any manner constitutes an endorsement or approval by the state.
(b) No person may, in connection with the solicitation of
contributions for or the sale of goods or services of a person
other than a charitable organization, misrepresent to or mislead
anyone by any manner, means, practice or device whatsoever, to
believe that the person on whose behalf such solicitation or sale
is being conducted is a charitable organization or that the
proceeds of such solicitation or sale will be used for charitable
purposes, if such is not the fact.
(c) No person may, in connection with the solicitation of
contributions for charitable purposes, misrepresent, mislead, or
omit information concerning how the proceeds will be used.
Proceeds gathered from any given solicitation must be used for the
charitable purposes represented in the materials sent or the
presentation given by the solicitor. Violations of this section
will be considered to be both a violation of the reasonable donor
expectation standard of section eight and may be subject to
prosecution for fraud pursuant to section fifteen of this article.
(d) No person may in connection with the solicitation of
contributions or the sale of goods or services for charitable
purposes represent to or lead anyone by any manner, means, practice
or device whatsoever, to believe that any other person sponsors or
endorses such solicitation of contributions, sale of goods or
services for charitable purposes or approves of such charitable purposes of a charitable organization connected therewith when such
other person has not given consent to the use of his or her name
for these purposes: Provided, That any member of the board of
directors or trustees of a charitable organization or any other
person who has agreed either to serve or to participate in any
voluntary capacity in the campaign shall be deemed thereby to have
given his or her consent to the use of his or her name in said
campaign.
(e) No person may make any representation that he or she is
soliciting contributions for or on behalf of a charitable
organization or shall use or display any emblem, device or printed
matter belonging to or associated with a charitable organization
for the purpose of soliciting or inducing contributions from the
public without first being authorized to do so by the charitable
organization.
(f) No professional solicitor may solicit in the name of or on
behalf of any charitable organization unless such solicitor:
(1) Agrees to receive as compensation for solicitation no more
than fifty percent of the proceeds of the solicitation; and
(2) Has obtained the written authorization of two officers of
such organization, a copy of which shall be filed with the
secretary of state. Such written authorization shall bear the
signature of the solicitor and shall expressly state on its face
the period for which it is valid, which shall not exceed one year from the date issued, and an agreement to receive no more than
fifty percent of the proceeds of the solicitation.
NOTE:
The purpose of this bill is to
prohibit charitable
solicitation by a profession solicitor where less than 50% of the
proceeds go to the charity.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.