History: P.A. 05-101 designated existing provisions as Subsec. (a) and amended same to require annual registration,
increase registration fee from twenty to fifty dollars, establish items to be included in application and make conforming
changes, and added Subsec. (b) re noncompliance, Subsec. (c) re late fee, Subsec. (d) re extension of time for filing of
annual financial report, Subsec. (e) re failure to register and Subsec. (f) re charitable organizations registered on September
30, 2005, effective June 7, 2005.
Sec. 21a-190c. Annual financial reports. Fiscal records. (a) Every charitable
organization required to register pursuant to section 21a-190b shall annually file with
the department, as part of such organization's application for registration, a financial
report for its most recently completed fiscal year, which report shall include a financial
statement and such other information as the commissioner may require and shall be
signed by two authorized officers of the organization, one of whom shall be the chief
fiscal officer of the organization. The information contained in such report shall be
available to the public. Such officers shall certify that such report is true and correct to
the best of their knowledge. The commissioner shall prescribe the form of the report
and may prescribe standards for its completion. The commissioner may accept, under
such conditions as said commissioner may prescribe, a copy or duplicate original of
financial statements, reports or returns filed by the charitable organization with the
Internal Revenue Service or another state having requirements similar to the provisions
of sections 21a-190a to 21a-190l, inclusive.
(b) A charitable organization with gross revenue in excess of two hundred thousand
dollars in the year covered by the report shall include with its financial statement an
audit report of a certified public accountant. For purposes of this section, gross revenue
shall not include grants or fees from government agencies or the revenue derived from
funds held in trust for the benefit of the organization.
(c) Every charitable organization required to file an annual report and every charitable organization subject to the provisions of subdivision (6) of section 21a-190d shall
keep true fiscal records which shall be available to the department for inspection upon
request. Such organization shall retain such records for no less than three years after
the end of the fiscal year to which they relate.
(P.A. 86-369, S. 3; P.A. 00-217, S. 1; P.A. 01-195, S. 90, 181; P.A. 05-101, S. 2.)
History: P.A. 00-217 amended Subsec. (b) by replacing "one hundred thousand dollars" with "two hundred thousand
dollars" and excluding from gross revenue "the revenue derived from funds held in trust for the benefit of the organization";
P.A. 01-195 made a technical change in Subsec. (a) for the purposes of gender neutrality, effective July 11, 2001; P.A.
05-101 amended Subsec. (a) to require the filing of a financial report as part of an organization's application for registration
and that information in such financial report be available to the public and to delete provision specifying time for filing
and amount of filing fee, deleted former Subsecs. (c) and (d) re extension of time for filing and re late filing fee, respectively,
and redesignated existing Subsec. (e) as new Subsec. (c), effective June 7, 2005.
Sec. 21a-190f. Paid solicitors. Registration. Fees. Bond. Filing of contracts.
Solicitation notice. Contract requirements. Disclosures at point of solicitation. Prohibited practices. Records. Deposit of funds. (a) No person shall act as a paid solicitor
unless such person has first registered with the department. Applications for registration
and for the renewal of a registration shall be in writing, under oath, in the form prescribed
by the department and shall be accompanied by a fee in the amount of five hundred
dollars. The application shall contain such information as the department shall require.
Each registration shall be valid for one year and may be renewed for additional one-year periods.
(b) An applicant for registration or for a renewal of registration as a paid solicitor
shall, at the time of making such application, file with and have approved by the department a bond, in which the applicant shall be the principal obligor in the sum of twenty
thousand dollars, with one or more responsible sureties whose liability in the aggregate
as such sureties shall be no less than such sum. The paid solicitor shall maintain the
bond in effect as long as the registration is in effect. The bond shall run to the state and
to any person who may have a cause of action against the principal obligor of the bond
for any liabilities resulting from the obligor's conduct of any activities subject to sections
21a-190a to 21a-190l, inclusive, or arising out of a violation of said sections or any
regulation adopted pursuant to said sections.
(c) No less than twenty days prior to the commencement of each solicitation campaign, a paid solicitor shall file with the department a copy of the contract described in
subsection (d) of this section and shall file a completed solicitation notice on forms
prescribed by the department. A solicitation notice shall be in writing and under oath,
and shall include a description of the solicitation event or campaign, the location and
telephone number from which the solicitation is to be conducted, the names and residence addresses of all employees, agents or other persons however styled who are to
solicit during such campaign and the account number and location of all bank accounts
where receipts from such campaign are to be deposited. Copies of campaign solicitation
literature, including the text of any solicitation to be made orally, shall be attached to
the solicitation notice. The charitable organization on whose behalf the paid solicitor is
acting shall certify that the solicitation notice and accompanying material are true and
complete. Prior to the commencement of such solicitation campaign, the commissioner
shall publicize such solicitation through the issuance of a press release and the posting
on the department's web site of information describing the terms of the contract between
the paid solicitor and the charitable organization, the dates of such solicitation campaign
and the percentage of the raised funds to be retained by the paid solicitor. The commissioner may publicize such solicitation through any additional means the commissioner
deems appropriate.
(d) A contract between a paid solicitor and a charitable organization shall be in
writing, shall clearly state the respective obligations of the paid solicitor and the charitable organization and shall state the minimum amount that the charitable organization
shall receive as a result of the solicitation campaign, which minimum amount shall be
stated as a percentage of the gross revenue. Such minimum amount shall not include
any amount that the charitable organization is to pay as expenses of the solicitation
campaign.
(e) A paid solicitor shall, prior to orally requesting a contribution, and at the same
time at which a written request for a contribution is made, clearly and conspicuously
disclose at the point of solicitation such solicitor's name as on file with the department,
the fact that such solicitor is a paid solicitor and the percentage of the gross revenue
which the charitable organization shall receive as identified in subsection (d) of this
section.
(f) A paid solicitor shall, in the case of a solicitation campaign conducted orally,
whether by telephone or otherwise, send a written confirmation to each person who has
pledged to contribute, no more than five days after such person has been solicited,
which confirmation shall include a clear and conspicuous disclosure of the information
required by subsection (e) of this section.
(g) A paid solicitor shall not represent that any part of the contributions received
will be given or donated to any charitable organization unless such organization has
consented in writing to the use of its name, prior to the solicitation. Such written consent,
if given, shall be signed by two authorized officers, directors or trustees of the charitable
organization.
(h) No paid solicitor may represent that tickets to an event are to be donated for use
by another, unless the paid solicitor has first obtained a commitment, in writing, from
a charitable organization stating that it will accept donated tickets and specifying the
number of tickets which it is willing to accept and provided no more contributions for
donated tickets shall be solicited than the number of ticket commitments received from
the charitable organization.
(i) A paid solicitor shall require any person such solicitor directly or indirectly employs, procures or engages to solicit to comply with the provisions of subsections (e)
to (h), inclusive, of this section.
(j) A paid solicitor shall file a financial report for the campaign with the department
no more than ninety days after a solicitation campaign has been completed, and on the
anniversary of the commencement of any solicitation campaign which lasts more than
one year. The financial report shall include gross revenue and an itemization of all
expenditures incurred. The report shall be completed on a form prescribed by the department. An authorized official of the paid solicitor and two authorized officials of the
charitable organization shall sign such report and they shall certify, under oath, that such
report is true and complete to the best of their knowledge. The information contained in
such report shall be available to the public.
(k) A paid solicitor shall maintain during each solicitation campaign and for not
less than three years after the completion of each such campaign the following records,
which shall be available to the department for inspection upon request: (1) The name
and address of each contributor and the date and amount of the contribution, provided
the department shall not disclose this information except to the extent necessary for
investigative or law enforcement purposes; (2) the name and residence of each employee,
agent or other person involved in the solicitation; and (3) records of all income received
and expenses incurred in the course of the solicitation campaign.
(l) If a paid solicitor sells tickets to an event and represents that tickets will be
donated for use by another, the paid solicitor shall maintain, for not less than three years
after the completion of such event, the following records, which shall be available to
the department for inspection upon request: (1) The name and address of contributors
donating tickets and the number of tickets donated by each contributor; and (2) the name
and address of all organizations receiving donated tickets for use by others, including
the number of tickets received by each organization.
(m) All funds collected by the paid solicitor shall be deposited in a bank account.
The bank account shall be in the name of the charitable organization with whom the
paid solicitor has contracted and the charitable organization shall have sole or joint
control of the account.
(n) Any material change in any information filed with the department pursuant to
this section shall be reported in writing by the paid solicitor to the department not more
than seven days after such change occurs.
(o) No person may act as a paid solicitor if such person, any officer or director
thereof, any person with a controlling interest therein, or any person the paid solicitor
employs, engages or procures to solicit for compensation, has been convicted by a court
of any state or the United States of any felony, or of any misdemeanor involving dishonesty or arising from the conduct of a solicitation for a charitable organization or purpose.
Any denial, suspension or revocation of the registration of a paid solicitor based on a
violation of this subsection shall be made in accordance with the provisions of section
46a-80.
(P.A. 86-369, S. 6; P.A. 89-251, S. 154, 203; P.A. 94-36, S. 30, 42; P.A. 05-101, S. 4.)
History: P.A. 89-251 increased the registration fee from one hundred dollars to one hundred twenty dollars; P.A. 94-36 amended Subsec. (a) to eliminate the "application and payment of the fee" requirements from the registration renewal
procedure, effective January 1, 1995; P.A. 05-101 amended Subsec. (a) to increase registration fee from one hundred
twenty dollars to five hundred dollars, amended Subsec. (c) to require publicizing of solicitation campaign, amended
Subsec. (h) to change "shall" to "may" re representation that tickets are to be donated, amended Subsec. (j) to require
information contained in report be available to the public, and made technical changes throughout.
Sec. 21a-190h. Prohibited acts. It shall be a violation of sections 21a-190a to 21a-190l, inclusive, for: (1) Any person to misrepresent the purpose or beneficiary of a
solicitation; (2) any person to misrepresent the purpose or nature of a charitable organization; (3) any charitable organization or any person while engaged in the conduct of the
affairs of a charitable organization to engage in any financial transaction which is not
related to the accomplishment of its charitable purpose, or which jeopardizes or interferes with the ability of the charitable organization to accomplish such organization's
charitable purpose; (4) any charitable organization to expend an unreasonable amount
of money for solicitation or management; (5) any person to use or exploit the fact of
registration so as to lead the public to believe that such registration constitutes an endorsement or approval by the state; (6) any person to misrepresent that any other person
sponsors or endorses a solicitation; (7) any person to use the name of a charitable organization, or to display any emblem, device or printed matter belonging to or associated
with a charitable organization without the express written permission of the charitable
organization; (8) any charitable organization to use the name which is the same as or
confusingly similar to the name of another charitable organization unless the latter organization shall consent in writing to its use; (9) any charitable organization to represent
itself as being associated with another charitable organization without the express written acknowledgment and endorsement of such other charitable organization; (10) any
person to make any false or misleading statement on any document required by sections
21a-190a to 21a-190l, inclusive; (11) any person to fail to comply with the requirements
of sections 21a-190b to 21a-190g, inclusive; (12) any charitable organization to use the
services of an unregistered fund-raising counsel or paid solicitor; (13) any fund-raising
counsel or paid solicitor to perform any services on behalf of an unregistered charitable
organization; or (14) any person to appropriate any property of a charitable organization
for a private use.
(P.A. 86-369, S. 8; P.A. 94-165; P.A. 05-101, S. 3; 05-288, S. 221.)
History: P.A. 94-165 inserted new Subdiv. (9) re actions of charitable organizations, renumbering remaining Subdivs.
as necessary; P.A. 05-101 amended Subdiv. (3) to include any person engaged in the conduct of the affairs of a charitable
organization and make a technical change, and added Subdiv. (14) re appropriation of the property of a charitable organization for private use, effective June 7, 2005; P.A. 05-288 made a technical change in Subdiv. (3), effective July 13, 2005.