Rhode Island General Laws 5-53.1-9. Contracts of professional fundraisers and fundraising counsel
(a) No person shall act as a professional fundraiser or fundraising counsel before he, she, or it has a written contract with the charitable organization. A true and correct copy of each contract entered into between a professional fundraiser or fundraising counsel and a charitable organization shall be filed by the professional fundraiser or fundraising counsel who is a party to the contract with the director within ten (10) days after it is signed. True and correct copies of the contracts shall be kept on file in the offices of the charitable organization and the professional fundraiser or fundraising counsel during the term of the contract and until the expiration of a period of three (3) years subsequent to the date the solicitation of contributions provided for in the contract actually terminates.
Terms Used In Rhode Island General Laws 5-53.1-9
- Charitable organization: means any organization soliciting for a charitable purpose or any organization holding themselves out as such. See Rhode Island General Laws 5-53.1-1
- Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
- Director: means the director of the department. See Rhode Island General Laws 5-53.1-1
- Fundraising counsel: means any person who for compensation consults with a charitable organization or who plans, manages, advises, or assists with respect to the solicitation of contributions for or on behalf of a charitable organization, but who does not have access to contributions or other receipts from a solicitation and who does not solicit. See Rhode Island General Laws 5-53.1-1
- Person: means and shall include any individual, organization, group, association, partnership, corporation, trust, limited-liability company, and combination of the foregoing, however formed, as well as any and all other entities, however formed. See Rhode Island General Laws 5-53.1-1
- Professional fundraiser: means any person who directly or indirectly for compensation or other consideration plans, manages, conducts, carries on, or assists in connection with a solicitation for charitable purposes or individually solicits or who or that employs or otherwise engages on any basis another person to solicit for or on behalf of any charitable organization, or who or that engages in the business of, or holds himself, herself, or itself out to persons as independently engaged in the business of soliciting for the charitable purpose. See Rhode Island General Laws 5-53.1-1
- solicitation: means to appeal or request, directly or indirectly, whether express or implied, for money, credit, property, financial assistance, or any other thing of value by means of mail, personal contact, written material, radio, telephone, television, news media, magazines or other periodicals, or any other means of plea or representation that the money, credit, property, financial assistance, or other thing of value will be used for a charitable purpose. See Rhode Island General Laws 5-53.1-1
(b) Every contract between a professional fundraiser and a charitable organization shall contain or shall be deemed to contain a provision that within five (5) days of receipt all funds received from solicitation shall be deposited in a bank account in the sole name of the charitable organization or shall be delivered to the organization for deposit.
History of Section.
P.L. 1999, ch. 152, § 2.