Terms Used In West Virginia Code > Chapter 29 > Article 19 - Solicitation of Charitable Funds Act

• Appeal: A request made after a trial, asking another court (usually the court of appeals) to decide whether the trial was conducted properly. To make such a request is "to appeal" or "to take an appeal." One who appeals is called the appellant.
• Audit: means the systematic examination of records and documents and the securing of other evidence by confirmation, physical inspection, or otherwise, that includes a written assurance that financial statements and reports are fairly presented in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles issued by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. See West Virginia Code 29-19-2
• Beneficiary: A person who is entitled to receive the benefits or proceeds of a will, trust, insurance policy, retirement plan, annuity, or other contract. ^{Source: OCC}
• Charitable organization: means a person who is or holds itself out to be a benevolent, educational, philanthropic, humane, patriotic, religious or eleemosynary organization, or any person who solicits or obtains contributions solicited from the public for charitable purposes, or any person who in any manner employs any appeal for contributions which may be reasonably interpreted to suggest that any part of those contributions will be used for charitable purposes. See West Virginia Code 29-19-2
• Charity: An agency, institution, or organization in existence and operating for the benefit of an indefinite number of persons and conducted for educational, religious, scientific, medical, or other beneficent purposes.
• Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
• Contribution: means the promise or grant of any money or property of any kind or value. See West Virginia Code 29-19-2
• Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
• Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
• Financial review: means an examination of financial statements in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles issued by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, in which a certified public accountant has a reasonable basis for expressing limited assurance that the reviewed statements are free of material misstatements or false or missing information and are found to be accurate, complete and fairly presented to meet the requirements of the generally accepted accounting principles. See West Virginia Code 29-19-2
• Fiscal year: The fiscal year is the accounting period for the government. For the federal government, this begins on October 1 and ends on September 30. The fiscal year is designated by the calendar year in which it ends; for example, fiscal year 2006 begins on October 1, 2005 and ends on September 30, 2006.
• Partnership: A voluntary contract between two or more persons to pool some or all of their assets into a business, with the agreement that there will be a proportional sharing of profits and losses.
• Person: means any individual, organization, trust, foundation, group, association, partnership, corporation, society or any combination of them. See West Virginia Code 29-19-2
• Plea: In a criminal case, the defendant's statement pleading "guilty" or "not guilty" in answer to the charges, a declaration made in open court.
• Professional fund-raising counsel: means any person who for a flat fixed fee under a written agreement plans, conducts, manages, carries on, advises or acts as a consultant, whether directly or indirectly, in connection with soliciting contributions for, or on behalf of any charitable organization but who actually solicits no contributions as a part of the services. See West Virginia Code 29-19-2
• Professional solicitor: means any person who, for a financial or other consideration, solicits contributions for, or on behalf of a charitable organization, whether the solicitation is performed personally or through that person's agents, servants or employees specially employed by, or for a charitable organization, who are engaged in the solicitation of contributions under the direction of that person, or a person who plans, conducts, manages, carries on, advises or acts as a consultant to a charitable organization in connection with the solicitation of contributions but does not qualify as "professional fund-raising counsel" within the meaning of this article. See West Virginia Code 29-19-2
• Signature: means any mark, symbol, facsimile, or electronic mark or symbol, that depicts a person's name on any document or record, affixed to the document or record by the person with the intent to authenticate, assert, certify, or agree to the matters, validity, information, or attestation set forth in the document or record. See West Virginia Code 29-19-2
• solicitation: means the request or appeal, directly or indirectly, for any contribution on the plea or representation that the contribution will be used for a charitable purpose, including, without limitation, the following methods of requesting a contribution:

  (A) Any oral or written request. See West Virginia Code 29-19-2

• State: when applied to a part of the United States and not restricted by the context, includes the District of Columbia and the several territories, and the words "United States" also include the said district and territories. See West Virginia Code 2-2-10