2006 Minnesota Statutes

309.531 REGISTRATION OF PROFESSIONAL FUND-RAISERS.
    Subdivision 1. General requirements. No person shall act as a professional fund-raiser
unless registered with the attorney general. The registration statement must be in writing, under
oath, in the form prescribed by the attorney general and must be accompanied by a registration
fee of $200. Each registration is effective for a period of not more than 12 months and in any
event expires on April 30 next following the date of registration. The registration may be renewed
for additional one-year periods on application and payment of all required fees. A professional
fund-raiser failing to register on the date required by this section or failing to file the financial
report required by this section on or before the date provided shall pay a late fee of $300. This late
fee shall be in addition to all other fees, costs, and penalties which may be imposed pursuant to
this section or section 309.57.
    Subd. 2. Required registration statement. The registration statement of the professional
fund-raiser shall consist of the following:
(a) If the professional fund-raiser at any time has custody of or access to contributions from
a solicitation, or if any person the professional fund-raiser employs, obtains, or engages has
custody of or access to contributions from a solicitation, the registration statement shall include
a bond, in which the professional fund-raiser shall be the principal obligor. The bond shall be
in the sum of $20,000, with one or more responsible sureties whose liability in the aggregate as
the sureties will at least equal that sum. In order to maintain the registration, the bond shall be
in effect for the full term of the registration. The bond, which may be in the form of a rider to a
larger blanket liability 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 309.50 to 309.61 or arising out of a violation of the
statutes or a rule adopted under the statutes.
(b) If the professional fund-raiser, or any person the professional fund-raiser employs,
procures, or engages, solicits in this state, the registration statement shall include a completed
"solicitation notice" on a form provided by the attorney general. The solicitation notice shall
include a copy of the contract described in paragraph (c), the projected dates when soliciting
will commence and terminate, the location and telephone number from where the solicitation
will be conducted, the name and residence address of each person responsible for directing and
supervising the conduct of the campaign, a statement as to whether the professional fund-raiser
will at any time have custody of contributions, and a description of the charitable program for
which the solicitation campaign is being carried out. The charitable organization on whose behalf
the professional fund-raiser is acting shall certify that the solicitation notice and accompanying
material are true and complete to the best of its knowledge.
(c) The professional fund-raiser shall also include, as part of the registration statement, a
copy of the contract between the charitable organization and the professional fund-raiser. The
contract shall:
(1) be in writing;
(2) contain information as will enable the attorney general to identify the services the
professional fund-raiser is to provide, including whether the professional fund-raiser will at
any time have custody of contributions; and
(3) if the professional fund-raiser or any person the professional fund-raiser employs,
procures, or engages, directly or indirectly, solicits in this state, the contract shall disclose the
percentage or a reasonable estimate of the percentage of the total amount solicited from each
person which shall be received by the charitable organization for charitable purposes.
The stated percentages required by this section and section 309.556, subdivision 2, shall
exclude any amount which the charitable organization is to pay as expenses of the solicitation
campaign, including the cost of merchandise or services sold or events staged.
(d) The registration statement shall also include the financial report for previous campaigns
conducted by the professional fund-raiser in this state as set forth in subdivision 4.
    Subd. 3. Solicitations on behalf of charity; written authorization. No professional
fund-raiser shall use the name of or solicit on behalf of any charitable organization unless such
solicitor has written authorization from two officers of such organization, a copy of which shall be
filed with the attorney general. Such written authorization shall conform to the requirements of
the contract described in subdivision 2, clause (c).
    Subd. 4. Solicitation campaign; financial report. Within 90 days after a solicitation
campaign has been completed, and 90 days following the anniversary of the commencement of a
solicitation campaign lasting more than one year, the professional fund-raiser who solicited
contributions in this state in conjunction with a charitable organization shall file with the attorney
general a financial report for the campaign, including gross revenue and an itemization of all
expenses incurred. The report shall be completed on a form prescribed by the attorney general.
The report shall be signed by an authorized official of the professional fund-raiser and an
authorized official from the charitable organization and they shall certify, under oath, that it is
true to the best of their knowledge.
History: 1973 c 762 s 8; 1987 c 336 s 35; 1987 c 358 s 115; 1989 c 151 s 2; 1994 c 465
art 3 s 10; 1995 c 235 s 8,9