Welcome to CPA at Law, helping individuals and small businesses plan for the future and keep what they have.

This is the personal blog of Sterling Olander, a Certified Public Accountant and Utah-licensed attorney. For over nine years, I have assisted clients with estate planning and administration, tax mitigation, tax controversies, small business planning, asset protection, and nonprofit law.

I write about any legal, tax, or technological information that I find interesting or useful in serving my clients. All ideas expressed herein are my own and don't constitute legal or tax advice.

50 States' Charitable Solicitation Registration Search

In a previous post, I discussed the various laws requiring nonprofit organizations wishing to solicit donations from the public to register with the state. Nearly all states that require charitable solicitation registration make registered organizations' information available to the public. In this post, I've collected links to each states' webpage for searching for charities that have qualified to solicit contributions within the state.

In utilizing these state databases, it is important to keep in mind that the standard for registering is different in every state. Texas, for example, does not require charities or non-profit organizations to register unless they solicit for law enforcement, public safety, or veterans causes. Other states, such as Louisiana, only require registration of paid fundraisers or charities that contract with paid fundraisers from outside of the organization.

This post will be updated as necessary; please comment below if you come across broken links or updated resources:

 Alabama  Illinois  Montana^  Rhode Island
 Alaska  Indiana^  Nebraska^  South Carolina
 Arizona^  Iowa^  Nevada  South Dakota^
 Arkansas  Kansas  New Hampshire  Tennessee
 California  Kentucky  New Jersey  Texas
 Colorado  Louisiana*  New Mexico  Utah
 Connecticut  Maine  New York  Vermont^
 Delaware^  Maryland  North Carolina  Virginia
 District of Columbia   Massachusetts   North Dakota  Washington
 Florida  Michigan  Ohio  West Virginia
 Georgia  Minnesota  Oklahoma  Wisconsin
 Hawaii  Mississippi  Oregon  Wyoming^
 Idaho^  Missouri  Pennsylvania   

*Registration required, no online search available
^No registration required

Uniform Voidable Transactions Act

The Uniform Voidable Transactions Act (UVTA), known as the Uniform Fraudulent Transfer Act (UFTA) until 2014, is a uniform law providing remedies to creditors for certain debtor transactions that are deemed unfair. The UFTA was adopted by 46 jurisdictions, while the UVTA has currently been adopted in nine states. However, the UVTA is not substantially different from the UFTA, meaning that the vast majority of states have very similar statutes on the subject.

The full text of the final version of the UVTA is located here. Following is a conceptual questionnaire to assist in determining whether a transaction is voidable under the UVTA:

1. Was a transfer made (or obligation incurred) by a debtor?
       a. Yes - Go to Question 2.
       b. No - STOP; no voidable transaction.
2. Was the transfer made with actual intent to hinder, delay, or defraud any creditor? See eleven factor test in UVTA section 4(b).
       a. Yes - STOP; transaction is voidable.
       b. No - Go to Question 3.
3. Was the transfer made (i) after a creditor claim arose (ii) to an insider (iii) for an antecedent debt (iv) when the debtor was insolvent and (v) where the insider had reasonable cause to believe that the debtor was insolvent?
       a. Yes - STOP; transaction is voidable.
       b. No - Go to Question 4.
4. Was the transfer made without receiving a reasonably equivalent value in exchange?
       a. Yes - Go to Question 5.
       b. No - STOP; no voidable transaction.
5. Was the transfer made (i) after a creditor claim and (ii) at a time the debtor was insolvent or the debtor became insolvent as a result of the transfer?
       a. Yes - STOP; transaction is voidable.
       b. No - Go to question 6.
6. Was the debtor engaged in or about to engage in a transaction for which its remaining assets were unreasonably small in relation to the transaction or (ii) intending to incur, or believing or reasonably should have been believing that it would incur debts beyond the its ability to pay as they became due?
       a. Yes - STOP; transaction is voidable.
       b. No - STOP; no voidable transaction.

Charitable Solicitation Registration

Nearly every state requires charitable organizations that solicit money to register before fundraising. Often, there are exceptions to registration, such as a church soliciting from its membership or organizations that are regulated under other laws such as political action committees. Otherwise, however, the definition of "soliciting" is very broad and could arguably include simply maintaining a website requesting donations, depending on the state.

Additional registration requirements often apply to professional fundraisers, fundraising counsel, and commercial co-ventures. For an excellent summary of these laws in all U.S. jurisdictions, see State Charitable Solicitation Registration Requirements by Asiatico & Associates, PLLC.

Fortunately, a charitable organization that intends to engage in a nationwide fundraising campaign can register in most jurisdictions using a single form, thanks to the Unified Registration Statement, or URS. The URS is available as an alternative to filing the state-specific form in each participating jurisdiction; thus, a nonprofit may use either the state form or the URS in most registration states.

According to the URS website, 37 jurisdictions currently accept the URS (although Arizona's registration law was recently repealed), with 14 of those requiring a state-specific supplemental form. Colorado, Florida, and Oklahoma, and most recently Nevada, require charitable solicitation registration but do not accept the URS. Nevada is not currently listed on the URS website and others as a state that requires charitable solicitation because the requirement is so recent, becoming effective January 1, 2014. Be sure to check state law before soliciting for your charity!