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| Public Act 103-0121
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| HB1197 Enrolled | LRB103 25003 AMQ 51337 b |
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AN ACT concerning regulation.
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Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
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represented in the General Assembly:
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Section 5. The Solicitation for Charity Act is amended by |
changing Sections 1 and 4 as follows:
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(225 ILCS 460/1) (from Ch. 23, par. 5101)
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Sec. 1. Definitions. The following words and phrases as |
used in this Act shall have the
following meanings unless a |
different meaning is required by the context.
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(a) "Charitable organization" means any benevolent, |
philanthropic, patriotic,
or eleemosynary person or one |
purporting to be such which solicits and
collects funds for |
charitable purposes and includes each local, county, or
area |
division within this State of such charitable organization, |
provided
such local, county, or area division has authority |
and discretion to
disburse funds or property otherwise than by |
transfer to any parent
organization.
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(b) "Contribution" means the promise or grant of any money |
or property of any
kind or value, including the promise to pay, |
except payments by union
members of an organization. Reference |
to the dollar amount of
"contributions" in this Act means in |
the case of promises to pay, or
payments for merchandise or |
rights of any other description, the value of
the total amount |
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promised to be paid or paid for such merchandise or rights
and |
not merely that portion of the purchase price to be applied to |
a
charitable purpose. Contribution shall not include the |
proceeds from the
sale of admission tickets by any |
not-for-profit music or dramatic arts
organization which |
establishes, by such proof as the Attorney General may
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require, that it has received an exemption under Section |
501(c)(3) of the
Internal Revenue Code and which is organized |
and operated for the
presentation of live public performances |
of musical or theatrical works on
a regular basis. For |
purposes of this subsection, union member dues and
donated |
services shall not be deemed contributions.
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(c) "Person" means any individual, organization, group, |
association,
partnership, corporation, trust, or any |
combination of them.
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(d) "Professional fund raiser" means any person who for |
compensation or other
consideration, conducts, manages, or |
carries on any solicitation or fund raising drive or
campaign |
in this State or from this State or on behalf of a charitable
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organization residing within this State for the purpose of |
soliciting, receiving, or collecting
contributions for or on |
behalf of any charitable organization or any other
person, or |
who engages in the business of, or holds himself or herself out |
to persons
in this State as independently engaged in the |
business of soliciting, receiving, or collecting
contributions |
for such purposes. A bona fide director, officer, employee, or
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unpaid volunteer of a charitable organization shall not be |
deemed a
professional fund raiser unless the person is in a |
management position and
the majority of the individual's |
salary or other compensation is computed
on a percentage basis |
of funds to be raised, or actually raised.
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(e) "Professional fund raising consultant" means any
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person who is retained
by a charitable organization or trustee |
for a fixed fee or rate that is not
computed on a percentage of |
funds to be raised, or actually raised, under a
written |
agreement, to only plan, advise, consult, or prepare materials |
for a
solicitation of contributions in this State, but who |
does not manage,
conduct or carry on a fundraising campaign |
and who does not solicit
contributions or employ, procure, or |
engage any compensated person to
solicit contributions and who |
does not at any time have custody or control
of contributions. |
A volunteer, employee, or salaried officer of a
charitable |
organization or trustee maintaining a permanent establishment |
or
office in this State is not a professional fundraising |
consultant. An
attorney, investment counselor, or banker who |
advises an individual,
corporation, or association to make a |
charitable contribution is not a
professional fundraising |
consultant as a result of the advice.
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(f) "Charitable purpose" means any charitable, benevolent, |
philanthropic,
patriotic, or eleemosynary purpose.
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(g) "Charitable Trust" means any relationship whereby |
property is held
by a person for a charitable purpose.
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(h) "Education Program Service" means any activity which |
provides
information to the public of a nature that is not |
commonly known or facts
which are not universally regarded as |
obvious or as established by common
understanding and which |
informs the public of what it can or should do
about a |
particular issue.
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(i) "Primary Program Service" means the program service |
upon which an
organization spends more than 50% of its program |
service funds or the
program activity which represents the |
largest expenditure of funds in
the fiscal period.
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(j) "Professional solicitor" means any natural person who |
is employed or
retained for compensation by a professional |
fund raiser to solicit, receive, or collect
contributions for |
charitable purposes from persons in this State or from
this |
State or on behalf of a charitable organization residing |
within
this State.
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(k) "Program Service Activity" means the actual charitable |
program
activities of a charitable organization for which it |
expends its resources.
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(l) "Program Service Expense" means the expenses of |
charitable program
activity and not management expenses or |
fund raising expenses. In
determining Program Service Expense, |
management and fund raising expenses
may not be included.
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(m) "Public Safety Personnel Organization" means any |
person who uses any
of the words "officer", "police", |
"policeman", "policemen", "troopers",
"sheriff", "law |
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enforcement", "fireman", "firemen", "paramedic", or
similar |
words in
its name or in conjunction with solicitations, or in |
the title or name of a magazine, newspaper, periodical, |
advertisement book, or any other medium of electronic or print |
publication, and is not
a governmental entity.
No organization |
may be a Public Safety Personnel Organization unless 80% or
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more of its voting members or trustees are active or retired |
police officers, police officers with disabilities, peace |
officers,
firemen, fire fighters, emergency medical |
technicians - ambulance,
emergency medical technicians - |
intermediate, emergency medical technicians -
paramedic, |
ambulance drivers, or other medical assistance or first aid
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personnel.
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(m-5) "Public Safety Personnel" includes police officers, |
peace officers,
firemen, fire fighters, emergency medical |
technicians - ambulance,
emergency medical technicians - |
intermediate, emergency medical technicians -
paramedic, |
ambulance drivers, and other medical assistance or first aid
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personnel.
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(n) "Trustee" means any person, individual, group of |
individuals,
association, corporation, not for profit |
corporation, or other legal entity
holding property for or |
solicited for any charitable purpose; or any
officer, |
director, executive director or other controlling persons of a
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corporation soliciting or holding property for a charitable |
purpose.
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(o) "Reviewed financial statements" means procedures |
performed on financial statements in accordance with |
statements on standards for accounting and review services |
issued by the American Institute of Certified Public |
Accountants, in which a certified public accountant obtains |
limited assurance as a basis for reporting whether the |
accountant is aware of any material modifications that should |
be made to the financial statements for them to be in |
accordance with the specified basis of accounting. This |
subsection is inoperative on and after January 1, 2029. |
(Source: P.A. 99-143, eff. 7-27-15.)
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(225 ILCS 460/4) (from Ch. 23, par. 5104)
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Sec. 4. Annual reporting for charities. |
(a) Every charitable organization registered pursuant to |
Section 2
of this Act which shall receive in any 12-month |
period ending upon its
established fiscal or calendar year |
contributions in excess of $500,000 $300,000
and every |
charitable organization whose fund raising functions are not
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carried on solely by staff employees or persons who are unpaid |
for such
services, if the organization shall receive in any |
12-month period ending
upon its established fiscal or calendar |
year contributions in excess of
$25,000, shall file a
written |
report with the Attorney General upon forms
prescribed by him |
or her, on or before June 30 of each year if its books are kept
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on a calendar basis, or within 6 months after the close of its |
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fiscal year
if its books are kept on a fiscal year basis, which |
written report shall
include a
financial statement covering |
the immediately preceding 12-month period of
operation. Such |
financial statement shall include a balance sheet and
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statement of income and expense, and shall be consistent with |
forms
furnished by the Attorney General clearly setting forth |
the following:
gross receipts and gross income from all |
sources, broken down into total
receipts and income from each |
separate solicitation
project or source; cost of |
administration; cost of solicitation; cost of
programs |
designed to inform or educate the public; funds or properties
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transferred out of this State, with explanation as to |
recipient and
purpose; cost of fundraising; compensation paid |
to trustees; and total net
amount disbursed or dedicated for |
each major purpose,
charitable or otherwise. Such report shall |
also include a statement of any
changes in the information |
required to be contained in the registration
form filed on |
behalf of such organization. The report shall be signed by
the |
president or other authorized officer and the chief fiscal |
officer of
the organization who shall certify that the |
statements therein are true
and correct to the best of their |
knowledge, and shall be accompanied by
an opinion signed by an |
independent certified public accountant that the
financial |
statement therein fairly represents the financial operations |
of
the organization in sufficient detail to permit public |
evaluation of its
operations. Said opinion may be relied upon |
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by the Attorney General.
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(b) Every organization registered pursuant to Section 2 of |
this Act
which shall receive in any 12-month period ending |
upon its established
fiscal or calendar year of any year
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contributions:
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(1) in excess of $15,000, but not in excess of |
$25,000, during a
fiscal
year shall file only a simplified |
summary financial statement disclosing only
the gross |
receipts, total disbursements, and assets on hand at the |
end of the
year on forms prescribed by the Attorney |
General; or
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(2) in excess of $25,000, but not in excess of |
$300,000, if it is not
required to submit a report under
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subsection (a) of this Section, shall
file a written |
report with the Attorney General upon forms prescribed by
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him, on or before June 30 of each year if its books are |
kept on a calendar
basis, or within 6 months after the |
close of its fiscal year if its books
are kept on a fiscal |
year basis, which shall include a financial statement
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covering the immediately preceding 12-month period of |
operation limited to
a statement of such organization's |
gross receipts from contributions, the
gross amount |
expended for charitable educational programs, other |
charitable
programs, management expense, and fund
raising |
expenses including a separate statement of the cost of any |
goods,
services, or admissions supplied as part of its |
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solicitations, and the
disposition of the net proceeds |
from contributions, including compensation
paid to |
trustees, consistent with forms furnished by the Attorney |
General.
Such report shall also
include a statement of any |
changes in the information required to be
contained in the |
registration form filed on behalf of such organization.
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The report shall be signed by the president or other |
authorized officer and
the chief fiscal officer of the |
organization who shall certify that the
statements therein |
are true and correct to the best of their knowledge; or . |
(3) in excess of $300,000, but not in excess of |
$500,000, if it is not required to submit a report under |
subsection (a), shall file a written report with the |
Attorney General upon forms prescribed by the Attorney |
General, on or before June 30 of each year if its books are |
kept on a calendar basis, or within 6 months after the |
close of its fiscal year if its books are kept on a fiscal |
year basis, which written report shall include a financial |
statement covering the immediately preceding 12-month |
period of operation limited to a statement of such |
organization's gross receipts from contributions, the |
gross amount expended for charitable educational programs, |
other charitable programs, management expense, and fund |
raising expenses, including a separate statement of the |
cost of any goods, services, or admissions supplied as |
part of its solicitations, and the disposition of the net |
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proceeds from contributions, including compensation paid |
to trustees, consistent with forms furnished by the |
Attorney General. Such report shall also include a |
statement of any changes in the information required to be |
contained in the registration form filed on behalf of such |
organization. The report shall be signed by the president |
or other authorized officer and the chief fiscal officer |
of the organization who shall certify that the statements |
therein are true and correct to the best of their |
knowledge and shall be accompanied by reviewed financial |
statements, including a report signed by an independent |
certified public accountant stating that the independent |
certified public accountant is not aware of any material |
modifications that should be made to the financial |
statements in order to permit public evaluation of its |
operations. The report may be relied upon by the Attorney |
General.
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(c) For any fiscal or calendar year of any organization |
registered
pursuant to Section 2 of this Act in which such |
organization would have
been exempt from registration pursuant |
to Section 3 of this Act if it had
not been so registered, or |
in which it did not solicit or receive
contributions, such |
organization shall file, on or before June 30 of each
year if |
its books are kept on a calendar basis, or within 6 months |
after
the close of its fiscal year if its books are kept on a |
fiscal year basis,
instead of the reports required by |
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subdivisions (a) or (b) of this Section,
a statement certified |
under penalty of perjury by its president and chief fiscal
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officer stating the exemption and the facts upon which it is |
based or that
such organization did not solicit or receive |
contributions in such fiscal
year. The statement shall also |
include a statement of any
changes in the information required |
to be contained in the registration form
filed on behalf of |
such organization.
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(d) As an alternative means of satisfying the duties and |
obligations
otherwise imposed by this Section, any veterans |
organization
chartered or incorporated under federal law and |
any veterans organization
which is affiliated with, and |
recognized in the bylaws of, a
congressionally chartered or |
incorporated organization may, at its option,
annually file |
with the Attorney General the following documents:
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(1) A copy of its Form 990, as filed with the Internal |
Revenue Service.
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(2) Copies of any reports required to be filed by the |
affiliate with
the congressionally chartered or |
incorporated veterans organization, as well
as copies of |
any reports filed by the congressionally chartered or
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incorporated veterans organization with the government of |
the United States
pursuant to federal law.
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(3) Copies of all contracts entered into by the |
congressionally
chartered or incorporated veterans |
organization or its affiliate for
purposes of raising |
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funds in this State, such copies to be filed with the
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Attorney General no more than 30 days after execution of |
the contracts.
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(e) As an alternative means of satisfying all of the |
duties and
obligations otherwise imposed by this Section, any |
person, pursuant
to a
contract with a charitable organization, |
a veterans organization, or an
affiliate described or referred |
to in subsection (d), who receives,
collects, holds, or |
transports as the agent of the organization or affiliate
for |
purposes of resale any used or second hand personal property, |
including,
but not limited to, household goods, furniture, or |
clothing donated to the
organization or affiliate may, at its |
option, annually file with the
Attorney General the following |
documents, accompanied by an annual filing fee
of $15:
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(1) A notarized report including the number of |
donations of personal
property it has received on behalf |
of the charitable organization, veterans
organization, or |
affiliate during the preceding year. For purposes of this
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report, the number of donations of personal property shall |
refer to the
number of stops or pickups made regardless of |
the number of items received
at each stop or pickup. The |
report may cover the person's fiscal year, in
which case |
it shall be filed with the Attorney General no later than |
90
days after the close of that fiscal year.
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(2) All contracts with the charitable organization, |
veterans
organization, or affiliate under which the person |
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has acted as an agent for
the purposes listed above.
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(3) All contracts by which the person agreed to pay |
the charitable
organization, veterans organization, or |
affiliate a fixed amount for, or a
fixed percentage of the |
value of, each donation of used or second hand
personal |
property. Copies of all such contracts shall be filed no |
later
than 30 days after they are executed.
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(f) The Attorney General may seek appropriate equitable |
relief from a
court, enter into a binding nonjudicial |
settlement agreement, or or, in his discretion, cancel the |
registration
of any organization which fails to comply with |
subsection subdivision (a), (b), or (c) of
this Section within |
the time therein prescribed, or fails to furnish such
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additional information as is requested by the Attorney General |
within the
required time; except that the time may be extended |
by the Attorney General
for a period not to exceed 60 days upon |
a timely written
request and for
good cause stated. Unless |
otherwise stated herein, the Attorney General
shall, by
rule, |
set forth the standards used to determine whether a |
registration
shall be cancelled as authorized by this |
subsection. Such standards shall
be stated as precisely and |
clearly as practicable, to inform fully those
persons |
affected. Notice of such cancellation shall be mailed to the
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registrant at least 15 days before the effective date thereof.
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(g) The Attorney General in his or her discretion may, |
pursuant to rule,
accept executed copies of federal Internal |
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Revenue returns and reports as a
portion of the foregoing
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annual reporting in the interest of minimizing paperwork, |
except there
shall be no substitute for the independent |
certified public accountant
audit opinion required by this |
Act.
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(h) The Attorney General after canceling the registration |
of any trust
or organization which fails to comply with
this
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Section within the time therein prescribed may by court |
proceedings, in
addition to all other relief, seek to
collect |
the assets and distribute such under court supervision to |
other
charitable purposes. |
(h-5) The Attorney General, within a binding nonjudicial |
settlement agreement, may accept a written assurance of |
discontinuance of any method, act, or practice alleged to be a |
violation of subsection (a), (b), or (c) from the person who |
has engaged in the method, act, or practice. The Attorney |
General may at any time reopen a matter in which an assurance |
of discontinuance is accepted for further proceedings if the |
Attorney General determines that reopening the matter is in |
the public interest. Evidence of a violation of an assurance |
of discontinuance is prima facie evidence of a violation of |
this Act in any subsequent proceeding brought by the Attorney |
General.
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(i) Every trustee, person, and organization required to |
file an annual
report shall pay a filing fee of $15 with each |
annual financial report filed
pursuant to this Section. If a |
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proper and complete annual report is not timely
filed, a late |
filing fee of an additional $100 is imposed and shall be paid
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as a condition of filing a late report. Reports submitted |
without the proper
fee shall not be accepted for filing. |
Payment of the late filing fee and
acceptance by the Attorney |
General shall both be conditions of filing a late
report. All |
late filing fees shall be used to provide charitable trust
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enforcement and dissemination of charitable trust information |
to the public and
shall be maintained in a separate fund for |
such purpose known as the Illinois
Charity Bureau Fund.
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(j) There is created hereby a separate special fund in the |
State Treasury to
be known as the Illinois Charity Bureau |
Fund. That Fund shall be under the
control of the Attorney |
General, and the funds, fees, and penalties deposited
therein |
shall be used by the Attorney General to enforce the |
provisions of this
Act and to gather and disseminate |
information about charitable trustees and
organizations to the |
public. |
(k) The changes made to this Section by this amendatory |
Act of the 103rd General Assembly are inoperative on and after |
January 1, 2029.
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(Source: P.A. 100-201, eff. 8-18-17.)
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Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect January |
1, 2024.
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