Solicitation Registration

Thanks for your response. I might have used the wrong term in my post. I meant, is registration of some sort required in Arizona for a for profit to seek donations from other businesses in Arizona. Sorry about that.
 
You'll have to register your business one way or the other. Whether there are specific registration requirements for soliciting donations depends on the nature of your business and the method you use for soliciting donations.

Provide some details and I'll see if I can find resources for you.

Or, call the S of S office and lay it out for them.
 
Thank you for your response. GoFundMe and emails would be used to solicit donations. I contacted the Secretary of State's office yesterday. But, I haven't yet heard from them.

A few years back, Arizona repealed registration requirements for charitable/nonprofits. Only Veteran charities are required to register. I just don't know if this appeal applies to For Profits.
 
MarkShoe said:
I contacted the Secretary of State's office yesterday. But, I haven't yet heard from them.
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As long as the various prohibitions and "turtling" actions exist, it might take weeks (maybe months) until you hear by from the AZ SoS.

You might send a letter to their agency/office and copy your state rep & senator, along with your governor; if any of them still advocate for their constituents.

Good luck with your enterprise.
 
MarkShoe said:
A few years back, Arizona appealed registration requirements for charitable/nonprofits. Only Veteran charities are required to register. I just don't know if this appeal applies to For Profits.
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You mean "repeal" not "appeal." The article says:

"The repeal applies only to charitable organizations which are defined in Arizona Revised Statute Section 44-6551" and then describes the entities.

Please describe the nature of your "for profit" business and why you need to solicit donations.
 
adjusterjack said:
You mean "repeal" not "appeal." The article says:

"The repeal applies only to charitable organizations which are defined in Arizona Revised Statute Section 44-6551" and then describes the entities.

Please describe the nature of your "for profit" business and why you need to solicit donations.
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Thank you for your response. That's my point. From what I see, I see no mention of For Profits. That is the reason why I posted this question on this forum. I cannot seem to find the actual text to this repeal which might answer that question.
 
MarkShoe said:
Thank you for your response. That's my point. From what I see, I see no mention of For Profits. That is the reason why I posted this question on this forum. I cannot seem to find the actual text to this repeal which might answer that question.
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Please describe the nature of your business and why you need to solicit donations (as asked previously). Furthermore, why don't you explain why you think other companies will "donate" to you...
 
MarkShoe said:
Thank you for your response. GoFundMe and emails would be used to solicit donations. I contacted the Secretary of State's office yesterday. But, I haven't yet heard from them.

A few years back, Arizona appealed registration requirements for charitable/nonprofits. Only Veteran charities are required to register. I just don't know if this appeal applies to For Profits.
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Please remove the commercial link you attached. And the word is "repealed."
 
adjusterjack said:
Here are the statutes regarding solicitation by charitable organizations:

View Document

View Document

If you aren't willing to answer our questions (asked twice now), your options are to call the Scty of State's office or pay a lawyer for advice.
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Thank you so much for this info! I've also been in contact with the AZ Sec. of State's office. So, one way or another, I should get my answer perhaps next week.

I am looking for only businesses to donate money to help us cover at least a portion of our overhead conference expenses. We present a school bullying/violence/suicide prevention conference that we offer to k12 educators in the USA. With districts tight budgets and our increasing overhead expenses, I began to wonder if we could solicit donations just to offset the overhead costs. I'm also considering event sponsorship to accomplish this should the donation idea falter.

I really appreciate everyone's responses to my post. They have been very helpful.
 
MarkShoe said:
I cannot find a way to edit my previous responses. Sorry.
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I took care of it.

MarkShoe said:
We present a school bullying/violence/suicide prevention conference that we offer to k12 educators in the USA.
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And you do that as a profit making business.

Any profit making business in AZ has to register it's trade name with the state. Though I believe that's as far as you need to go, other than the usual taxes and stuff.

You can read about the repeal thing at:

Veterans Charities Organizations | Arizona Secretary of State

I have not found anything to suggest that you would have to specifically register for the purpose of soliciting donations. My opinion, for the two cents that it's worth, is that you can do that freely but your business does appear meet the definition of "charitable organization" under

"44-6551. 1. (b) A person who is or who is held out to be established for a benevolent, educational, philanthropic, humane, scientific, patriotic, social welfare or advocacy, public health, environmental conservation, civic or other eleemosynary purpose or a person who in any manner employs a charitable appeal as the basis of a solicitation."

Even though you are not a 501(c)(3) entity.

That means you would have to comply with 44-6561 and not commit any of the unlawful acts or practices listed in that section.
 
adjusterjack said:
I took care of it.



And you do that as a profit making business.

Any profit making business in AZ has to register it's trade name with the state. Though I believe that's as far as you need to go, other than the usual taxes and stuff.

You can read about the repeal thing at:

Veterans Charities Organizations | Arizona Secretary of State

I have not found anything to suggest that you would have to specifically register for the purpose of soliciting donations. My opinion, for the two cents that it's worth, is that you can do that freely but your business does appear meet the definition of "charitable organization" under

"44-6551. 1. (b) A person who is or who is held out to be established for a benevolent, educational, philanthropic, humane, scientific, patriotic, social welfare or advocacy, public health, environmental conservation, civic or other eleemosynary purpose or a person who in any manner employs a charitable appeal as the basis of a solicitation."

Even though you are not a 501(c)(3) entity.

That means you would have to comply with 44-6561 and not commit any of the unlawful acts or practices listed in that section.
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Thank you for this information. I haven't yet absorbed all this info yet. But, two questions came to mind:

1. I agree with you that my business could fall under:

"44-6551. 1. (b) A person who is or who is held out to be established for a benevolent, educational, philanthropic, humane, scientific, patriotic, social welfare or advocacy, public health, environmental conservation, civic or other eleemosynary purpose or a person who in any manner employs a charitable appeal as the basis of a solicitation."

However, if this were ever called into question, how would I prove that this is the case?

2. How would I declare solicited financial donations on my tax returns? Would I need to declare donations as taxable income?

Thanks.
 
MarkShoe said:
However, if this were ever called into question, how would I prove that this is the case?
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I think your business is altruistic enough to speak for itself.

MarkShoe said:
We present a school bullying/violence/suicide prevention conference that we offer to k12 educators in the USA.
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Besides, as long as you don't commit any of the prohibited acts, it shouldn't be called into question.

MarkShoe said:
Would I need to declare donations as taxable income?
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Yes.

MarkShoe said:
How would I declare solicited financial donations on my tax returns?
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According to the IRS:

Report on line 6 (Schedule C) amounts from finance reserve income, scrap sales, bad debts you recovered, interest (such as on notes and accounts receivable), state gasoline or fuel tax refunds you received in 2019, any amount of credit for biofuel claimed on line 2 of Form 6478, any amount of credit for biodiesel and renewable diesel fuels claimed on line 8 of Form 8864, credit for federal tax paid on fuels claimed on your 2018 Form 1040, prizes and awards related to your trade or business, and other kinds of miscellaneous business income.
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adjusterjack said:
I think your business is altruistic enough to speak for itself.



Besides, as long as you don't commit any of the prohibited acts, it shouldn't be called into question.



Yes.



According to the IRS:
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Thank you so much for your assistance. Next week, I plan to verify this info with the Sec. of State just to be on the safe side.
 
adjusterjack said:
That would be prudent.

Perhaps a tax pro and attorney as well.
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I just received this email from the AZ Sec. of State:

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This office is not able to make the determination for you as to which filing you should submit. You should consult an attorney to answer specific questions. This office is only a filing agency and customer service representatives are not able to interpret statutes. Also, you may read the Telephonic Seller Overview as an additional resource. The overview is purely informational and should not be construed as legal advice.
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So, I guess I have no choice but to hire an attorney to get what should be a simple question, answered.
 

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