Our nonprofit secondary school has voluntarily registered under the state’s charitable solicitation registration law, even though we are exempt from such registration. We do it so that our donors will not question why we are not registered. Our Development Office does not include on our materials the legend required of other registrants stating that financial material can be obtained from the state. Do we need to include the required paragraph even if we are not required to register?
I don’t think anyone can give you a definitive answer to this question. It seems unlikely that the state would actually prosecute for failing to carry the legend when you could avoid the obligation by withdrawing your registration.
If you are going to the trouble to register, however, I don’t know why you don’t include the legend on your materials. Even though the legend specifically says that “registration does not imply endorsement,” there are some potential donors out there who believe that if you are registered you must be OK. They don’t know that the state’s review of the paperwork has nothing to do with the quality of the organization, but they think that you wouldn’t be able to register if you were not a legitimate charity.
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