Our school solicited funds at our annual charity event to build a new building for our middle school. They provided donors with building plans and a video of what the school would look like. Five months later, they have scrapped plans for the new building and are, instead, leasing a building and renovating it without the consent of the donors for the new building. Do I have standing to ask for my donation back?

You can always ask, but in most states the rule is probably that only the Attorney General has legal standing to actually seek to enforce the restriction imposed upon the use of the funds because of the purpose set forth in the solicitation.  Many organizations will give themselves some wiggle room in the solicitation to say that the funds will be used for some other purpose in support of the organization if the plan to build a new building does not work out.  Without such wiggle room, however, the organization may not use the funds for a different purpose without getting approval from the Attorney General or perhaps from a court.  The Attorney General should be interested in a situation where a charity ignores the conditions placed on a contribution. --Don Kramer