2023 New York Laws › EXC - Executive › Article 7-A - Solicitation and Collection of Funds for Charitable Purposes › 172-A - Certain Persons Exempted.

§ 172-a. Certain  persons exempted. 1. This article shall not apply to
corporations organized under the religious corporations law,  and  other
religious  agencies  and  organizations,  and  charities,  agencies, and
organizations operated, supervised, or controlled by  or  in  connection
with a religious organization.
2.  The  following  persons shall not be required to register with the
attorney general:
(a)  An  educational  institution  confining   its   solicitation   of
contributions  to  its  student  body, alumni, faculty and trustees, and
their families.
(b) Fraternal, patriotic,  social,  alumni,  law  enforcement  support
organizations  and  historical societies chartered by the New York state
board of regents when solicitation of contributions is confined to their
membership.
(c) Persons  requesting  any  contributions  for  the  relief  of  any
individual, specified by name at the time of the solicitation, if all of
the contributions collected, without any deductions whatsoever, are paid
to   or  for  the  benefit  of  the  named  beneficiary.  Prior  to  the
commencement of any such solicitation, the principal  person  requesting
contributions may file with the attorney general a form, provided by the
attorney general, which shall read as follows:
CHARITABLE SOLICITATION FOR THE RELIEF OF AN INDIVIDUAL
 
 ______________________________________________________________________
NAME AND ADDRESS OF THE PRINCIPAL PERSON REQUESTING CONTRIBUTIONS
 
 ______________________________________________________________________
PURPOSE OF THE SOLICITATION
 
 ______________________________________________________________________
NAME AND ADDRESS OF THE PRIMARY INDIVIDUAL BENEFICIARY
 
 ______________________________________________________________________
NAME AND ADDRESS OF SECONDARY BENEFICIARY (IF ANY)
LIST NO MORE THAN THREE SECONDARY BENEFICIARIES
 
The   principal  person  requesting  contributions  may,  on  such  form
designate up to three secondary individuals or charitable  organizations
as  charitable beneficiaries who shall be entitled to such contributions
in  the  event  circumstances  change   rendering   it   impossible   or
impracticable  to  use any or all of the money collected for the primary
beneficiary. The designation of  one  or  more  secondary  beneficiaries
shall  be  ineffective unless such form has been filed with the attorney
general and all persons requesting contributions shall have informed any
person solicited at the time of any solicitation of such filing. In  the
event that it is or may be impossible or impracticable to use any or all
of  the  money collected for the benefit of the primary beneficiary, and
(i) no secondary beneficiary has been properly  designated  pursuant  to
this  paragraph,  or  (ii)  no  secondary  beneficiary  exists, then the
attorney general, the primary beneficiary, or any person  who  requested
contributions  may petition the supreme court, on notice to the attorney
general, the primary beneficiary if living, any secondary beneficiaries,
and the principal person who requested the contributions  for  an  order
directing that any moneys remaining shall be transferred to a charitable
organization with purposes similar to those for which such contributions
were  collected. In the event that money collected for the relief of any
individual, without any deductions whatsoever, is paid  to  or  for  the

benefit  of  the  primary  beneficiary within sixty days of its receipt,
then all requirements of this paragraph shall be  deemed  to  have  been
complied  with.  For  the  purposes of this section, the term "principal
person  requesting  the  contributions"  shall  mean  any  person who is
primarily  responsible  for  soliciting  funds  for  the  relief  of  an
individual, but shall not include any person who solicits funds when all
such  funds  are  subsequently  transferred  over  to a principal person
requesting contributions.
(d) Any charitable  organization  which  solicits  or  receives  gross
contributions  of less than twenty-five thousand dollars during a fiscal
year of such organization, provided none of its fund raising is  carried
on by professional fund raisers or fund raising counsel. However, if the
gross  contributions received by such charitable organization during any
fiscal year of such organization  shall  be  in  excess  of  twenty-five
thousand  dollars,  it  shall within thirty days after the date it shall
have received gross contributions  in  excess  of  twenty-five  thousand
dollars  register  with  the attorney general as required by section one
hundred seventy-two of this article.
(e)  Any  charitable  organization  receiving  an  allocation  from  a
federated  fund, incorporated community appeal or a united way, provided
such fund, appeal or united way is complying with the provisions of this
article relating to registration and filing of  financial  reports  with
the  attorney  general, and provided such organization does not receive,
in addition  to  such  allocation,  gross  contributions  in  excess  of
twenty-five  thousand  dollars  during  the  fiscal  year,  and provided
further that all the fund-raising functions of  such  organizations  are
carried  on by persons who are unpaid for such services. However, if the
gross  contributions  other  than  such  allocation  received  by   such
charitable  organization  during  any  fiscal  year of such organization
shall be in excess of twenty-five  thousand  dollars,  it  shall  within
thirty  days after the date it shall have received such contributions in
excess of  twenty-five  thousand  dollars  register  with  the  attorney
general as required by section one hundred seventy-two of this article.
(f)  A local post, camp, chapter or similarly designated element, or a
county unit of such elements, of  a  bona  fide  veterans'  organization
which  issues  charters  to such local elements throughout this state, a
bona  fide  organization  of  volunteer  firefighters,  an  organization
providing  volunteer  ambulance  service  (as  defined  in section three
thousand one of the public health law)  or  a  bona  fide  auxiliary  or
affiliate   of   such   organizations,  provided  all  its  fund-raising
activities are carried on by members  of  such  an  organization  or  an
affiliate  thereof and such members receive no compensation, directly or
indirectly, therefor.
(g) An educational institution which files  annual  financial  reports
with  the regents of the university of the state of New York as required
by the education law or with an agency having  similar  jurisdiction  in
another  state  or  a  library  which  files annual financial reports as
required by the state education department.
(h) A charitable organization which receives all or substantially  all
of  its  funds from a single governmental agency and reports annually to
that  agency  provided  such  reports  contain   financial   information
substantially  similar in content to that required by subdivision one of
section one hundred seventy-two-b of this  article;  provided,  however,
that  such  organization  may  receive no more than twenty-five thousand
dollars from sources other  than  the  government  agency  to  which  it
reports.
(i)  Any police department, sheriff's department or other governmental
law enforcement agency.
(j) The state parent teachers  association  and  any  parent  teachers
association  affiliated  with an educational institution that is subject
to the jurisdiction of the state education department.