(1) (a) No person shall act as a paid solicitor without first complying with the requirements of this section.
(b) Every paid solicitor shall register in accordance with subsection (3) of this section before soliciting contributions in this state.
(2) Every contract between a paid solicitor and a charitable organization or sponsor for each solicitation campaign shall be in writing and shall be signed by an authorized official of the charitable organization or sponsor, who shall be a member of the organization's governing body, and by the paid solicitor if the paid solicitor is an individual or by the authorized contracting officer for the paid solicitor if the paid solicitor is not an individual. The paid solicitor shall provide a copy of the contract to the charitable organization prior to the performance of any material services under the contract and shall make a copy of the contract available to the secretary of state upon request. The contract shall contain all of the following provisions:
A statement of the charitable purpose for which the solicitation campaign is beingconducted;
A statement of the respective obligations of the paid solicitor and the charitable organization;
A statement of the specified minimum percentage, if any, of the gross receipts fromcontributions that will be remitted to the charitable organization, or, if the solicitation involves the sale of goods, services, or tickets to a fundraising event, the specified minimum percentage, if any, of the purchase price that will be remitted to the charitable organization. Any stated percentage shall exclude any amount payable by the charitable organization as fundraising costs.
A statement of the specified percentage, if any, of gross revenue that constitutes thepaid solicitor's compensation. If the paid solicitor's compensation is not contingent upon the number of contributions or the amount received, the paid solicitor's compensation shall be expressed as a reasonable estimate of the percentage of gross revenue, and the contract shall clearly disclose the assumptions upon which such estimate is based. The stated assumptions shall be based upon all the relevant facts known to the paid solicitor regarding the solicitation to be conducted.
The effective and termination dates of the contract.
(3) Applications for registration or renewal of registration must be submitted on a form prescribed by the secretary of state, signed and affirmed under penalty of perjury as defined in section 18-8-503, and must include the following information:
The address and telephone number of the principal place of business of the applicantand the address and telephone number of any office located in this state if the principal place of business is located outside the state;
The form of the applicant's business and, if the applicant is not an individual, theplace and date when the applicant was incorporated or otherwise legally established;
The name, address, and telephone number of the person that has custody of the applicant's financial records;
If the applicant is not an individual, the names and addresses of the owners, officers,and executive personnel of the applicant;
The names of all persons in charge of any solicitation activity conducted in this stateby the applicant or on the applicant's behalf;
Whether the applicant, any person with a controlling interest in the applicant, or anyof the applicant's owners, officers, directors, trustees, employees, or agents has, within the immediately preceding five years, been convicted of, found guilty of, pled guilty or nolo contendere to, been adjudicated a juvenile violator of, or been incarcerated for any felony involving fraud, theft, larceny, embezzlement, fraudulent conversion, or misappropriation of property or any crime arising from the conduct of a solicitation for a charitable organization or sponsor, under the laws of this or any other state or of the United States, and if so, the name of such person, the nature of the offense, the date of the offense, the court having jurisdiction in the case, the date of conviction or other disposition, and the disposition of the offense;
Whether the applicant or any of its owners, officers, directors, trustees, or employeeshave been enjoined from violating any law relating to a charitable solicitation and, if so, the name of such person, the date of the injunction, and the court issuing the injunction;
Whether the applicant is registered with or otherwise authorized by any other state toact as a paid solicitor;
Whether the applicant has had such registration or authority denied, suspended, revoked, or enjoined by any court or other governmental authority in this state or another state; and
Whether the applicant or any officer, director, or employee of the applicant serves onthe board of directors of a charitable organization, directs the operations of a charitable organization, or otherwise has a financial interest in a charitable organization for which the applicant solicits contributions. If this relationship exists between the applicant and the charitable organization, the application must include a statement that the relationship meets the standards set forth in section 7-128-501 (3), C.R.S., regarding conflict of interest transactions.
(3.5) (a) Before any paid solicitor is registered, the applicant shall procure and file with the secretary of state evidence of a savings account, deposit, or certificate of deposit meeting the requirements of section 11-35-101, C.R.S., or a good and sufficient bond in the amount of fifteen thousand dollars issued by a corporate surety duly licensed to do business within the state, approved as to form by the attorney general of the state, and conditioned that the applicant shall perform in good faith as a paid solicitor without fraud or fraudulent representation and without the violation of any provision of this article.
No corporate surety is required to make any payment to any person claiming a bondissued under this subsection (3.5) until a final determination of fraud or fraudulent representation has been made by the secretary of state or by a court of competent jurisdiction.
All bonds required under this section must be renewed annually at the same time asthe bondholder's license is renewed. Renewal of the bond may be done through a continuation certificate issued by the surety.
The application for registration or for renewal shall be accompanied by the fee established pursuant to subsection (12) of this section. A paid solicitor that is a partnership, corporation, or limited liability company may register for and pay a single fee on behalf of all its partners, members, officers, directors, agents, and employees. In such case, the names and street addresses of all the partners, members, officers, directors, employees, and agents of the paid solicitor and all other persons with whom the paid solicitor has contracted to work under its direction shall be listed in the application or furnished to the secretary of state within five days after the date of employment or contractual arrangement.
Each registration is valid for a period of one year and may be renewed, on or beforethe anniversary date, for an additional one-year period upon application to the secretary of state and payment of the registration fee and any assessed fines. Any material changes to the information contained in the application for registration must be reported in writing to the secretary of state within thirty days.
The secretary of state shall examine each registration to determine whether the applicable requirements of this section are satisfied. The secretary of state shall notify the applicant within ten days after receipt of its application of any deficiencies therein, otherwise the application shall be deemed approved as filed. The secretary of state shall issue each approved applicant a registration number.
No later than fifteen days before the commencement of a solicitation campaign, thepaid solicitor shall file with the secretary of state a completed solicitation notice, on forms prescribed by the secretary of state, containing the following information:
A summary of the governing contract, as specified in subsection (2) of this section;
The full legal name and address of the paid solicitor who will be conducting thesolicitation campaign and the full legal name and address of each person responsible for directing and supervising the conduct of the campaign;
A statement, in accordance with section 6-16-111 (1)(f) and (1)(g), of the nature ofthe intended solicitation campaign, including the means of communication to be used in the campaign, the projected commencement and conclusion dates of the campaign, and a description of any event the campaign will lead up to;
A full and fair statement, in accordance with section 6-16-111 (1)(f) and (1)(g), ofthe charitable purpose for which the solicitation campaign is being carried out;
Each location and telephone number, if applicable, from which the solicitation is tobe conducted;
A statement as to whether the paid solicitor will at any time have custody of contributions;
The account number and location of each bank account where receipts from the campaign are to be deposited;
The address where records and accounting concerning the solicitation campaign arebeing kept; and
A certification statement, signed and affirmed under penalty of perjury as defined insection 18-8-503 by an officer of the charitable organization on the behalf of whom the solicitation campaign is to occur, stating that the solicitation notice and accompanying material are true and complete to the best of his or her knowledge.
If a paid solicitor will have custody of any monetary contribution received during asolicitation campaign, each such contribution must be deposited within two business days after its receipt in an account at a bank or other federally insured financial institution. The account must be in the name of the charitable organization with whom the paid solicitor has contracted, and the charitable organization must have sole control over all withdrawals from the account.
Within ninety days after a solicitation campaign has been concluded, and on theanniversary of the commencement of a solicitation campaign lasting more than one year, the paid solicitor shall provide to the charitable organization and file with the secretary of state a financial report of the campaign, including gross proceeds and an itemization of all expenses or disbursements for any purpose. The report must be on a form prescribed by the secretary of state and must be signed and affirmed under penalty of perjury as defined in section 18-8-503 by the paid solicitor, or, if the paid solicitor is not an individual, by an authorized official of the paid solicitor, and by an authorized official of the charitable organization. The persons signing the report shall certify that the financial report is true and complete to the best of their knowledge.
No person may act as a paid solicitor and no paid solicitor required to be registeredunder this section shall knowingly employ any person as an officer, trustee, director, or employee if such person, within the immediately preceding five years, has been convicted of, found guilty of, pled guilty or nolo contendere to, been adjudicated a juvenile violator of, or been incarcerated for any felony involving fraud, theft, larceny, embezzlement, fraudulent conversion, or misappropriation of property or any crime arising from the conduct of a solicitation for a charitable organization or sponsor, under the laws of this or any other state or of the United States, or has been enjoined within the immediately preceding five years under the laws of this or any other state or of the United States from engaging in deceptive conduct relating to charitable solicitations.
Information filed pursuant to this section, except for residential addresses and telephone numbers of individuals and account numbers at banks or other financial institutions, is a public record for purposes of the public records law, part 2 of article 72 of title 24, C.R.S.
Filing fees for the annual registration of a paid solicitor, amendments thereto, solicitation notices, and financial reports shall be established by the secretary of state in amounts that reflects the costs of the secretary of state in administering the provisions of this article. All such fees collected shall be deposited in the department of state cash fund created in section 2421-104 (3)(b), C.R.S.
Source: L. 2001: Entire section added, p. 1239, § 3, effective May 9, 2002. L. 2003: IP(2) amended, p. 2497, § 4, effective June 5. L. 2005: IP(2) amended, p. 1288, § 4, effective June 3. L. 2012: (8) amended, (HB 12-1236), ch. 133, p. 458, § 3, effective January 1, 2013. L. 2014: (11) amended, (HB 14-1206), ch. 118, p. 421, § 3, effective August 6. L. 2016: (3)(h) and
(3)(i) amended and (3)(j) and (3.5) added, (HB 16-1129), ch. 262, p. 1076, § 3, effective August 10. L. 2017: IP(3), (5), (7)(i), and (9) amended, (HB 17-1158), ch. 160, p. 594, § 3, effective October 1, 2018.