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
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NAME AND ADDRESS OF THE PRINCIPAL PERSON REQUESTING CONTRIBUTIONS
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PURPOSE OF THE SOLICITATION
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NAME AND ADDRESS OF THE PRIMARY INDIVIDUAL BENEFICIARY
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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.Amended by New York Laws 2018, ch. 476,Sec. 4, eff. 12/28/2018.