Nonprofit Governance E-Book

Bruce R. Hopkins

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Fachliteratur
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2009

Seitenzahl: 579

Beschreibung

Nonprofit Governance Law, Practices & Trends Governance seems to be the subject that is perched atop every nonprofit lawyer's worry/wish list, despite the fact that there is not much law on the point, particularly at the federal level. This ascension in importance is largely due to the various organizations propounding best practices and principles for public charities and other forms of nonprofit organizations, the IRS's redesigned Form 990, the agency's aggressive push of certain good governance principles in the tax-exempt organizations' setting, and scandals brought to light by the Senate Finance Committee staff. Stemming from the authors' endless hours of meditating over the new Form 990 and sifting through the many (and often inconsistent) best practices principles, Nonprofit Governance fills the need for some cohesion in the realm of Nonprofit Governance by providing in-depth coverage and explanations of the laws, practices, and trends in this volatile area. An invaluable resource for nonprofit executives, officers, directors, nonprofit lawyers, accountants, members of boards of directors, and consultants, legal experts Bruce R. Hopkins and Virginia Gross's Nonprofit Governance brims with detailed documentation and references to regulations, rulings, cases, and tax literature (which includes current articles and tax law review notes). Here, readers will find a wealth of clarifying information on: * Federal and state law fundamentals * Board member responsibilities and liability * Nonprofit Governance principles * Nonprofit Governance issues * Application of the private benefit doctrine * Governance and the redesigned Form 990 * Recommended polices and procedures * Governance case studies * Governance legal audit * A law primer for nonprofit board members * And much more The book includes an exhaustive index, Internal Revenue Code citations and numerous case studies, tips, forms, and checklists to round out the authoritative coverage. Nonprofit Governance is an indispensable guide to, and through, all of the governance policymaking that is unfolding, to improve the management of nonprofit organizations as well as to help organizations be in compliance with Nonprofit Governance law.

Leseprobe

Table of Contents

Title Page

Copyright Page

About the Authors

Book Citations

Preface

CHAPTER ONE - Federal and State Law Fundamentals

§ 1.1 STATE LAW OVERVIEW

§ 1.2 FORMATION OF ORGANIZATION

§ 1.3 BOARD OF DIRECTORS BASICS

§ 1.4 PRINCIPLES OF FIDUCIARY RESPONSIBILITY

§ 1.5 DUTIES OF DIRECTORS

§ 1.6 BOARD COMPOSITION AND FEDERAL TAX LAW

CHAPTER TWO - Board Members: Responsibilities and Liability

§ 2.1 BOARD OF DIRECTORS GOVERNANCE PRINCIPLES

§ 2.2 ROLE OF OFFICERS

§ 2.3 KEY EMPLOYEES

§ 2.4 MANAGEMENT COMPANIES

§ 2.5 BOARD MEMBER RESPONSIBILITIES

§ 2.6 PROTECTIONS AGAINST PERSONAL LIABILITY

§ 2.7 MINIMIZING BOARD MEMBER LIABILITY

CHAPTER THREE - Nonprofit Organizations’ Governance Principles

§ 3.1 GOVERNANCE PHILOSOPHY IN GENERAL

§ 3.2 SARBANES-OXLEY ACT

§ 3.3 WATCHDOG AGENCIES’ STANDARDS

§ 3.4 CALIFORNIA’S NONPROFIT INTEGRITY ACT

§ 3.5 SENATE FINANCE COMMITTEE STAFF PAPER

§ 3.6 U.S. TREASURY DEPARTMENT’S VOLUNTARY BEST PRACTICES

§ 3.7 COMMITTEE FOR PURCHASE PROPOSED BEST PRACTICES

§ 3.8 PANEL ON NONPROFIT SECTOR RECOMMENDATIONS

§ 3.9 BOARDS OF EXEMPT CREDIT COUNSELING ORGANIZATIONS

§ 3.10 DRAFT OF IRS GOOD GOVERNANCE PRINCIPLES

§ 3.11 AMERICAN NATIONAL RED CROSS GOVERNANCE MODERNIZATION ACT PRINCIPLES

§ 3.12 PANEL ON NONPROFIT SECTOR GOOD GOVERNANCE PRINCIPLES

§ 3.13 REDESIGNED IRS ANNUAL INFORMATION RETURN (FORM 990)

§ 3.14 IRS LIFECYCLE EDUCATIONAL TOOL PRINCIPLES

§ 3.15 COMMENTARY

CHAPTER FOUR - Governance and the Redesigned Form 990

§ 4.1 GOVERNING BODY AND MANAGEMENT

§ 4.2 POLICIES

§ 4.3 DISCLOSURE

CHAPTER FIVE - Nonprofit Governance Issues

§ 5.1 PERSPECTIVES ON NONPROFIT GOVERNANCE

§ 5.2 GOVERNING BOARD SIZE

§ 5.3 GOVERNING BOARD COMPOSITION

§ 5.4 ROLE OF GOVERNING BOARD

§ 5.5 ORGANIZATION EFFECTIVENESS AND EVALUATION

§ 5.6 BOARD EFFECTIVENESS AND EVALUATION

§ 5.7 FREQUENCY OF BOARD MEETINGS

§ 5.8 TERM LIMITS

§ 5.9 BOARD MEMBER COMPENSATION

§ 5.10 AUDIT COMMITTEES

§ 5.11 OTHER COMMITTEES

§ 5.12 COMPLIANCE WITH LAW

§ 5.13 CATEGORIES OF EXPENDITURES

§ 5.14 DISCLOSURES TO PUBLIC

§ 5.15 MISSION STATEMENTS

§ 5.16 CODES OF ETHICS

§ 5.17 CONFLICT-OF-INTEREST POLICIES

§ 5.18 WHISTLEBLOWER POLICIES

§ 5.19 DOCUMENT RETENTION AND DESTRUCTION POLICIES

§ 5.20 FUNDRAISING PRACTICES

§ 5.21 ROLE OF IRS IN GOVERNANCE

CHAPTER SIX - Policies and Procedures for Good Governance

§ 6.1 SOURCES OF POLICIES AND PROCEDURES

§ 6.2 IRS FOCUS ON POLICIES AND PROCEDURES

§ 6.3 DISCUSSION OF SPECIFIC POLICIES AND PROCEDURES

§ 6.4 COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES

§ 6.5 OTHER POLICIES

CHAPTER SEVEN - Nonprofits in the Spotlight: Governance Case Studies

§ 7.1 THE AMERICAN NATIONAL RED CROSS

§ 7.2 THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION

§ 7.3 AMERICAN UNIVERSITY

§ 7.4 J. PAUL GETTY TRUST

§ 7.5 UNIVERSITY-AFFILIATED MEDICAL CENTERS

§ 7.6 LESSONS LEARNED

CHAPTER EIGHT - Law for Nonprofit Board Members: A Primer

§ 8.1 NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS

§ 8.2 TAX-EXEMPT ORGANIZATIONS

§ 8.3 CATEGORIES OF TAX-EXEMPT ORGANIZATIONS

§ 8.4 TAX-EXEMPT ORGANIZATIONS LAW BASICS

§ 8.5 LEGISLATIVE ACTIVITIES LAW

§ 8.6 POLITICAL ACTIVITIES LAW

§ 8.7 PUBLIC CHARITIES AND PRIVATE FOUNDATIONS

§ 8.8 REPORTING RULES

§ 8.9 DISCLOSURE RULES

§ 8.10 UNRELATED BUSINESS RULES

§ 8.11 SUBSIDIARIES

§ 8.12 JOINT VENTURES

§ 8.13 OTHER ASPECTS OF LAW OF EXEMPT ORGANIZATIONS

§ 8.14 CHARITABLE GIVING RULES

§ 8.15 FEDERAL LAW AS TO FUNDRAISING

§ 8.16 STATE LAW AS TO FUNDRAISING

§ 8.17 IRS AUDITS

§ 8.18 BANKRUPTCY

CHAPTER NINE - Governance Legal Audit

§ 9.1 INVENTORY OF BASICS

§ 9.2 GOVERNANCE

§ 9.3 POLICIES AND PROCEDURES

§ 9.4 EXTERNAL RELATIONSHIPS

§ 9.5 TAX-EXEMPT STATUS

§ 9.6 PRIVATE INUREMENT DOCTRINE

§ 9.7 PRIVATE BENEFIT DOCTRINE

§ 9.8 EXCESS BENEFIT TRANSACTIONS

§ 9.9 SELF-DEALING RULES

§ 9.10 ACTIONS BY ORGANIZATION

§ 9.11 PUBLIC CHARITY CLASSIFICATION

§ 9.12 PRIVATE FOUNDATION RULES

§ 9.13 DONOR-ADVISED FUNDS

§ 9.14 ENDOWMENT AND OTHER FUNDS

§ 9.15 LEGISLATIVE ACTIVITIES

§ 9.16 POLITICAL CAMPAIGN ACTIVITIES

§ 9.17 OTHER FORMS OF ADVOCACY

§ 9.18 SUBSIDIARIES

§ 9.19 BIFURCATION BASICS

§ 9.20 TAX-EXEMPT SUBSIDIARIES

§ 9.21 TAXABLE SUBSIDIARIES

§ 9.22 REVENUE FROM SUBSIDIARY

§ 9.23 JOINT VENTURE BASICS

§ 9.24 JOINT VENTURES—OTHER ELEMENTS

§ 9.25 UNRELATED BUSINESS ANALYSIS

§ 9.26 COMMERCIALITY DOCTRINE

§ 9.27 ANNUAL INFORMATION RETURNS

§ 9.28 DISCLOSURE REQUIREMENTS

§ 9.29 CONSIDERATIONS FOR LAWYER CONDUCTING LEGAL AUDIT

Index

This book is printed on acid-free paper.

Copyright © 2009 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Published simultaneously in Canada.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:

Hopkins, Bruce R.

Nonprofit governance: law, practices, and trends/Bruce R. Hopkins and Virginia C. Gross. p. cm.

Published simultaneously in Canada.

Includes index.

eISBN : 978-0-470-48619-1

1. Nonprofit organizations—Law and legislation—United States. 2. Corporate governance—Law and legislation—United States. I. Gross, Virginia C. II. Title.

KF1388.H64 2009

346.73’064—dc22 2008053453

There is no precedential federal tax law guidance that prescribes the appropriate standards for nonprofit governance. This lack of guidance not only impairs taxpayer efforts at voluntary compliance but also creates a risk that similarly situated taxpayers may be subject to differing treatment from the Service. Without enforceable uniform standards, taxpayers who submit exemption applications or ruling requests may obtain disparate and subjective interpretations of the Service’s policy, depending on the agent who happens to handle the matter. Absent published guidance on this issue, a taxpayer under examination has no context or ability to challenge the Service’s findings regarding its governance practices at the examination level or within the agency’s Appeals function. To ensure consistent, transparent enforcement of the federal tax laws, we respectfully request that the Treasury Department issue guidance regarding the standards for nonprofit governance.

—Excerpts from a letter sent by Marcus S. Owens (former director of the Exempt Organizations Division) to the Department of the Treasury, January 14, 2009

About the Authors

BRUCE R. HOPKINS is a senior partner in the law firm of Polsinelli Shughart PC, practicing in the firm’s Kansas City, Missouri, and Washington, D.C., offices. He specializes in the representation of tax-exempt organizations. His practice ranges over the entirety of law matters involving exempt organizations, with emphasis on governance and the law, the formation of nonprofit organizations, acquisition of recognition of tax-exempt status for them, the private inurement and private benefit doctrines, the intermediate sanctions rules, legislative and political campaign activities issues, public charity and private foundation rules, unrelated business planning, use of exempt and for-profit subsidiaries, joint venture planning, tax shelter involvement, review of annual information returns, Internet communications developments, the law of charitable giving (including planned giving), and fundraising law issues.

Mr. Hopkins served as chair of the Committee on Exempt Organizations, Tax Section, American Bar Association; chair, Section of Taxation, National Association of College and University Attorneys; and president, Planned Giving Study Group of Greater Washington, D.C.

Mr. Hopkins is the series editor of Wiley’s Nonprofit Law, Finance, and Management Series. He is the author of, in addition to co-authoring the Nonprofit Governance book, The Law of Tax-Exempt Organizations, Ninth Edition; Planning Guide for the Law of Tax-Exempt Organizations: Strategies and Commentaries; IRS Audits of Tax-Exempt Organizations: Policies, Practices, and Procedures; The Tax Law of Charitable Giving, Third Edition; The Law of Fundraising, Fourth Edition; The Tax Law of Associations; The Tax Law of Unrelated Business for Nonprofit Organizations; The Nonprofits’ Guide to Internet Communications Law; The Law of Intermediate Sanctions: A Guide for Nonprofits; Starting and Managing a Nonprofit Organization: A Legal Guide, Fifth Edition; Nonprofit Law Made Easy; Charitable Giving Law Made Easy; Private Foundation Law Made Easy; 650 Essential Nonprofit Law Questions Answered; The First Legal Answer Book for Fund-Raisers; The Second Legal Answer Book for Fund-Raisers; The Legal Answer Book for Nonprofit Organizations; The Second Legal Answer Book for Nonprofit Organizations; and The Nonprofit Law Dictionary; and is the co-author, with Jody Blazek, of Private Foundations: Tax Law and Compliance, Third Edition; also with Ms. Blazek, The Legal Answer Book for Private Foundations; with Thomas K. Hyatt, of The Law of Tax-Exempt Healthcare Organizations, Third Edition; with David O. Middlebrook, of Nonprofit Law for Religious Organizations: Essential Questions and Answers; and with Douglas K. Anning, Virginia C. Gross, and Thomas J. Schenkelberg, of The New Form 990: Law, Policy, and Preparation. He also writes Bruce R. Hopkins’ Nonprofit Counsel, a monthly newsletter, published by John Wiley & Sons.

Mr. Hopkins earned his J.D. and L.L.M. degrees at the George Washington University National Law Center and his B.A. at the University of Michigan. He is a member of the bars of the District of Columbia and the State of Missouri.

Mr. Hopkins received the 2007 Outstanding Nonprofit Lawyer Award (Vanguard Lifetime Achievement Award) from the American Bar Association, Section of Business Law, Committee on Nonprofit Corporations. He is listed in The Best Lawyers in America, Nonprofit Organizations/Charity Law, 2007-2009.

VIRGINIA C. GROSS is a shareholder in the law firm of Polsinelli Shughart PC. Ms. Gross concentrates her practice in the fields of tax and nonprofit law. She represents a variety of nonprofit clients, including public charities, educational organizations, private foundations, associations, supporting organizations, healthcare and research organizations, and social welfare organizations. She works with all aspects of nonprofit law, including issues regarding the structure, governance, operations, fundraising, unrelated business income planning, joint venturing and partnering of tax-exempt entities, and use of supporting organizations and for-profit subsidiaries by exempt organizations.

Ms. Gross is a frequent writer and speaker on nonprofit issues. She is listed in The Best Lawyers in America for Nonprofit Organizations/Charity Law for 2008 and 2009. She is a co-author of The New Form 990: Law, Policy, and Preparation published by John Wiley & Sons and of Tax Management Portfolio’s “Private Foundations—Distributions (Sec. 4942),” published by the Bureau of National Affairs. Ms. Gross earned her J.D. at the University of Texas and her B.S. at Texas A&M University.

She is a member of the bars of the District of Columbia, Missouri, Kansas, and Texas.

Book Citations

Throughout this book, six books by Bruce R. Hopkins (in some instances as co-author), all published by John Wiley & Sons, are referenced in the following manner:

1. The Law of Fundraising, Fourth Edition (2009): Law of Fundraising.

2. The Law of Tax-Exempt Organizations, Ninth Edition (2007): Law of Tax-Exempt Organizations.

3. The New Form 990: Law, Policy, and Preparation (2009) (with Virginia C. Gross as a co-author): New Form 990.

4. Planning Guide for The Law of Tax-Exempt Organizations: Strategies and Commentaries (2004): Planning Guide.

5. Private Foundations: Tax Law and Compliance, Third Edition (2008): Private Foundations.

6. The Tax Law of Charitable Giving, Third Edition (2005): Law of Charitable Giving.

The first, second, fifth, and sixth of these books are annually supplemented. Also, updates on all of the foregoing subjects (plus Nonprofit Governance: Law, Policies & Trends) are available in Bruce R. Hopkins’ Nonprofit Counsel, the author’s monthly newsletter, also published by Wiley.

Preface

Governance seems to be the subject that is perched atop every nonprofit lawyer’s worry list (and, in many instances, wish list). This is a somewhat unusual situation, for two reasons. One, a few years ago, governance would not have even made the list. Two, there is not much law on the point, particularly at the federal level. Thus, from a pure law standpoint, there is not much for the nonprofit lawyer to work with.

This absence of a legal underpinning has obviously not deterred the matter of governance in leaping to first place among today’s nonprofit law issues. This ascension in importance is due in part to law created in the for-profit realm, but the true drivers propelling all of this are (1) the various organizations propounding good governance or, if you prefer, best practices, principles for public charities and other forms of nonprofit organizations, and (2) the Internal Revenue Service. (A certain United States senator from Iowa also is a force in this regard.) The IRS’s role in this context is manifested in many ways these days, principally by means of the redesigned Form 990; the agency’s aggressive push of certain good governance principles in the tax-exempt organizations’ setting, chiefly, conflict-of-interest policies and the notion of independent boards; and the issuance of certain (questionably valid) private letter rulings.

The IRS is sending, when it comes to governance and law, mixed messages. Reading private letter rulings and watching IRS employees handle examinations of public charities and the processing of applications for recognition of exemption, one sees an agency demanding, as conditions for exemption, the adoption of certain policies and procedures. This view is somewhat reflected in the speeches of the TE/GE Commissioner, most of which are summarized in the book. One not part of the book was in a speech on November 20, 2008, at the Western Conference on Tax-Exempt Organizations; he made his view clear that the IRS is going to continue to push hard when it comes to mandated adoption of governance principles and procedures. “We intend to let the sun shine” when it comes to matters of governance, he declared.

Yet, the Commissioner of Internal Revenue, in a speech at an Independent Sector conference, on November 10, 2008, said: “We [the IRS] shouldn’t supplant the business judgment of organizational leaders, and certainly shouldn’t determine how a nonprofit fulfills its individual mission. That’s not our role.” He continued with the observation that the IRS’s role in this context is to work “with you and others to promote good governance” and that the agency “want[s] to arm you with information and guidance you need to help you comply.” This sounds more like education and encouragement, not dictation, when it comes to governance.

This latter view also appears reflected in the IRS Exempt Organizations work plan for fiscal year 2009, unveiled on November 25, 2008. There, the Exempt Organizations Division stated that it will develop a checklist to be used by agents in examinations of tax-exempt organizations to determine whether the organization’s governance practices “impacted the tax compliance issues identified in the examination” and to educate organizations “about possible governance considerations.” EO will commence a training program to educate its employees about “nonprofit governance implications” in the determinations, rulings and agreements, and education and outreach areas. EO will begin identifying Form 990 governance questions that could be used in conjunction with other Form 990 information in possible compliance initiatives, such as those involving executive compensation, transactions with interested persons, solicitation of noncash contributions, or diversion or misuse of exempt assets.

This section of the EO work plan, relating to governance, is encouraging. The forthcoming training program for IRS employees is shrouded in bureaucratize (“nonprofit governance implications”), but the hope is that agents will be taught to stop mandating conflict-of-interest policies, executive compensation policies, and independent boards as a condition of exemption. The IRS should be educating and guiding in the area of governance, not arbitrarily imposing requirements that are absent from the law. Thus, it is good to read about IRS efforts to “educate organizations about possible governance considerations.”

We confront the matter of nonprofit governance constantly in our law practices. Endless hours of meditating over the new Form 990 and sifting through the many (and inconsistent) best practices principles convinced us of the need for some cohesion in the realm of nonprofit governance. Thus this book. We have done three things: Summarize the law that exists; explain and evaluate the many good governance principles that have been promulgated; and make recommendations for the adoption of policies and procedures that are appropriate and relevant for nonprofit organizations.

The book is intended as a guide, not just for lawyers, but for anyone who is facing decisions as to good governance in the nonprofit organization context and is lost in the maze of conflicting principles, ever-increasing policies and procedures, murky law, and the intensity of the IRS in insisting on adoption of various principles in the absence of legal requirements for them. (Even worse, in a way, is the manner in which the private benefit doctrine is being manipulated as the justification in law for forcing nonprofit organizations to incorporate various policies, procedures, protocols, and practices into their operations.)

Leaders and managers of nonprofit organizations, and their lawyers, accountants, and other advisors, can use this book to understand the legal backdrop for nonprofit governance, sort through the numerous good governance principles, and select the ones that most appropriately apply to the particular organization. From there, the suitable policies and procedures can be devised. Our hope is to help nonprofit organizations improve their operations and effectiveness to the extent that improved governance can contribute to those outcomes (and, not incidentally, be in a position to file, if applicable, Forms 990 that cast them in the best possible light).

Woody Allen observed that most of success in life (around 80 percent, as we recall) is achieved by just showing up. This also used to be the case with nonprofit board service. Those days are rapidly disappearing. Indeed, the fundamental concept of the role of the nonprofit board is undergoing reevaluation and interpretation, with interesting and compelling view changes as to nonprofit board members’ duties, responsibilities, and liabilities. We believe that the trend will continue to be intense focus on and reshaping of nonprofit governance. Our book is intended as a guide to and through all of the governance policymaking that is unfolding, all to the end of improved management of nonprofit organizations and, yes, compliance with nonprofit governance law (to the extent it exists).

We extend our thanks to our senior editor, Susan McDermott, and our senior production editor, Natasha Andrews-Noel, for their valued help on the book.

Bruce R. HopkinsVirginia C. GrossMay 2009

CHAPTER ONE

Federal and State Law Fundamentals

For decades, the law in the United States concerning governance of nonprofit organizations was almost solely confined to state (and, to some extent, local) law. While this state of affairs is rapidly changing, with the matter of nonprofit organizations’ governance becoming a province of federal (mostly tax) law, many of the underlying fundamental principles remain those formulated (and once seemingly resolved) at the state law level.

§ 1.1 STATE LAW OVERVIEW

There are essentially seven bodies of state law concerning the organization and operations of nonprofit organizations’. Most of the state law principles pertaining to nonprofit organizations governance are found in the nonprofit corporation acts1 and the charitable solicitation acts.2

(a) Types of Nonprofit Organizations

Most nonprofit organizations are formed as one of three types: corporation,3 trust,4 or unincorporated association.5 It is possible to have a tax-exempt, nonprofit limited liability company.6 Occasionally, the U.S. Congress “charters” (that is, creates by legislation) a nonprofit organization.7

The application for recognition of tax exemption filed by most organizations seeking to be tax-exempt charitable entities8 (Form 1023) graphically depicts these types. It asks if the filing organization is one of the four types, then, in bold print, directs the entity to not file the application if it is not.9

Nonprofit, tax-exempt organizations, as part of the process of their establishment, prepare (and sometimes file with a state) articles of organization.10 The nature of these articles will depend, in large part, on the type of nonprofit organization. If the nonprofit organization wants to be tax-exempt under the federal tax law, it usually will be required to meet an organizational test.11

(b) Nonprofit Corporation Acts

Nearly every state has a nonprofit corporation act. The few states that do not have such a statute require nonprofit corporations to fare as best they can by using what is applicable in the statutory law applicable to for-profit business corporations. Most of the states with a nonprofit corporation act have based their law on a model nonprofit corporation act.12

(c) Nonprofit Trust Statutes

Nearly every state has a body of statutory law applicable to charitable trusts. Many private foundations, for example, are trusts. These laws frequently impose fiduciary standards and practices that are more stringent than those for nonprofit corporations and entail an annual filing requirement. A nonprofit organization that is a trust is formed by the execution of a trust agreement or a declaration of trust.

(d) Unincorporated Associations

To the uninitiated, a nonprofit corporation and a nonprofit unincorporated association look alike. An unincorporated association is formed by the preparation and adoption of a constitution. The contents of a constitution are much the same as those of articles of incorporation. Likewise, the bylaws of an unincorporated association are usually the same as those of a nonprofit corporation.

(e) Charitable Solicitation Acts

A majority of the states have adopted comprehensive charitable solicitation acts for the purpose of regulating fundraising for charitable purposes13 in their jurisdictions. A few states have not enacted any form of charitable solicitation act. The remaining states (including the District of Columbia) have elected to regulate charitable fundraising by means of differing approaches.

The various state charitable solicitation acts are (to substantially understate the situation) diverse. The content of these laws is so disparate that any implication that it is possible to neatly generalize about their assorted terms, requirements, limitations, exceptions, and prohibitions would be misleading. Of even greater variance are the requirements imposed by the many regulations, rules, and forms promulgated to accompany and amplify the state statutes. Nonetheless, some basic commonalities can be found in the comprehensive charitable solicitation acts.