Purpose of the report

The Colorado Charitable Solicitations Act (“The Act”) requires charities and paid solicitors that ask for contributions in Colorado to file registration documents with the Secretary of State’s Office and requires that the Secretary of State compile and publish an annual report on charitable solicitations.

The purpose of the charities registration program and the Annual Report on Charitable Solicitations is to protect the public’s interest. Public disclosure helps in making informed choices as to which charitable causes should be supported, and it increases public faith in legitimate charities. Thousands of charitable organizations in Colorado provide vital services not otherwise provided by government or the private sector, and the vast majority of these organizations are pursuing their missions with tremendous dedication and integrity. The registry and annual report help potential donors decide which charitable organizations are worthy of their support and help charitable organizations make informed decisions when contracting with paid solicitors. The entire registry of charities and fundraisers filings is available on the Secretary of State’s web site through a searchable database at www.checkthecharity.com.

The report begins by providing a basic overview of the Secretary of State’s role in regulating charities and their fundraising activities in the State of Colorado. It then identifies best practices and tips that charities can consult to improve their own operations and potential donors can use to assess charities before making donations. After an overview of the laws and rules governing the Secretary of State’s regulatory functions, the report concludes with an analysis of charitable solicitations and charitable giving in Colorado for the year 2016.

The 2016 annual report is available as a series of downloadable Excel files. These files present summary data on charitable solicitations activity in Colorado during 2016 and list the short-term and long-term results of solicitation campaigns run by each paid solicitor.

In addition, each filing submitted by charities and fundraisers since 2002 can be found in the charities database at www.checkthecharity.com. This is a publicly accessible database that allows users to examine operational and financial trends for particular organizations and confirm whether an organization is registered and in good standing. Real-time lists of suspended organizations also let you see at a glance which organizations cannot legally solicit contributions in Colorado.

The entire charities database is available for free in machine-readable format at the Colorado Information Marketplace website.

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