Ohio § 1716.02

§ 1716.02.

(A) Every charitable organization, except those exempted under section 1716.03 of the Revised Code , that intends to solicit contributions in this state by any means or have contributions

solicited in this state on its behalf by any other person, charitable organization,

commercial co-venturer, or professional solicitor, or that participates in a charitable

sales promotion, prior to engaging in any of these activities and annually thereafter,

shall file a registration statement with the attorney general upon a form prescribed

by the attorney general.  Each chapter, branch, or affiliate of a charitable organization that is required

to file a registration statement under this section either shall file a separate registration

statement or report the necessary information to its parent charitable organization

that then shall file a consolidated registration statement.  The annual registration statement shall be refiled on or before the fifteenth day

of the fifth calendar month after the close of each fiscal year in which the charitable

organization solicited in this state, or by the date of any applicable extension of

the federal filing date, whichever is later.  No charitable organization that is required to register under this chapter prior

to registration, shall solicit contributions in this state by any means, have contributions

solicited in this state on its behalf by any other person, charitable organization,

commercial co-venturer, or professional solicitor, or participate in a charitable

sales promotion. (B) The registration statement shall be signed and sworn to under penalties of perjury

by the treasurer or chief fiscal officer of the charitable organization and shall

contain the following information: (1) The name of the charitable organization, the purpose for which it is organized, and

the name or names under which it intends to solicit contributions; (2) The address and telephone number of the principal place of business of the charitable

organization and the address and telephone number of every office, chapter, branch,

or affiliate of the charitable organization located in this state or, if the charitable

organization does not maintain an office in this state, the name, address, and telephone

number of the person that has custody of its financial records; (3) The names and addresses of the officers, directors, trustees, and executive personnel

of the charitable organization; (4) The annual financial report of the charitable organization for the immediately preceding

fiscal year as required under section 1716.04 of the Revised Code ; (5) The last day of the fiscal year for the charitable organization; (6) A statement of whether the charitable organization is registered with or otherwise

authorized by any other governmental authority in this state or another state to solicit

contributions; (7) A statement of whether the charitable organization has had its registration or authority

denied, suspended, revoked, or enjoined by any court or other governmental authority

in this state or another state; (8) A statement of whether the charitable organization intends to solicit contributions

from the public directly by using its own resources or to have solicitations made

on its behalf through the use of another charitable organization, fund-raising counsel,

professional solicitors, or commercial co-venturers; (9) The names, addresses, and the telephone numbers of any other charitable organization,

fund-raising counsel, professional solicitors, and commercial co-venturers who act

or will act on behalf of the charitable organization, together with a statement setting

forth the specific terms of the arrangements for salaries, bonuses, commissions, expenses,

or other remunerations to be paid the other charitable organization, fund-raising

counsel, professional solicitors, and commercial co-venturers.  If any of the information required by division (B)(9) of this section is not available

at the time of registration, that information shall be submitted to the attorney general

at a later date but before any solicitation occurs. (10) The charitable purpose or purposes for which the contributions to be solicited will

be used; (11) The names, addresses, and telephone numbers of the persons within the charitable

organization that will have final responsibility for the custody of the contributions; (12) The names of the persons within the charitable organization that will be responsible

for the final distribution of the contributions; (13) The period of time during which, and the counties in which, the solicitation is planned

to be conducted; (14) A schedule of the activities carried on by the charitable organization in the performance

of its purposes; (15) Any other information that the attorney general may, by rule, require. (C)(1) With the initial registration only, every charitable organization that is required

to register under this chapter also shall file with the attorney general the following: (a) A copy of the current charter, articles of incorporation, agreement of association,

instrument of trust, constitution, or other organizational instrument, and a copy

of the bylaws of the charitable organization; (b) A statement setting forth the place where and the date when the charitable organization

was legally established, the form of its organization, and its tax exempt status,

with a copy of its federal tax exemption determination letter. (2)(a) With the next annual registration statement filed after its adoption, the charitable

organization shall file with the attorney general a copy of any amendment to its organizational

instrument as specified in division (C)(1)(a) of this section and a copy of any amendment

to its bylaws. (b) Within thirty days after its receipt, the charitable organization shall file with

the attorney general a copy of any federal tax exemption determination letter or any

correspondence rescinding its tax exempt status that is received after the initial

registration.  Not later than thirty days after being notified by the internal revenue service

of any challenge to or investigation of its continued entitlement to federal tax exemption,

the charitable organization shall notify the attorney general of this fact. (D)(1) Except as otherwise provided in division (D)(2) of this section, every charitable

organization that is required to register under this chapter shall pay the following

fees with each registration: (a) Fifty dollars, if the contributions received for the last calendar or fiscal year

were five thousand dollars or more but less than twenty-five thousand dollars; (b) One hundred dollars, if the contributions received for the last calendar or fiscal

year were twenty-five thousand dollars or more but less than fifty thousand dollars; (c) Two hundred dollars, if the contributions received for the last calendar or fiscal

year were fifty thousand dollars or more. (2) A charitable organization that is required to register under this chapter and whose

contributions received for the last calendar or fiscal year were less than five thousand

dollars shall not pay any registration fee. (3) The amount of registration fees that a charitable organization is required to pay

under division (D)(1) of this section shall be based on the amount of contributions

that it receives from persons in this state.  If, for any reporting year, a charitable organization cannot determine from its

records the exact amount of contributions it received from persons in this state,

it shall compute the amount of the registration fee upon the estimated amount of contributions

it received from persons in this state, with the estimated amount to be explained

in writing at the time the registration fee is paid.  At the request of the attorney general, the charitable organization shall substantiate

the estimated amount of contributions it received from persons in this state. (4) All registration fees shall be paid into the state treasury to the credit of the

charitable law fund established under section 109.32 of the Revised Code . (5) Any charitable organization that fails to pay the fee required by this section at

the time required shall pay an additional fee of two hundred dollars, except that

the attorney general may waive the two-hundred-dollar fee upon a showing that the

charitable organization failed to pay the fee for filing the annual registration statement

at the time required by this section for reasons that were beyond the control of the

charitable organization.  If the charitable organization is required to pay an additional fee under section 109.31 of the Revised Code , the charitable organization is exempt from paying the additional fee in this section.