This week, the National Association of Attorneys General (NAAG) and National Association of State Charity Officials (NASCO) held their annual meeting and conference in Washington DC. This year’s theme was “The Impact of Technology on Charities Regulation.” The agenda is available here.
National Association of Attorneys General
The National Association of Attorneys General (NAAG) was founded in 1907 to help attorneys general fulfill the responsibilities of their office and to assist in the delivery of high-quality legal services to the states and territorial jurisdictions. The Association’s members are the attorneys general of the 50 states and the District of Columbia and the chief legal officers of the Commonwealths of Puerto Rico (Secretary of Justice) and the Northern Mariana Islands, and the territories of American Samoa, Guam, and the Virgin Islands.
National Association of State Charity Officials
The National Association of State Charities Officials (NASCO) was formed in 1979 as an association of assistant attorneys general and other state charity regulators to enhance the effectiveness of state charity regulation by providing a forum for exchanging views and fostering interstate cooperation.
NASCO was born of necessity because of the patchwork of state laws governing charities. Most Attorneys General have inherent parens patriae powers under common law to prevent the misuse of charitable assets and to ensure that trustees of charitable trusts and fiduciaries of charitable corporations fulfill their duties of loyalty and care to the charities they govern. Some states also have statutory schemes requiring charities to register and file annual financial reports with Attorneys General and other state officials, who oversee and regulate a variety of charitable activities including fundraising, bequests, asset transfers, nonprofit conversions, mergers, and dissolutions. … NASCO also strives to provide a national, unified voice for state regulators to communicate with the IRS, the U.S. Senate Finance Committee, and other constituencies regarding national charity issues.
Crowdfunding
On Monday morning, I had the honor of speaking to the regulators and public attendees on the subject of crowdfunding. You can download my slidedeck by clicking Crowdfunding – NASCO 2017.
Resources from the Conference [updated 10/10/17]
The Impact of Technology on Charities Regulation: Takeaways from the Annual NAAG/NASCO Conference (Perlman + Perlman)
7 Things I Heard at the NASCO Conference
- Regulators Debate Vendor Vs. Professional Fundraiser Issue (The NonProfit Times).
- Director’s have a duty in good faith to assure that a prudent corporate information and reporting system exists and works to provide the board with timely, relevant information.
- Trend: D&O insurers starting to carve out cyberliability. This is a problem for nonprofits.
- Here’s a guide to the ‘Essential Eight’ emerging technologies from PWC.
- As an example of what to expect in future charitable solicitations, check out how technology allows students far into the future to “talk” with Holocaust survivors about their life experiences here.
- Important project development: NASCO working with GuideStar as vendor for single portal initiative – multistate charities registration. See the response to RFI here.
- Tim Delaney, CEO of the National Council of Nonprofits calls for more collaboration between nonprofits and state regulators on the Johnson Amendment and more.