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STATE FUNDRAISING REGULATIONAs noted below, most states’ charitable solicitation acts require a solicitingcharity (unless exempt) to annually file information with the appropriate governmentalagency. This is done either by an annual updating of the registrationor the like, or by the filing of a separate annual report.In many states, professional fundraisers and professional solicitors arerequired to register with the state.§ 24.6 REPORTING REQUIREMENTSMany of the state charitable solicitation acts mandate annual reporting to thestate by registered charitable organizations, professional fundraisers, and professionalsolicitors. This form of reporting can be extensive and may entail theprovision of information concerning gifts received, funds expended for programsand fundraising, payments to service providers, and a battery of otherinformation.These reports are made on forms provided by the states. These forms, andthe rules and instructions that accompany them, vary considerably in content.Underlying definitions and accounting principles can differ. There is little uniformitywith respect to due dates for these reports. There has been progress inrecent years, however, in the development of a uniform reporting form.In many states, professional fundraisers and professional solicitors arerequired to file annual reports with the state.§ 24.7 EXEMPTIONS FROM REGULATIONMany of the states exempt one or more categories of charitable organizationsfrom the ambit of their charitable solicitation statutes. The basic rationale forthese exemptions is that the exempted organizations are not part of the objectivethat the state is endeavoring to achieve through this type of regulation: the protectionof the state’s citizens from fundraising fraud and other abuse. (Otherrationales are the constitutional law limitations involved in the case of churchesand the ability of one or more categories of organization to persuade the legislatureto exempt them.)The most common exemption in this context is for churches and their closelyrelated entities. These entities include conventions of churches and associationsof churches. Some states broadly exempt religious organizations. These exemptionsare rooted in constitutional law principles, barring government from regulatingreligious practices and beliefs. Some states have run into successfulconstitutional law challenges when they have attempted to narrowly define theconcept of religion for this purpose.Some states exempt at least certain types of educational institutions from theentirety of their charitable solicitation acts. Usually, this exemption applies whenthe educational institution is accredited. The more common practice is to exempteducational institutions from only the registration or licensing, and reporting,requirements.Some states, either as an alternative or in addition to the foregoing approach,exempt from the registration and reporting requirements educational institutionsthat confine their solicitations to their constituency. That is, this type of exemption 632