October 3, 2007 | Read Time: 2 minutes
A top official of American Target Advertising, a Virginia company that advises nonprofit groups, has written a scathing letter to an organization that represents state charity regulators.
In the letter, Mark J. Fitzgibbons says that state registration and other requirements are overly complicated and that regulators have failed over the years at efforts to simplify the process. The letter is posted on a Web site Mr. Fitzgibbons coordinates.
“State government officials rob donors by knowingly diverting untold millions of dollars of contributions from their intended purposes under a cumbersome, outdated multi-state licensing scheme,” Mr. Fitzgibbons says in a press release accompanying his letter to the National Association of State Charity Officials.
“They violate clear constitutional precedent, the federal Privacy Act, and even the laws they are charged to enforce as a way to censor and intimidate nonprofit organizations,” adds Mr. Fitzgibbons, who is president of corporate and legal affairs at American Target Advertising. Richard A. Viguerie is chairman of the company.
In a statement, the board of directors of the National Association of State Charity Officials responded: “While NASCO has not prepared a point-by-point rebuttal of assertions, the board wishes to state that he has made many misstatements of law and fact, and that he has offensively and gratuitously impugned the motives of state regulators.”
The board adds: “NASCO appreciates receiving constructive criticism regarding perceived problems in state regulation of charities. However, it has no authority over its members, and any complaints about specific regulatory offices or jurisdictions are best directed to the specific offices or jurisdictions involved.”
Mr. Fitzgibbons says he wants to see an “online hotline” set up “whereby those involved with nonprofit fund raising and grassroots communications can report violations of law and rights by state charitable officials.”
Mr. Fitzgibbons also criticizes state charity regulators for the structure of their upcoming annual conference, saying the entire meeting should be open to the public. At each year’s gathering, regulators meet privately and also hold a one-day public seminar.
In response to Mr. Fitzgibbons, the board of directors of the National Association of State Charity Officials noted that the agenda (and registration forms) for the public seminar in Denver on October 15 are available on the organization’s Web site.
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