The state of California is considering proposed legislation, dubbed the “warning label” bill, that would require charitable organizations soliciting donations in California to prominently display the web address of the Attorney General’s information about consumer rights and charity research resources on all solicitation materials, including the charity’s website. Hundreds of nonprofits have responded, encouraging the state not to implement this requirement, which will be costly for charities and potentially confusing for donors. Even more importantly, the information is already publicly available on the Attorney General website. The legislation is an amended version of the original proposal, which would have required charities to post their administrative overhead percentage on all solicitation materials. Interestingly, the proposed law would effectively increase the overhead percentage by placing a costly burden on the marketing budget of charities that have to re-design existing marketing materials.
