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ATTORNEY GENERAL MARTHA COAKLEY’S OFFICE LAUNCHES
WEBSITE POSTING OF NON-COMPLIANT AND DE-ACTIVATED CHARITABLE ORGANIZATIONS

BOSTON — Today, Attorney General Martha Coakley’s Office announced that it has begun posting online the names, locations, and contact persons of charitable organizations that consistently fail to register or file reports with the office as required by law. The website postings can be found at www.mass.gov/ago/noncompliant_charities. The first is a list entitled Non-Compliant Public Charities, and it includes organizations that may be still operating, but which have failed to register or file required reports after multiple notices. The second entitled De-Activated Organizations, includes organizations that are likely inactive, but which have failed to dissolve or to notify the division that they have ceased operations.

“Charitable organizations operate solely and exclusively for the benefit of the public and Massachusetts has always taken a lead in requiring key financial and other information to be made available to the public served,” said Attorney General Coakley. “We currently have over 22,000 charitable organizations operating in Massachusetts, and while most organizations are diligent in meeting their registration, filing and disclosure obligations under the law, a small minority are not. Members of the public should consider a charity’s lack of compliance when dealing with, or contributing to, any charity that appears on these lists.”

Massachusetts General Laws require public charities to register and file annual reports with the Non-Profit Organizations/Public Charities Division of the Attorney General’s Office. Massachusetts General Laws also require public charities to register with and report to the division on charitable fund raising and solicitation campaigns. The law also requires all public charities seeking to dissolve to do so by judicial order. All registrations and reports filed with the division are available to the public online.

Neither of the lists now featured online are all-inclusive, and failure to appear on a list does not mean that an organization is in compliance or active.

Earlier this month, the office launched the new online Public Charities Annual Filing Document Search as part of the office’s ongoing effort to make information more accessible to the public using the Internet. This new online function that provides the public with access to the annual financial reports filed with the Non-Profit Organizations/Public Charities Division by the more than 22,000 charitable organizations operating in Massachusetts. Those annual reports provide a valuable source of information regarding a charitable organization’s programs, activities, and finances. Annual filings typically include a Form Public Charity (Form PC), a copy of the organization’s federal tax filing and financial statements. This function is available at http://www.charities.ago.state.ma.us.