Arizona professional fundraisers must first be licensed by the Arizona Secretary of State.
The licensing, in part, consists of the swearing of an oath and submitting a payment of $25 for registration.
Applicants must also provide the Secretary of State with a list of all states in which a fundraiser operates.
The license renews on an annual basis as does the surety bond required.
Once licensed, Arizona fundraisers must comply with all of the following:
* Fundraisers must provide written contracts which clearly spell out what the goal and obligations of a fundraiser and charitable organization are;
* Fundraisers must file a form with the Secretary of State which lays out the above;
* Fundraisers must provide the Secretary of State with locations and phone numbers of the fundraising activities;
* Fundraisers must notify the Secretary of State of the beginning date and end date of the fundraiser.
Some grounds for refusal of an Arizona fundraiser license include the following:
* Conviction in any place of fraud and deception in fundraising;
* An untruthful application in a material manner;
* Return of any fees for non-sufficient funds.
More can be learned by reading here.
In addition to the above, Arizona fundraisers are required to file and post a $25,000 surety bond with the Arizona Secretary of State.
The Arizona fundraiser bond protects others, not the fundraising entity, from acts of fraud, malfeasance, or deception which a fundraiser may commit in the course of their profession or business operations.
The bond should not be seen as an insurance policy; rather, it should be seen as a policy which protects and guarantees payments to others, should the fundraiser act in an illegal manner.
Whereas in insurance, there are two “parties” ---the policyholder and the insurance company, a surety bond has three parties:
There is the principal. In this case, the principal is the entity, individual, non-profit organization, or group who is purchasing the Arizona fundraiser bond.
The principal purchases this surety bond to fulfill the requirements of the second party, the obligee, on whose behalf the bond is being purchased. In this case, the obligee is the Arizona Secretary of State.
The surety is the company which is financially guaranteeing the surety bond. Should any claims be paid on this surety bond, however, it will be the responsibility of the principal to fully reimburse the surety for all out of pocket expenses.
AmeriPro Surety Bonds is agent for the surety company.
Although an Arizona fundraiser bond is for $25,000, applicants will only pay a small, usually single digit percentage, of the bond amount.
In an ideal situations, the premium amount for the bond will only be several hundred dollars.
Premiums for an Arizona fundraiser bond are determined by the applicant’s credit score.
Regardless of your credit score, AmeriPro Surety Bonds will work to obtain the best pricing avaialble.
AmeriPro Surety Bonds provides license and permit, contractor, and fiduciary surety bonds throughout Arizona.
We also provide surety bonds throughout all of the United States.
We welcome the honor of providing your surety bond needs.