Commercial Fundraiser
Commercial Fundraiser Reports
The latest annual report issued by the Attorney General shows that in 2005 the average charity received less than 40 percent of the revenue raised in donation campaigns run by commercial fundraisers, with one-quarter of the campaigns netting nonprofits 15 percent or less of the total revenue. Historical data shows that a campaign conducted by a commercial fundraiser returns, on average, less than 50 percent of the contributions to the charity. Commercial fundraisers retain the rest as a fundraising fee.
See Publications for commercial fundraising annual reports since 1997.
A commercial fundraiser generally is a person or corporation who is paid by a charity to raise money on the charity's behalf. The for-profit business usually arranges a flat fee or charges the charity a percentage of the donations collected in the charity's name.
By law, the California Attorney General oversees the activities of commercial fundraisers for charitable purposes. These commercial fundraisers must file financial reports with the Attorney General's Registry of Charitable Trusts.
By using the CFR Search link, you may search the commercial fundraiser database by the name of the commercial fundraiser or the charity on whose behalf solicitations have been made. Here you may view copies of unaudited reports scanned exactly as filed by the commercial fundraiser. There is no federal or state requirement that commercial fundraisers prepare audited financial returns. Reports on the site are only available for report years 2005 or older. To view current information on registered commercial fundraisers, please use the new Registry Search feature.
It is an individual decision whether a charity uses a commercial fundraiser. Historically, use of a commercial fundraiser has meant higher costs for a charity. According to reports filed with the Attorney General, only about one-third of the total dollars collected by the commercial fund-raisers in California actually go to charities. However, most of the over 80,000 charities registered with the Attorney General do not use commercial fundraisers to solicit donations.