5 C.F.R. § 950.203 Public accountability standards.
Title 5 - Administrative Personnel
(a) To insure organizations wishing to solicit donations from Federal employees in the workplace are portraying accurately their programs and benefits, several standards and certifications must be met annually by each organization seeking national list eligibility. Each organization wishing to participate must: (1) Certify that the organization is a human health and welfare organization providing services, benefits, or assistance to, or conducting activities affecting, human health and welfare. The organization's application must provide documentation describing the human health and welfare benefits provided by the organization within the previous year. (2) Certify that it accounts for its funds in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles and that an audit of the organization's fiscal operations is completed annually by an independent certified public accountant in accordance with generally accepted auditing standards. Such audit must show expenses by function. A copy of the organization's most recent annual audit must be included with the application. The audit must cover the fiscal year ending not more than 18 months prior to the January of the campaign year to which the organization is applying. For example, the audit included in the 1994 application must cover the fiscal period ending on or after June 30, 1992. (3) Provide a completed copy of the organization's IRS Form 990, including signature, with the application regardless of whether or not the IRS requires the organization to file this form. IRS Forms 990EZ, 990PF, and comparable forms are not acceptable substitutes. However, smaller organizations that file the Form 990EZ may submit the 990EZ with pages 1 and 2 of the Form 990 attached. The IRS Form 990 and audit must cover the same fiscal period and, if revenue and expenses on the two documents differ, these amounts must be reconciled in an accompanying signed statement by the certified public accountant who completed the audit. (4) Provide a computation of the organization's percentage of total support and revenue spent on administrative and fundraising. This percentage shall be computed from information on the IRS Form 990, submitted pursuant to §950.203(a)(3), by adding the amount spent on “management and general” (line 14) to “fundraising” (line 15) and then dividing the sum by “total revenue” (line 12). (i) If an organization's administrative and fundraising expenses exceed 25 percent of its total support and revenue, it must certify that its actual expenses for administration and fundraising are reasonable under all the circumstances presented. It must provide an explanation with its application and also include a formal plan to reduce these expenses below 25 percent. (ii) The Director may reject any application from an organization with fundraising and administrative expenses in excess of 25 percent of total support and revenue, unless the organization demonstrates to the satisfaction of the Director that its actual expenses for those purposes and its plan to reduce them are reasonable under the circumstances. (5) Certify that the organization is directed by an active and responsible governing body whose members have no material conflict of interest and, a majority of which serve without compensation. (6) Certify that the organization's fundraising practices prohibit the sale or lease of its CFC contributor lists. (7) Certify that its publicity and promotional activities are based upon its actual program and operations, are truthful and non-deceptive, and make no exaggerated or misleading claims. (8) Certify that contributions are effectively used for the announced purposes of the charitable organization. (9) Certify under which governmental entity the charitable organization is chartered, incorporated or organized (congressionally chartered or the state in which it is registered). (10) Certify that the organization has received no more than 80 percent of its total support and revenues from government sources as computed by dividing line 1c by line 12 from the IRS Form 990 submitted pursuant to §950.203(a)(3). (11) Certify that the organization prepares and makes available to the public upon request an annual report that includes a full description of the organization's activities and supporting services and identifies its directors and chief administrative personnel. A copy of the organization's annual report must be included with the application. The annual report must cover the fiscal year ending not more than 18 months prior to January of the campaign year to which the organization is applying. A more frequently published document, such as a quarterly newsletter, may be used to meet this requirement provided that such document is available to the general public upon request and describes the organization's activities and supporting services and identifies its directors and chief administrative personnel. (12) Provide a statement that the certifying official is authorized by the organization to certify and affirm all statements required for inclusion on the national list. (13) Provide a statement in 25 words or less describing the program activities of the charitable organization. The 25-word statement need not include the organization's name. In addition, organizations must provide a telephone number, dedicated solely for the organization's use, through which the donors may receive further information about the organization. Except as provided in §950.401(k), this information will be included in the campaign brochure along with the organization's administrative and fundraising percentage computed pursuant to §950.203(a)(3). (b) The Director shall review these applications for accuracy, completeness, and compliance with these regulations. Failure to supply any of this information may be judged a failure to comply with the requirements of public accountability, and the charitable organization may be ruled ineligible for inclusion on the national list. (c) The Director may request such additional information as the Director deems necessary to complete these reviews. An organization that fails to comply with such requests within 10 calendar days from receipt of the request may be judged ineligible. (d) The required certifications and documentation must have been completed and submitted prior to the application filing deadline. Applications received that are incomplete may not be perfected during the appeal process described in §950.205. (e) The Director may waive any of these standards and certifications upon a showing of extenuating circumstances. [60 FR 57890, Nov. 24, 1995, as amended at 61 FR 4585, Feb. 7, 1996]
Title 5: Administrative Personnel
PART 950—SOLICITATION OF FEDERAL CIVILIAN AND UNIFORMED SERVICE PERSONNEL FOR CONTRIBUTIONS TO PRIVATE VOLUNTARY ORGANIZATIONS
Subpart B—Eligibility Provisions
§ 950.203 Public accountability standards.
