PART II FUND-RAISING APPEALS FOR
CHARITABLE PURPOSES |
| Meaning of private fund-raising appeal for local charitable purpose, etc., for this Part |
3.—(1) In this Part, a person (called in this Part a private fund-raiser) conducts a private fund-raising appeal for any local charitable purpose if —| (a) | the private fund-raiser conducts a fund-raising appeal for any charitable, benevolent or philanthropic purpose that is not a foreign charitable purpose; | | (b) | the private fund-raiser does not publish, or cause to be published, any advertisement that —| (i) | gives publicity to; or | | (ii) | otherwise promotes or is intended to promote, |
| the fund-raising appeal; and |
| | (c) | the private fund-raiser receives, as a result of the fund-raising appeal, any money or other property, only from any of the following persons: | (i) | where the private fund-raiser is an individual, other individuals whom the private fund-raiser knows personally; | | (ii) | where the private fund-raiser is an organisation, the employees, officers or voting members of that organisation. |
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(2) In paragraph (1), the private fund-raiser must be a person other than —| (a) | a registered charity or an exempt charity; | | (b) | a commercial fund-raiser; or | | (c) | a commercial participator. |
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(3) In this regulation —“officer” —| (a) | in relation to an organisation that is a body corporate, means any director, partner, member of the board of management, chief executive, manager, secretary or other similar officer of the body corporate and includes any person purporting to act in any such capacity; or | | (b) | in relation to an organisation that is a body unincorporate, means the president, the secretary, or any member of the committee of management, or any person holding a position analogous to that of president, secretary or member of such a committee and includes any person purporting to act in any such capacity; |
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| “publish” means to disseminate, distribute, exhibit, provide or communicate by oral, visual, written, electronic or other means to the public at large; |
“voting member”, in relation to an organisation, means a person (not being a shareholder) who is entitled, by exercise of a voting power, to do either or both of the following:| (a) | to exercise control over, or to influence, the management or operations of the organisation; | | (b) | to elect or appoint any person as an officer of the organisation. |
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[S 13/2021 wef 08/01/2021] |
| Application of this Part, etc. |
3A.—(1) Unless stated otherwise in this regulation, this Part applies in relation to every fund-raising appeal, including a fund-raising appeal for any foreign charitable purpose.(2) Regulations 4 to 11 do not apply to any of the following persons who conducts a fund-raising appeal:| (a) | an exempt charity; | | (b) | an institution of a public character; | | (c) | any commercial fund-raiser who does so on behalf of, or purportedly on behalf of, an exempt charity. |
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| (3) Regulation 6 does not apply to a private fund-raiser who conducts a private fund-raising appeal for any local charitable purpose. |
[S 13/2021 wef 08/01/2021] |
4.—(1) A charity, commercial fund-raiser, commercial participator or person conducting a fund-raising appeal shall ensure that —| (a) | any information it provides to donors or to the general public is accurate and not misleading; | | (b) | in relation to a fund-raising appeal within the meaning of paragraph (a) of the definition of “fund-raising appeal” in section 35(1) of the Act, the following information is disclosed to every person from whom it solicits a donation:| (i) | the name of the charity or the person to which the donation will be given; | | (ii) | the purpose for which the donation will be used; [S 13/2021 wef 08/01/2021] | | (iii) | whether any commercial fund-raiser has been engaged in soliciting the donation; | | (iv) | in the case of the commercial fund-raiser, commercial participator or person conducting the fund-raising appeal, the percentage of the total gross receipts from the fund-raising appeal expected to be used to pay for the expenses incurred for the conduct of that appeal; [S 13/2021 wef 08/01/2021] |
[S 13/2021 wef 08/01/2021] [S 18/2023 wef 31/12/2021] | | (c) | all information relating to every donor is kept confidential, and is not disclosed to any other person except as authorised by or under any law or with the consent of the donor; and [S 13/2021 wef 08/01/2021] | | (d) | there are adequate control measures and safeguards to ensure proper accountability in relation to any arrangement to solicit or receive donations, and to prevent any loss or theft of donations. [S 13/2021 wef 08/01/2021] |
(2) Where a commercial fund-raiser is engaged by a charity or person to solicit donations —| (a) | the commercial fund-raiser must pay directly to the charity or person (as the case may be) the whole amount of donations collected for the charity or person, without any deduction or set-off; and | | (b) | the charity or person (as the case may be) must not allow the commercial fund-raiser to deduct from any donations collected for the charity or person, any payment due to the commercial fund-raiser from the charity or person. |
[S 13/2021 wef 08/01/2021] |
| (3) A charity, commercial fund-raiser, commercial participator or person mentioned in paragraph (1) commits an offence if the charity, commercial fund-raiser, commercial participator or person (as the case may be) fails to comply with any requirement of paragraph (1). [S 13/2021 wef 08/01/2021] |
| (4) A commercial fund-raiser mentioned in paragraph (2)(a) commits an offence if the commercial fund-raiser fails to comply with paragraph (2)(a). [S 13/2021 wef 08/01/2021] |
| (5) A charity or person mentioned in paragraph (2)(b) commits an offence if the charity or person (as the case may be) fails to comply with paragraph (2)(b). [S 13/2021 wef 08/01/2021] |
(6) A charity, commercial fund-raiser, commercial participator or person who is guilty of an offence under paragraph (3), (4) or (5) shall be liable on conviction —| (a) | to a fine not exceeding $10,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 years or to both; and | | (b) | in the case of a continuing offence, to a further fine not exceeding $100 for every day or part of a day during which the offence continues after conviction. |
[S 13/2021 wef 08/01/2021] |
| (7) Paragraphs (3), (4) and (5) do not apply to a private fund-raiser who conducts a private fund-raising appeal for any local charitable purpose. [S 13/2021 wef 08/01/2021] |
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5.—(1) A charity or person receiving a donation must use the donation in accordance with this regulation.| (2) Where the donor has specified an intention that the donation should be used for any specific lawful purpose, the donation shall be used for that purpose by the charity or person receiving the donation. |
| (3) Where the donor has not specified such an intention, the donation shall be used by the charity or person receiving the donation according to the purpose communicated to the donor under regulation 4(1)(b)(ii) before or at the time the donation is received. |
| (4) Where no purpose referred to in paragraph (2) or (3) has been specified or communicated, the donation received by the charity may be used by the charity to fund any activity carried out by the charity that meets its purposes under its governing instruments. |
| (5) A charity may invest any donation that is not immediately required for use for any purpose or activity referred to in paragraphs (2), (3) and (4) in such investments as are permitted by law. |
(6) Subject to paragraph (7), where a donation, or any part of it, cannot be used or invested by a charity under paragraphs (2) to (5), or used by a person under paragraph (2) or (3), the charity or the person, as the case may be, shall —| (a) | refund the amount to the donor; or | | (b) | use the amount for such other purpose as may be approved by the Sector Administrator. |
[S 13/2021 wef 08/01/2021] |
(7) Where —| (a) | the total amount of donations received by a private fund-raiser as a result of the conduct of a private fund-raising appeal for any local charitable purpose is $10,000 or less; and | | (b) | the whole or any part of the donations cannot be used or invested by the private fund-raiser under paragraph (2), (3), (4) or (5) (called the unused amount), |
| the private fund-raiser must — |
| (c) | refund the unused amount of each donation to the donor; | | (d) | obtain the donor’s consent to use the amount for any other charitable, benevolent or philanthropic purpose, and use such amount for the charitable, benevolent or philanthropic purpose that the donor has expressly or impliedly consented to; or | | (e) | if the refund mentioned in sub-paragraph (c) cannot be made, or the express or implied consent mentioned in sub-paragraph (d) cannot be obtained, use the unused amount for such other purpose as may be approved by the Sector Administrator. |
[S 13/2021 wef 08/01/2021] |
| (8) A charity or person receiving a donation commits an offence if the charity or person (as the case may be) uses or invests a donation other than in accordance with paragraph (2), (3), (4) or (5). [S 13/2021 wef 08/01/2021] |
| (9) A charity or person mentioned in paragraph (6) commits an offence if the charity or person fails to comply with that paragraph. [S 13/2021 wef 08/01/2021] |
(10) A charity or person who is guilty of an offence under paragraph (8) or (9) shall be liable on conviction —| (a) | to a fine not exceeding $10,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 years or to both; and | | (b) | in the case of a continuing offence, to a further fine not exceeding $100 for every day or part of a day during which the offence continues after conviction. |
[S 13/2021 wef 08/01/2021] |
| (11) Paragraphs (8) and (9) do not apply to a private fund-raiser who conducts a private fund-raising appeal for any local charitable purpose. [S 13/2021 wef 08/01/2021] |
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| Duty to maintain accounting records |
6.—(1) A charity, commercial fund-raiser, commercial participator or person conducting a fund-raising appeal shall maintain accounting records containing entries of —| (a) | all the donations received and disbursed by it; and | | (b) | details of all the income received and the expenses incurred by it. |
| (2) A charity, commercial fund-raiser, commercial participator or person conducting a fund-raising appeal shall maintain every accounting record for a minimum period of 5 years from the end of the financial year to which the accounting entry relates. |
| (3) A charity, commercial fund-raiser, commercial participator or person mentioned in paragraph (1) commits an offence if the charity, commercial fund‑raiser, commercial participator or person (as the case may be) fails to comply with any requirement of paragraph (1) or (2). [S 13/2021 wef 08/01/2021] |
(4) A charity, commercial fund-raiser, commercial participator or person who is guilty of an offence under paragraph (3) shall be liable on conviction —| (a) | to a fine not exceeding $10,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 years or to both; and | | (b) | in the case of a continuing offence, to a further fine not exceeding $100 for every day or part of a day during which the offence continues after conviction. |
[S 13/2021 wef 08/01/2021] |
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7.—(1) The total fund-raising expenses of a charity for the financial year ending on or after 1st April 2008, and for every subsequent financial year, shall not exceed 30% of the total receipts from fund-raising and sponsorships for that financial year, as determined by the following formula:| where E refers to the total expenses relating to fund-raising for the financial year, including — |
| | (a) direct and material indirect expenses of any kind; and |
| | (b) payments made to commercial fund-raisers engaged by the charity, |
| | but excluding, in a case of the sale of goods by or on behalf of the charity for fund-raising (and not trading), the cost of the goods sold; |
| | | (a) in a case of the sale of goods by or on behalf of the charity for fund-raising (and not trading), the total receipts from such sale (after deducting only the cost of the goods sold); and |
| | (b) the total gross receipts from any other fund-raising for that financial year; and |
| | S refers to the total amount of sponsorships in cash received by the charity relating to fund-raising for that financial year that is conditioned upon the provision of direct or indirect commercial benefit to the sponsors. |
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| (2) The computation of the formula in paragraph (1) shall be done in accordance with such directions as may be issued by the Commissioner relating to the manner of computation of the various items in the formula. |
| (3) A charity commits an offence if the charity fails to comply with any requirement of paragraph (1). [S 13/2021 wef 08/01/2021] |
| (4) A charity who is guilty of an offence under paragraph (3) shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $10,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 years or to both. [S 13/2021 wef 08/01/2021] |
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| Requirements relating to financial statements and audits of charities |
8.—(1) A charity shall disclose in its financial statements the total amount of donations received during the period to which the financial statements relate.| (2) The charity shall disclose in its financial statements for the financial year ending on or after 1st April 2008, and for every subsequent financial year, the total amount of sponsorships in cash and the total cost or value of the sponsored property, goods and services it paid or received, as the case may be, during the period to which the financial statements relate in accordance with receipts or other documentary evidence presented to the charity if, and only if, such documentary evidence is available. |
| (3) A charity shall ensure that for the financial year commencing on or after 1st May 2007, and for every subsequent financial year, an auditor certifies in the auditor’s report of the financial statements whether the charity has complied with the requirements of regulation 7. |
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| 9. [Deleted by S 13/2021 wef 08/01/2021] |
| Power of Sector Administrator to inspect records |
10. A Sector Administrator —| (a) | shall at all times have full and free access to the accounting records of a charity, commercial fund-raiser or person conducting a fund-raising appeal; and | | (b) | may, without fee or reward, inspect, copy or make extracts from any such records. |
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| Power of Sector Administrator to give directions in relation to receipts from fund-raising appeal |
11.—(1) A Sector Administrator may give directions to a charity or person conducting a fund-raising appeal —| (a) | to refund all or any part of the receipts from the fund-raising appeal to all or any of the donors; or | | (b) | to use all or any part of the receipts from the fund-raising appeal for such other charitable purpose as may be approved by the Sector Administrator, |
| where the Sector Administrator is satisfied that any of the circumstances referred to in paragraph (2) has arisen in respect of that fund-raising appeal. |
(2) The circumstances referred to in paragraph (1) in respect of a fund-raising appeal are —| (a) | the fund-raising appeal has not been conducted in good faith for charitable, benevolent or philanthropic purposes; | | (b) | the fund-raising appeal has been improperly administered; | | (c) | in connection with the fund-raising appeal conducted, any provision of the Act or any regulations made thereunder or any condition imposed by the Commissioner was not complied with by any charity or person conducting the fund-raising appeal; | | (d) | any proceeds from a fund-raising appeal have not been disbursed within the timeframe in accordance with the agreement referred to in regulation 14; or | | (e) | it is desirable in the public interest on any other ground to give directions under paragraph (1). |
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| (3) A charity or person conducting a fund-raising appeal commits an offence if the charity or person (as the case may be) fails to comply with any direction issued to the charity or person under paragraph (1). [S 13/2021 wef 08/01/2021] |
(4) A charity or person who is guilty of an offence under paragraph (3) shall be liable on conviction —| (a) | to a fine not exceeding $10,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 years or to both; and | | (b) | in the case of a continuing offence, to a further fine not exceeding $100 for every day or part of a day during which the offence continues after conviction. |
[S 13/2021 wef 08/01/2021] |
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