We are going to accept monetary donations for victims of a recent tornado. Can we accept donations made out to the bank? We have not yet decided on the charity that will receive the donations.

To collect charitable donations made directly to your bank, we recommend establishing a dedicated account to hold the funds. We also recommend registering with the Illinois Attorney General’s Charitable Trust Bureau.

Under the Charitable Trust Act, if a group or an individual will be holding more than $4,000 for a charitable purpose, it must register with the Attorney General. The Solicitation for Charity Act also requires every charitable organization which solicits or intends to solicit donations to register with the Attorney General.

We believe your bank would fit the definition of a “charitable organization” under the Solicitation for Charity Act, which includes any “individual, organization, group, association, partnership, corporation, [or] trust” which solicits or collects funds for charitable purposes. A link to the necessary registration forms is included below, and your bank may be able to file one form to satisfy both registration requirements.

We note that there are several exceptions to the Solicitation for Charity Act’s registration requirements, including an exception for persons requesting contributions “for the relief or benefit of any individual, specified by name at the time of the solicitation, if the contributions collected are turned over to the named beneficiary.” However, we do not believe this or any of the other identified exceptions would be applicable to your bank, since you intend to select a charity to receive the collected donations.

For resources related to our guidance, please see:

Charitable Trust Act, 760 ILCS 55/6 (“Every trustee subject to this Act who has received property for charitable purposes shall file and register with the Attorney General, within 6 months after any part of the income or principal is received for application to the charitable purpose . . . .”)

Charitable Trust Act, 760 ILCS 55/2 (“This Act applies to any and all trustees, as defined in Section 3, holding property of a value in excess of $4,000.”)

Charitable Trust Act, 760 ILCS 55/3 (“‘Trustee’ means any person, individual, group of individuals, association, corporation, not-for-profit corporation, estate representative, or other legal entity holding property for or solicited for any charitable purpose. . . .”)

Solicitation for Charity Act, 225 ILCS 460/2(a) (“Every charitable organization, except as otherwise provided in Section 3 of this Act, which solicits or intends to solicit contributions from persons in this State or which is located in this State, by any means whatsoever shall, prior to any solicitation, file with the Attorney General upon forms prescribed by him, a registration statement, accompanied by a registration fee of $15, which statement shall include the following certified information: . . . .”)

Solicitation for Charity Act, 225 ILCS 460/1(a) (“‘Charitable organization’ means any benevolent, philanthropic, patriotic, or eleemosynary person or one purporting to be such which solicits and collects funds for charitable purposes and includes each local, county, or area division within this State of such charitable organization, provided such local, county or area division has authority and discretion to disburse funds or property otherwise than by transfer to any parent organization.”)

Solicitation for Charity Act, 225 ILCS 460/1(c) (“‘Person’ means any individual, organization, group, association, partnership, corporation, trust or any combination of them.”)

Illinois Attorney General, Charitable Organization Registration and Annual Report Forms

Solicitation for Charity Act, 225 ILCS 460/3(b)(3) (Exception from registration requirement for “persons requesting any contributions for the relief or benefit of any individual, specified by name at the time of the solicitation, if the contributions collected are turned over to the named beneficiary, first deducting reasonable expenses for costs of banquets, or social gatherings, if any, provided all fund raising functions are carried on by persons who are unpaid, directly or indirectly, for such services.”)

Attorney General Charitable Trust Rules, 14 Ill. Adm. Code 400.30(a)(5) (“Registration by an organization under Section 2 of the [Solicitation for Charity] Act may upon request also satisfy the organization’s registration requirements under the Charitable Trust Act [760 ILCS 55/5].”)