How to Legally Go Door to Door for Donations

Many people these days are concerned about scam artists. Yes, there are many out there. Have you ever wanted to ask for donations or do a fundraiser for a charity? The easiest idea is to go door to door in your neighborhood right? Well there are actually laws that are against this. You cannot just go door to door and ask for a donation for such and such charity. This is illegal.

There are steps you have to take. First you have to register with the city on behalf of the organization, church or club you are in. There may be a fee for registering. Next you will have to get permission from the charity or foundation in which you want to collect money from and obtain a copy of stheir 501c3tatus. Then you will need to go back to the city council building that you registered your group with and apply for a vendor license this may cost you about $1,000.00 to do so. You might as well request all three types of vendor statuses for this price to make it easier on your group.

If you are a part of a church or religious organization you will not be charged a fee for any of this. If you decide to do so you may want to have a copy of your 501c3 status if you applied for it. If you did not apply for it then print off the nonprofit information that the irs.gov web site provides that states the all churches and religious organizations are automatically tax exempt and a nonprofit. You will have a bit of trouble getting them to understand that it's not required for a church or religious organization to have this status. Once you print out that paper and attach it to your application you should be fine though.

The main things to remember are register your group with the city, obtain permission from the charity or foundation and have them write you a permission slip, obtain a copy of their 501c3 status, and apply for your vendor license. The city will then tell you they will call you within 10 business days from the day you submit your information to them. They will call you and once they call you will know if you have been approved or denied and why, also once you are approved you and the names of the people you listed will each get a permit to carry with you.

Once approved it is always nice to ease your donors minds by first stating your name, which the donation is going to and having information printed out about the charity or foundation you are collecting for and before you leave their house show them your permit so they will know you are legit.