There has been a fraudulent email circulating about the Ms. Wheelchair Massachusetts Foundation (MWMF) in recent weeks.
Please disregard any emails you receive that say the Attorney General is investigating the Ms. Wheelchair Massachusetts Foundation for illegal fundraising (you may also want to ask the sender to remove your email from the spam list).
THIS IS NOT TRUE
The source of this email is claiming that MWMF has not registered as a "Public Charity," and therefore has no "Certificate of Solicitation" to fundraise. However, the MWMF is registered as a public charity, AG#049560 and does have a Certificate for Solicitation.
In addition, MWMF is actually exempt from having a Certificate of Solitation because we meet the requirements of section 2 below.
Please see the following statute which exempts our organization from needing this certificate.
Overview of Solicitation: "M.G.L. c. 68, s. 18, defines commercial co-venturer, professional fundraising counsel, professional solicitor, and solicitation.The following two categories of charitable organizations are not required to have a “Certificate of Solicitation”:
1. An organization that is primarily religious in purpose; or
2. An organization that does not raise or receive contributions from the public in excess of $5,000 during a calendar year or does not receive contributions from more than ten persons during a calendar year, if all of their functions, including fundraising activities, are performed by persons who are not paid for their services and if no part of their assets or income inures to the benefit of, or is paid to, any officer or members (M.G.L. c. 68, s. 20).
Please feel free to contact the Ms. Wheelchair Massachusetts Foundation if you have any questions regarding this spam, or visit www.mass.gov/ago . And remember, you can't believe everything you read in unsolicited bulk emails.
