Senate Approves Greenleaf Bill on Fundraising

HARRISBURG –A measure offered by Sen. Stewart J. Greenleaf to raise the monetary threshold that volunteer groups may gather through fundraising before an audit is required passed the Senate unanimously. 

Greenleaf said that the goal of Senate Bill 210 is to ensure that volunteer firefighter and other emergency services organizations won't need to pay for an audit until their fundraising amounts to $250,000 in one year.  The current charitable solicitation threshold for such groups is $125,000 before an a financial audit is triggered. "Volunteer firefighters and emergency services groups have rolled up their sleeves and tackled the job of raising their own funding to operate as volunteers in our communities.  Senate Bill 210 would help these community volunteers and other charitable organizations by making sure that all the money they raise goes toward their training, equipment, or service," Greenleaf said.  He noted that he was asked by a volunteer firefighter organization to offer the bill so that volunteers would not have to utilize $6,000 to $8,000 of their funds to pay for an audit. 

Greenleaf noted that the proposed threshold of $250,000 is sufficiently high to allow for inflation in coming years.