Louis E. Michelson, A Professional Corporation

On March 24-25, 51 charities regulators from 35 states gathered at Columbia Law School for a conference: At the Intersection of Technology, the Charitable Sector and State Regulators, co-sponsored by the Charities Regulation and Oversight Project of the National State Attorneys General Program and the National Attorneys General Training & Research Institute (NAGTRI).  The conference was open only to state charities regulators and addressed topics of growing importance–these included data privacy, fundraising and marketing via new technologies including social media and data aggregation, e-registration of charities, and investigatory methods of collecting and admitting social media evidence.

Speakers included nonprofit technology experts, a Federal Trade Commissioner, a journalist with the Chronicle of Philanthropy, nonprofit fundraising specialists, and a private attorney specializing in new technological advances in investigatory techniques. Regulators from the National Association of State Charities Officials (NASCO) served as leaders throughout the discussions. Attendees included assistant and deputy state attorneys general, investigators, and division chiefs from attorneys’ general offices. This was the third conference that the Charities Project has co-sponsored with NAGTRI in order to provide regulators with resources and training in a specific, substantive area of charities regulation, as well as a forum in which to meet and exchange knowledge and experience.

See the Charities Project website at stateag.org/charities for more information.