Surety Bond Encyclopedia

Paid Solicitor ($10,000) - MAIL Bond - Statewide in Alaska

Brief Summary

The bond is $10,000 flat, on Alaska's own one page form, and it is the piece the Department of Law will not register you without. You pay an annual premium instead of putting up $10,000, the executed form gets emailed in with your registration, and renewals only need evidence that the bond stays in force for the new period.

Alaska requires a $10,000 surety bond from any paid solicitor who solicits contributions for a charitable organization for compensation. AS 45.68.010(c)(2) requires the bond and leaves the amount to regulation, and 9 AAC 12.060 sets it at $10,000, to be maintained for the whole time the solicitor conducts solicitation activity in the state and written on the department's own form. The obligee is the State of Alaska through the Department of Law. Registration costs $200 and expires September 1 every year.

We can help with all Alaska bonds!

How to Apply for a Paid Solicitor ($10,000) - MAIL Bond:

Legal entity name and EIN exactly as they will appear on the Department of Law registration.
Owner or officer information for the surety's underwriting review.
Complete the bond application and review the quoted premium.
Receive the executed $10,000 bond on the State of Alaska Paid Solicitor Surety Bond form, signed by a partner, the owner, or the president, vice president or secretary of the corporation.
Pay the $200 registration fee, then complete the online registration through the link in the payment confirmation.
Email the bond and the contract with each charitable organization to lawcharities@alaska.gov with the company name and EIN.
At renewal, submit evidence that the bond continues in force for the new registration period.

Detailed Information About the Alaska Paid Solicitor ($10,000) - MAIL Bond:

One amount, and it is in the regulation, not the statute

There are no tiers here. No revenue brackets, no campaign size thresholds, no per charity bonds. 9 AAC 12.060(a) says a paid solicitor shall file a $10,000 surety bond with the department, and 9 AAC 12.060(b) requires it to be maintained for the duration of the period the paid solicitor conducts solicitation activity in the state. Anyone reading only the statute will not find the figure, because AS 45.68.010(c)(2) just says the bond is in the amount and under the conditions established by the department by regulation.

The form is not optional either. 9 AAC 12.060(c) requires the bond to be on the department's form titled State of Alaska, Paid Solicitor Surety Bond. The posted version is marked Revised August 2007, runs to the State of Alaska and the Alaska Department of Law, and lets the surety terminate only on 60 days written notice to both the principal and the Department of Law. The surety must be authorized to do business as a surety company in Alaska, and the form has to be signed by a partner for a partnership, the owner for a sole proprietorship, or the president, vice president or secretary of a corporation.

Who is a paid solicitor, and who is not

AS 45.68.010(b) reaches anyone who solicits contributions of money or other property for a charitable organization for compensation. The definition in AS 45.68.900(4) sweeps in people employed, procured or engaged directly or indirectly by a paid solicitor to solicit if they are compensated.

Two groups are outside it. A bona fide salaried officer, employee or volunteer of a charitable organization is not a paid solicitor, so a nonprofit's own development staff do not post this bond. Neither is an attorney licensed in this or another state, an investment counselor, an insurance company or a supervised financial institution giving advice about whether contributions should be made.

The exemptions in AS 45.68.120 are worth reading before assuming they help you. They cover churches and religious organizations exempt from filing a federal annual information return under 26 U.S.C. 6033(a)(3)(A), candidates and political committees filing with the Alaska Public Offices Commission or the Federal Election Commission, small volunteer run organizations not intending to raise more than $5,000 a year or take contributions from more than 10 people, and permit holders under AS 05.15.100. Those are exemptions for the organizations doing their own soliciting. A commercial fundraiser hired by an exempt charity is still a paid solicitor. There is no grandfather clause for solicitors already working in the state.

The date that catches people

Registration expires September 1 of each year under AS 45.68.010(d), and the department's instructions say every Alaska registration expires September 1 regardless of the date the registration form was filed. Register in June and you are renewing in weeks. Renewal takes a registration renewal statement plus evidence that a bond meeting the requirement will be in effect for the renewal period, so the surety's continuation certificate matters as much as the original.

The fee is $200 for a paid solicitor registration or renewal under 9 AAC 12.080, nonrefundable per AS 45.68.015, and the department will not accept a registration statement without it. Charitable organizations pay $40, which is a different filing. A charity should not register as a paid solicitor.

Filing is electronic, with a narrow paper exception

9 AAC 12.890 requires filings under AS 45.68 to be made electronically in the manner and format the department prescribes, and lets the department waive that only where the filer does not have reasonable access to the Internet or to the equipment or software needed. In practice you pay the $200 online, register through the link in the payment confirmation, then email the executed bond and the contracts to lawcharities@alaska.gov with your company name and EIN.

Three duties that are not the bond

AS 45.68.020 bars soliciting for a charity without a written contract with that charity, covering how compensation is calculated with estimated expenses, the charitable purpose, and the percentage the organization will receive, and a copy has to be filed with the department. AS 45.68.055 requires a financial report within 90 days after a campaign is completed, and on each one year anniversary for campaigns running longer than a year, with gross revenue and itemized expenses, signed under oath by the paid solicitor's authorized contracting agent and authorized by two officials of the charity. AS 45.68.030 requires the solicitor to disclose that the caller is paid and who they work for before asking for a donation. Posting the bond does not satisfy any of these, and a material change in the information in your registration has to be reported within seven days under AS 45.68.010(e).

Eligibility and Requirements for an Alaska Paid Solicitor ($10,000) - MAIL Bond:

Bond amount of exactly $10,000. There are no tiers and no per campaign variation.
Surety authorized to do business as a surety company in the State of Alaska.
The department's own form, State of Alaska Paid Solicitor Surety Bond. A surety's house form is not accepted.
Runs to the State of Alaska and the Alaska Department of Law.
Conditioned on faithful performance of the obligations imposed under AS 45.68 and 9 AAC 12.010 through 9 AAC 12.900.
Maintained for the entire period the solicitor conducts solicitation activity in Alaska. The surety may terminate only on 60 days written notice to the principal and the Department of Law.

Alaska Paid Solicitor ($10,000) - MAIL Bond FAQs:

Does the bond amount change with the size of the campaign or the charity?

No. 9 AAC 12.060(a) sets one figure of $10,000 for every paid solicitor. The statute itself does not name an amount, which is why people go looking for a sliding scale that does not exist.

We are the charity's own fundraising staff. Do we need this?

No. AS 45.68.900(4) excludes a bona fide salaried officer, employee or volunteer of a charitable organization from the definition of paid solicitor. The department also says plainly that charitable organizations should not register as paid solicitors. Charities file their own registration at a $40 fee.

The charity we work for is exempt from registering. Are we exempt too?

No. The exemptions in AS 45.68.120 cover the organizations doing the soliciting, such as churches, political committees, and small all volunteer groups not intending to raise more than $5,000 a year or take contributions from more than 10 people. A compensated outside solicitor still registers and still posts the bond.

When does my registration expire?

September 1 each year, under AS 45.68.010(d), and the department's instructions say that applies regardless of the date the form was filed. Renewal requires a renewal statement plus evidence the bond will be in effect for the renewal period.

What does the bond cost?

The premium is set by the surety underwriting the applicant, based mainly on the owners' credit and the financial condition of the business. Alaska sets the $10,000 penal sum, not the price, and there is no published rate. A quote takes an application.

Can I cancel the bond when a campaign ends?

The bond has to be maintained for the whole period you conduct solicitation activity in Alaska, and the state form allows the surety to terminate only on 60 days written notice to you and to the Department of Law. Ending one campaign while you remain registered and soliciting does not release it.

Can I file everything by mail?

9 AAC 12.890 requires filings under AS 45.68 to be electronic in the format the department prescribes, and allows a waiver only where the filer lacks reasonable access to the Internet or to the equipment or software needed. The normal route is paying and registering online and emailing the executed bond and contracts to lawcharities@alaska.gov.