Internet donation and charitable solicitation licensing

Our non-profit is interested in using website donation services from an organization like JustGive or NetworkforGood. Setting up such a system is easy enough, but we're unsure about the legality of solicitng funds online in the US. We have a license to solicit charitable donations in Michigan (our home state), but notices on the instruction pages for both JustGive and NetworkforGood advise that we may need a license in all of the other states in the union that require a license.

Does anyone have experience with this issue? I've done some research and found the Unified Registration Statement at www.multistatefiling.org, so it seems like it would be possible to register across the US in reasonable time. Of course, we'd like to avoid all of the associated registration fees and skip this process if possible.

Thanks,
Anthony Pinter
Family Outreach Center

Anthony, This issue is somewhat up in the air. The Nonprofit FAQ has links to a variety of articles on the topic at http://www.nonprofits.org/npofaq/16/24.html In particular, check out the Charleston Principles. They're only advisory, however. Most people I've heard address the issue, including a representative from the CA Attorney General's office, feel that if you're not ACTIVELY seeking funds on line in an area, you don't have to register. However, there are different ways of defining "active". Some localities have decided that having a web site with a donation button that can be seen by their residents constitutes an active solicitation, but most seem to regard this as a passive activity and do not require registration. Robert