Telemarketing 

Charities and For-Profit Telemarketers Calling on Their Behalf

The USA PATRIOT Act, passed in 2001, brought charitable solicitations by for-profit telemarketers within the scope of the TSR. As a result, most of the TSR’s provisions now are applicable to “telefunders”—telemarketers who solicit charitable contributions.

Telefunders are required to:

• make certain prompt disclosures in every outbound call.
• get express verifiable authorization if accepting payment by methods other than credit or debit card.
• maintain records for 24 months.
• comply with the entity-specific Do Not Call requirements, but are exempt from the National Do Not Call Registry provision.

Telefunders are prohibited from:

• making a false or misleading statement to induce a charitable contribution.
• making any of several specific prohibited misrepresentations.
• engaging in credit card laundering.
• engaging in acts defined as abusive under the TSR, such as calling before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m., disclosing or receiving consumers’ unencrypted account information, and denying or interfering with a consumer’s right to be placed on a Do Not Call list.

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