In accordance with the provisions of Policy KH, charitable solicitations or campaigns of District employees are authorized by the Board of Education, provided, however, that all such charitable solicitations or campaigns are limited, restricted and regulated as follows:
- Authorized Agencies Because the District receives requests from many organizations and entities to allow solicitation of the District employees and requests for the authorization for the utilization of the District's payroll deduction system in connection therewith, and because such solicitations and campaigns take time away from employees' jobs and responsibilities, and are, to various degrees, disruptive of the functions and obligations of the District and the work place, only agencies which meet the following requirements and criteria will be allowed to solicit District employees for contributions or to establish contribution campaigns and be authorized to request employee payroll deduction programs in connection therewith:
- Every agency shall complete an application and supply all information required thereby on a form as provided by the District.
- The eligibility criteria set forth herein must be met by all applicants.
- The application deadline will be publicly announced not later than four months prior to the start of any annual campaign.
- The approval of all applicants shall be issued not later than two months prior to the start of the annual campaign.
- Any applicant whose request for solicitation has been denied may appeal the administrative denial to the Board of Education, provided that said appeal is submitted within fifteen days after the administrative denial. The Board of Education shall, at its next scheduled meeting, rule on the issue, without hearing, and the decision of the Board of Education shall be final.
- In order to be eligible, each entity given authority to conduct a solicitation campaign with District employees shall meet the following minimum criteria:
- Except as provided in paragraph 1h below, each campaign entity (herein applicant) shall represent five or more charitable organizations. The applicant and all charitable organizations that it represents must be qualified Section 501(c)(3) (Internal Revenue Code) organizations or be otherwise lawful tax-exempt organizations and have been in existence at least twenty-four months.
- Each applicant and the organizations it represents must be incorporated in or authorized to do business in the State of Colorado as not-for-profit organizations and must furnish, upon request, a copy of its most recent (not more than twelve months) financial statements.
- The applicant and each organization it represents must be directed by a volunteer board of directors, each of whom serves without any compensation, the names and business addresses of whom must be disclosed upon request.
- The applicant and each organization it represents must have a direct and substantial presence in the greater Denver, Colorado, metropolitan area.
- The applicant and each organization it represents must provide a direct health or human service within the greater Denver, Colorado metropolitan area.
- The applicant and each organization it represents must operate without discrimination as defined by State and Federal law.
- The applicant and each organization it represents must expend not more than 25% of its gross revenues for administration and campaign expenses.
- The applicant must be able to obtain at least 20 contributors requesting payroll deductions per year prior to the implementation of the payroll deduction system.
- The applicant must conduct its charitable campaign only during the annual campaign time established by the District.
- The applicant must provide a certification to the District that donor lists are not distributed, sold or otherwise made available to any other organization, person or entity.
- Organizations which have as their major goal or emphasis any of the following are excluded from charitable campaign solicitations and the utilization of the District payroll system:
- Litigation activities
- Lobbying/political activities
- Sectarian activities
- Environmental
- Espousing a specific viewpoint
- Organizations which deal with overly polarized subjects and which are not consistent with the general purpose of benefiting charities that direct citizen health and welfare
- The sole exception to the criteria above established and additional organizations that are authorized to solicit during the annual campaign period and utilize the District payroll deduction system are organizations which have as their sole purpose the support and assistance of the District and it programs.
- The purpose of the annual solicitation campaign authorized by the District policy and these procedures is to give employees access to the payroll deduction system for donations, lessen the cost of campaigns, and reduce work place disruption.
- The Superintendent or the Superintendent's designee shall approve eligibility of applicant organizations, subject to appeal to the Board of Education in accordance with paragraph 1e above.
- Solicitation Process. The annual solicitation process and procedure shall be established by the Superintendent or the Superintendent's designee annually and shall be applicable to all approved applicants. The procedure shall include, unless changed, the following:
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- The District will make available and furnish to each applicant employee labels.
- The applicant will then affix those labels to any packages of materials, pledge cards or other documents the applicant wishes to be distributed to the employees and will assemble all materials and packages by each District site and/or location.
- The District will distribute the packets of information to individual employees through existing work place distribution channels only.
- The District shall have no obligation or responsibility to insure that each employee receives the packet of information other than to provide the same through the normal District distribution channels.
- The employee may, at the employee's option, execute the appropriate pledge cards indicating his or her choice as to charitable giving, if any, and the employee's authorization for payroll deductions, if any.
- The District will honor the pledge cards by establishing a payroll deduction only as specifically directed by individual employees.
- The District will mail to the participating organizations a check each month in an amount equal to the total of all employee-authorized payroll deductions. The District will also collect and batch any and all cash, checks and payroll deduction authorization forms for pickup and tabulation by each participating organization. An employee may at any time terminate the payroll deduction by written notice to the District. No further deductions will be made from that individual's payroll.
- Exclusive Campaign and Solicitation Process. Except as expressly set forth herein, no charitable solicitations, campaigns or other requests for assistance shall be authorized or allowed within the District work place.