Charitable giving: online fundraising.

Added comprehensive definitions for 'charitable fundraising platform,' 'platform charity,' 'recipient charitable organization,' 'peer-to-peer charitable fundraising,' and 'good standing,' along with specific exclusions (a charity's own platform, technical vendors, donor-advised fund sponsors, and entities that also qualify as commercial fundraisers or coventurers).

Requires charitable fundraising platforms to register with the Attorney General's Registry of Charities and Fundraisers under oath before soliciting, with annual renewal and a registration fee. Platform charities must register as trustees if not already registered.

Requires annual reports filed under oath that enable the Attorney General to verify proper handling of charitable funds, including donation counts, amounts raised, distribution timelines, fees charged, and which recipient organizations received or did not receive donations. Reports cannot require disclosure of donor personally identifiable information.

Requires conspicuous disclosures before a donor can complete a donation, including: who receives the donation, whether the recipient may not receive funds, maximum time to send the donation, fees deducted (excluding digital payment processing fees), and tax deductibility statement.

Requires written consent from a recipient charitable organization before using its name in a solicitation. An exception applies if the platform only uses publicly available information, conspicuously discloses the lack of consent, removes the charity within three business days upon verified written request, and does not require consent as a condition for accepting donations.

Prohibits platforms from diverting or misusing donations. Requires donations to be held in separate accounts and promptly sent to recipient organizations with an accounting of fees. Vendor contracts must be available for Attorney General inspection.

Requires platforms to only enable solicitations for charitable organizations in good standing (tax-exempt status not revoked by IRS or Franchise Tax Board, and not prohibited from soliciting by the Attorney General). Platforms may rely on electronic lists or an API from those agencies to verify good standing.

Requires the Attorney General to establish rules and regulations covering: additional solicitation activities as technology changes, registration and report form content, written agreement requirements between platforms and charities, donation holding and distribution timelines (quarterly minimums of $10, maximum four consecutive quarters for purchase-based donations), and specifications for an API providing real-time good standing data from the Registry database.

The bill's scope expanded from a single-section intent statement to two sections amending Government Code Sections 12599.9 and 12599.10, creating binding legal obligations for online charitable fundraising platforms operating in California.