In what may pre-sage greater oversight in many locales, Kansas’ Senate Majority Leader has proposed new regulation of telemarketers who fundraise on behalf of non-profits.  Because of a call he got over the holidays, Derek Schmidt wants phone agents to provide info about “how much of their contributions will actually go to the charity” when asked.  This is obviously aimed at “pay out of proceeds” or percentage-based fundraisers who often require a minimum amount raised before the non-profit sees any money.  Time will tell whether Schmidt’s proposed legislation will differentiate between those tyes of callers and those that operate simply for a fee (in my opinion a more honest business model).  He plans to introduce a bill on January 12th when the state government reconvenes, but his proposal has already inspired calls for more telemarketing regulation overall, including extending Kansas’ Do Not Call list to include non-profits and political callers.

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