Professional Solicitor Bonds
A professional solicitor bond is a guarantee to the state charity regulator that a paid fundraiser soliciting donations on behalf of charities will follow the solicitation statute — register before calling, file its contracts, tell donors the truth, and remit every dollar the charity is owed. The bond protects donors, the charities you represent, and the state, not your firm.
There is no national solicitor bond. Roughly half the states require one, each on its own form — Pennsylvania $25,000 on Form BCO-160, Connecticut $20,000 — and a multi-state calling plan means a bond in every state the ask reaches a donor.
There is no national solicitor bond — you post one in every state you call into
Charitable solicitation is regulated where the ask lands, not just where your office sits. Each bonding state names its own regulator as obligee — the Attorney General's charitable trust section in some states, the Secretary of State or a consumer-protection department in others — and prescribes its own bond form. A telefundraising room in one state that dials donors in twenty others generally has to register, and where required bond, in all twenty. Map the calling and mailing plan first; the bond count follows the map.
Professional solicitor bond requirements by state
Examples of the paid-fundraiser and solicitation bonds we issue — each a separate obligee and form
| State | Bond (form) | Required amount | Obligee | Applies to |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pennsylvania | Professional Solicitor Bond (Form BCO-160) | $25,000 | Dept. of State, Bureau of Corporations & Charitable Organizations | Filed with solicitor registration |
| Connecticut | Fund Raising Counsel / Paid Solicitor Bond | $20,000 | Dept. of Consumer Protection | Paid solicitors; counsel with custody of funds |
| Michigan | Professional Fund Raiser Bond — Public Safety Organizations | $25,000 | Michigan Dept. of Attorney General | Fundraising for police/fire-affiliated organizations |
| Texas | Telephone Solicitation Bond | $10,000 | Texas Secretary of State | Registered telephone solicitors |
| Minnesota | Private Career School Solicitor’s Bond | $2,000 | Minnesota Office of Higher Education | Adjacent solicitor bond — school enrollment solicitors |
| Other states | Professional solicitor / paid fundraiser bond | Commonly $10,000–$50,000 | State charity regulator (AG or Secretary of State) | Roughly half the states bond paid solicitors — check each state you call into |
Amounts shown are the penal sums each obligee requires, not what you pay. Registration renews annually in most states, and the bond must stay continuous with it — regulators treat a bond lapse as a registration lapse.
Verify the current amount, obligee, and form with the charity regulator in each state where you will solicit.
Not sure what a license bond like this runs? Use the license bond premium calculator for a ballpark, then see what drives surety bond cost for how credit and amount move the rate.
Solicitor or fundraising counsel? The bond follows who touches the money
Charitable solicitation statutes divide the fundraising industry by who asks for money and who takes custody of it. Getting your classification right before you register decides whether the bond even applies — and which form you file:
Paid solicitors
Firms and individuals compensated to solicit contributions from the public — telefundraising call centers, door-to-door and street canvassing operations, direct-mail campaign managers, and event-based fundraisers working under contract with charities. This is the role the bond most consistently attaches to, especially where the solicitor receives or controls donations.
Fundraising counsel & special cases
Consultants who plan campaigns without soliciting are usually exempt from the bond — unless they take custody of contributions, which pulls them into bonding in states like Connecticut. Some states also single out specific campaign types: Michigan bonds fundraisers for public-safety organizations through the Attorney General, and Texas bonds registered telephone solicitors through the Secretary of State.
Volunteers, charity employees soliciting for their own organization, and most religious and educational institutions are exempt under typical statutes — the bond targets the commercial layer between donors and charities.
The telephone-solicitation bond most telefundraisers forget
Charity statutes are not the only bonding trigger for a phone room. Several states bond commercial telephone solicitation in its own right — a separate registration under the telemarketing law, with its own regulator and its own bond. Texas is the clearest example: registered telephone solicitors post a $10,000 telephone solicitation bond with the Secretary of State, entirely apart from any charitable-fundraiser filing.
A telefundraising firm can therefore owe two bonds in the same state — the charitable solicitor bond under the charity statute and the telephone solicitation bond under the telemarketing statute. Before you dial, run every calling-plan state against both its charity law and its telemarketing law so no second filing surfaces after the campaign is already live.
When the surety writes a check to a donor or charity
Charitable solicitation is one of the most enforcement-active corners of license bonding because the harmed parties — donors and charities — rarely discover problems until an audit. A paid claim tracks the statute's core duties:
Diverting or failing to remit charitable funds
The core harm these statutes target: contributions collected in a charity’s name that never reach the charity. Solicitation laws set deposit, accounting, and remittance duties, and the bond answers when money goes missing.
Misrepresenting the charity, the cause, or your status
Claiming a larger share goes to the cause than actually does, inventing endorsements, or failing to disclose that you are a paid solicitor when the statute requires it are direct violations that support claims by regulators and donors.
Soliciting without registration or outside a filed contract
Bond states require the solicitor to register, file each fundraising contract, and often give notice before a campaign starts. Soliciting unregistered, or under an unfiled contract, is itself a violation the bond secures.
Failing to file campaign financial reports
Post-campaign accountings — gross receipts, expenses, net to the charity — are mandatory in most bond states. Skipped or false reports draw regulator action, and resulting losses can be pursued against the bond.
The bond is not insurance for your firm. Every dollar the surety pays a regulator or charity comes back to you under your indemnity agreement — plus the reputational damage that follows a public charitable-funds claim. The bond keeps donors whole; keeping claims from ever arising is on you. See our guide to avoiding bond claims for the habits that keep a solicitor bond clean.
Cash, letter of credit, or a small annual premium?
Some charity statutes accept alternative security in place of a surety bond. For a campaign-driven business with seasonal cash flow, the difference matters — and it compounds across every state in the calling plan:
Surety bond
A small annual premium per state keeps working capital free for campaign costs — staffing, phone systems, mail runs. You indemnify the surety for any claim it pays.
Cash deposit
The full amount sits with each state for as long as you are registered there. Multiplied across a multi-state calling plan, deposits lock up serious capital.
Letter of credit
Bank fees and collateral requirements per state make this the least efficient route for the amounts involved, and it consumes the credit line a campaign season runs on.
See bond vs. cash deposit for the full comparison, or the surety bond cost guide for what a per-state premium actually looks like.
What underwriting reviews before your campaign launches
Bond first, register second — most states want the executed bond filed with your registration packet. The surety will ask for:
Legal firm and principal names
Exactly as they appear on your solicitor registration.
Every state where you will solicit
Including states where calls or mail terminate — each bonding state is a separate obligee and form.
Required amount and bond form
From each state’s registration instructions (e.g., Pennsylvania’s Form BCO-160).
Your role: solicitor or counsel
And whether you take custody of contributions — this determines if the bond applies.
Consent to a soft credit check
A pricing input alongside your regulatory history.
Registration and claims history
Prior enforcement actions or bond claims, disclosed up front.
Have your registration states and required amounts? We'll quote the whole batch on each state's prescribed form.
Start your solicitor bond quoteRelated license & fundraising-adjacent bonds
Solicitation-adjacent businesses carry their own bond requirements. These pages cover the neighboring verticals and the fundamentals behind them:
Questions paid fundraisers ask before they register
What is the difference between a professional solicitor and a fundraising counsel?
The line is whether you touch donations. A professional (or paid) solicitor actually solicits contributions from the public for compensation — calls donors, runs the campaign, often handles the money. A fundraising counsel plans or advises a campaign but does not solicit or take custody of funds. States regulate both, but the bond usually attaches to the solicitor role, and some states also bond counsel who take custody of contributions. Classify your role correctly before registering, because the filings, fees, and bond differ.
Does the charity I fundraise for need a bond too?
Generally, no. Charitable organizations register with the state charity regulator but are not typically bonded — the bond requirement targets the commercial firms paid to solicit on their behalf, because that is where regulators have historically seen funds diverted. The charity does, however, have to file its contract with you in most bond states, so a lapsed solicitor bond can stall a campaign for both parties.
I solicit in several states. Do I need a bond in each one?
Each state that requires a bond names its own regulator as obligee and prescribes its own form — Pennsylvania requires its $25,000 bond on Form BCO-160, Connecticut requires $20,000 for paid solicitors, and so on. There is no reciprocal or national solicitor bond. Multi-state campaigns should map every state where solicitation will occur (including where calls terminate, not just where you are located) and bond each one before the campaign launches.
If my calls or mail reach donors in a state where I am not registered, do I owe that state’s bond?
Usually, yes. Charitable solicitation is regulated where the ask lands, not only where your office sits — a telefundraising room in one state that dials donors in twenty others generally must register, and where required post a bond, in each of those states. Regulators treat soliciting into their state without registration as its own violation. Before a campaign, map the calling and mailing plan against each state’s charity statute so a bond is filed everywhere the ask reaches a donor.
Do telephone campaigns have separate bonding rules?
They can. Beyond charity-specific statutes, some states bond commercial telephone solicitation itself — Texas, for example, requires a $10,000 telephone solicitation bond filed with the Secretary of State for registered telephone solicitors. A telefundraising firm can therefore owe both a charitable solicitor bond and a telephone solicitation bond depending on the states in its calling plan. Check both the charity statute and the telemarketing statute in every state you call into.
What happens if a claim is paid on my solicitor bond?
The surety pays valid claims — typically brought by the regulator or the charity for diverted or unremitted funds — up to the bond amount, then recovers every dollar from you under your indemnity agreement. Because registration requires a live bond, a claim that leads to cancellation ends your ability to solicit in that state, and charity regulators share disciplinary information across states. In this vertical especially, a bond claim is a business-ending event to avoid, not a backstop to rely on.
All content is researched from official state and federal sources (.gov) and verified before publication. BuySuretyBonds.com works with Treasury-certified, A-minimum rated surety carriers serving all 50 states.
General information, not legal advice. Charitable solicitation registration, bond amounts, obligees, and filing forms are set by each state and change over time. Confirm the current requirement with the charity regulator in every state where you will solicit, and request a quote for the exact bond form each one prescribes.
One map, every state, one batch quote
Send us the list of states in your calling and mailing plan with each required amount — we'll return a free quote for the whole batch on every state's prescribed form, fast enough that bonding never delays registration or the campaign behind it.
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