As you (should) know, in 2024 California’s Charitable Fundraising Platforms law went into effect. Earlier this year, Hawaii passed a very similar law which is scheduled to take effect July 1, 2026.
What You Need to Know About Hawaii’s Charitable Fundraising Platform Law
- Like California, the HI law applies to, essentially, any person or company that has a website that facilitates charitable solicitation. Specifically, the HI law regulates “charitable fundraising platforms” and “platform charities” which are defined similarly to CA’s statute.
- Charitable fundraising platforms and platform charities must register annually and file annual reports, including providing disclosure of the number of donations made, the amount raised, the timing for distributing donations, fees charged, and the charities involved.
- Charitable fundraising platforms must obtain written consent from charity.
- Charities must be in good standing in HI.
- Funds donated must be held in a separate account.
- Funds must be provided promptly to charity with an accounting (generally within 30 days after the end of each month when the donation was received).
- Only applies to commercial co-venturers conducting programs for seven or more charities in a calendar year.
In sum, Hawaii’s new law is very, very, very similar to California’s law. Therefore, if you’re registering (or should be registering) in California and your online programs also target Hawaii residents, you’ll also need to register in Hawaii. Hawaii has yet to publish regulations helping to facilitate its new law or any online forms. The initial effective date of January 1, 2026 was extended to July 1, 2026, but we’ll have to wait and see if things get into shape by this date or whether the effective date will be extended again.
Aloha!
