Sudden Growth in Charities Has Colorado Attorney General Seeking New Oversight Unit

Growth in charities in Colorado has the state’s top prosecutor seeking more funds to create a new unit to ferret out nonprofit fundraising fraud.

Colorado Attorney General Cynthia Coffman wants to spend about $350,000 annually on a new charities oversight unit. The money would finance two full-time attorneys, an investigator, office equipment and operating costs. The work currently is done by attorneys in the consumer fraud unit of her office, who must juggle other responsibilities.

“Most of us donate to a charity thinking that our money goes to a cancer victim or a child’s baseball team,” Coffman said during a recent presentation to the Joint Budget Committee, which sets funding priorities the full legislature votes on. “We don’t backtrack to find out if the money was spent in the way we designated it or if it was squandered by the charity or if it went to the operators. We are trusting in that regard.”