Advertising Law Tool Kit 13th Edition 2025

Venable / 23 22 / Venable Commercial Co-Ventures If a marketer conducts a promotion in which it advertises that a donation will be made based on the sale or use of a product or service (e.g., $1 of every shoe purchase benefits XYZ charity), the marketer and promotion will be subject to a number of state laws regulating charitable sales promotions conducted by commercial co-venturers (CCVs). If the commercial co-venture laws are triggered, the marketer might be required to register as a commercial co-venturer (including, in some cases, obtaining a bond) in up to seven states. A written agreement with the charity must be executed before the campaign. Some state laws mandate that certain provisions be included in this written agreement between the parties to the CCV, and this and other promotion documentation may need to be filed in certain states. Also, all advertising for the CCV promotion must include certain material disclosures. There have been significant attorney general actions in this area that were brought against marketers that made misleading disclosures or omitted key information. Keep in mind that some popular types of cause-related marketing promotions may not be CCVs, though the promotions may be subject to different charitable fundraising regulations—particularly if these occur online. For example, promises that if consumers tweet a certain hashtag, the brand will make a donation to the charity, may not be viewed as CCVs, but this and other activations that allow a person to make donations based on online activities might cause the marketer to be regulated as a charitable fundraising platform. State CCV and promotional fundraising laws vary, so it is important to plan such promotions carefully, and it is always important to ensure that the disclosures for any charitable sales promotion are clear, conspicuous, and accurate. Melissa Landau Steinman mlsteinman@Venable.com Cristina I. Vessels cvessels@Venable.com When acting as a CCV and running a charitable sales promotion, here are some things to keep in mind: • Start as early as possible. Registrations and/or approvals in some states can take several months under normal circumstances. • Enter into a written agreement with the charity and include state-required contractual provisions, a license for use of the charity’s trademarks, and clear parameters for how the donation will be calculated and eventually transmitted to the charity. • Include the specific percentage or dollar amount per transaction going to charity in each advertisement for the CCV. Merely describing the donation generally as “a percentage of proceeds” may be considered deceptive or otherwise insufficient. • Ensure consumers are aware of the start and end dates of the promotion. Take care not to flood the marketplace with more product than could reasonably be sold during the promotion dates. • Clearly indicate any maximum and/or minimum donation amounts that have been promised to charity, if any. • Disclose the names of the sponsor(s) of the CCV, together with information on where to learn more about the charity. • If the marketer will conduct multiple charitable sales promotions online that benefit seven or more charitable organizations per year, the brand may also be considered a charitable fundraising platform under certain states’ laws and should adhere to those rules, too.