Hi, I am a member of a (free) online book swapping site called Paperbackswap.com. There is currently an event going on there called "Stop the Fires - Save the books" (see website for detailed info). There is a bookstore owner in Kansas City, MO that has decided to burn 20,000+ books because he can't seem to get rid of them. You may have heard the story in the news recently. The owners of Paperbackswap.com are trying, with the club members' (a couple of thousand I believe) help, to save these books. If we want to help we are asked to sign a petition and then if we can to pledge a donation to help with the costs of truck rental, gas, hotel, and other travel expenses in the event that the Kansas city man decides to give the books to Paperbackswap.com instead of burning them.

My question is, is collecting donations like this from possibly thousands of people legal? They have not given much detail concerning the logistics of the plan or what they will do with the excess money (if any). I assume the money will go back into running the site. They have said that they plan to stop along the route at select cities and meet up with other Paperbackswap members and give away books. This SEEMS like a good way to earn books for the site, but considering some of their questionable practices in the past I wonder if they are also trying to help the site financially with these possible donations without saying so. But suppose they pocket the money?

In addition to my question about the legality of this endeavor, can someone point me in the right direction concerning laws about organizations accepting donations? Thanks so much!

Check out the IRS site. There may be some information there about chartiable giving.

Thank you!