Read the full stored bill text
Florida Senate
-
2026
CS for SB 1338
By
the Committee on Rules; and Senator Burton
595-02952-26 20261338c1
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to charitable giving; creating s.
3 496.432, F.S.; providing legislative findings;
4 defining terms; prohibiting a charitable organization
5 that accepts a contribution pursuant to a written
6 donor-imposed restriction from violating the terms of
7 that restriction; authorizing a donor, or a donor’s
8 legal representative, to file a complaint within a
9 specified timeframe if a charitable organization
10 violates a donor-imposed restriction contained in an
11 endowment agreement; specifying the venue where the
12 complaint may be filed; providing that the complaint
13 may be filed regardless of whether the endowment
14 agreement expressly reserves a right to sue or enforce
15 the agreement; providing an exception; prohibiting a
16 donor or donor representative from seeking a judgment
17 awarding damages; authorizing such a donor or donor
18 representative to seek a refund of all or a portion of
19 the donated funds under certain circumstances;
20 requiring a charitable organization to notify a donor,
21 or a donor’s legal representative, if it cannot
22 fulfill a term in the endowment agreement and offer
23 the donor, or the donor’s legal representative, an
24 alternative solution that closely matches the initial
25 term in such endowment agreement; providing an
26 exception; authorizing a charitable organization to
27 obtain a judicial declaration of the rights and duties
28 expressed in an endowment agreement; authorizing the
29 charitable organization to seek a judicial declaration
30 in any suit brought under the act or by filing a
31 complaint; authorizing a court to order one or more
32 remedies consistent with the charitable purposes
33 expressed in the endowment agreement if the court
34 determines that a charitable organization violated a
35 donor-imposed restriction in the endowment agreement;
36 prohibiting the court from ordering the return of the
37 donated funds to the donor or the donor’s legal
38 representative; providing an exception; providing
39 construction; providing severability; creating s.
40 496.433, F.S.; providing legislative findings;
41 prohibiting a state agency or a state official from
42 imposing any annual filing or reporting requirements
43 on certain organizations regulated or exempted from
44 regulation under ch. 496, F.S., which are more
45 burdensome than the requirements authorized by state
46 law; providing applicability and construction;
47 providing an effective date.
48
49 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
50
51 Section 1. Section 496.432, Florida Statutes, is created to
52 read:
53
496.432 Safeguarding Endowment Gifts Act.—
54
(1) LEGISLATIVE FINDINGS.—Th
e
L
egislature finds that it is
55
necessary to provide legal recourse to individual charitable
56
donors when their giving restrictions are not followed by a
57
recipient charitable organization according to an endowment
58
agreement.
59
(2) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section, the term:
60
(a)
“Charitable organization” means an organization
61
organized and operated exclusively for religious, charitable,
62
scientific, literary, educational,
testing for public safety
,
or
63
other specified purpose
s
and that is tax exempt from federal
64
income tax as an entity described in
s. 501(c)(3) of the
65
Internal Revenue Code.
66
(
b
)
“
Donor” means an individual or entity
that
has made a
67
contribution of property or money to an existing endowment fund
68
or
a new endowment fund of a charitable organization pursuant to
69
the terms of an endowment agreement that may include donor
70
imposed restrictions governing the contribution.
71
(
c
)
“
Donor-imposed restriction” means a written statement
72
within an endowment agreement which specifies
restrictions or
73
conditions on
the management, investment, purpose, or use of
74
endowment funds.
75
(
d
)
“
Endowment agreement” means a written agreement between
76
a charitable organization and a donor regarding the contribution
77
made by the donor
to an existing endowment fund or a new
78
endowment fund of a charitable organization,
which
agreement
may
79
include donor-imposed restrictions.
80
(
e
)
“
Endowment fund” means
a
fund
held exclusively for a
81
charitable purpose, other than program-related assets,
or part
82
thereof
which
, under the terms of a gift instrument, is not
83
wholly expendable by the
charitable organization
on a current
84
basis. The term does not include assets that
a charitable
85
organization
designates as an endowment fund for its own use.
86
(
f
)
“
Gift instrument” means a record or records, including
87
a charitable solicitation,
under which property is granted to,
88
transferred to, or held by a
charitable organization
as
a fund
89
held exclusively by a charitable purpose, other than program
90
related assets.
91
(
g
)
“
Legal representative” means the
administrator or
92
personal representative
of a person’s estate
,
or a person
93
designated in an endowment agreement, whether or not born at the
94
time of such designation, to act in place of a party to the
95
agreement for all matters expressed in the agreement and all of
96
the actions it contemplates, including
,
but not limited to
,
97
interpreting, performing, and enforcing the agreement and
98
defending its validity.
99
(
h
)
“
Property” means real property,
tangible or intangible
100
personal property
,
or any other asset.
101
(3) PROTECTIONS AFFORDED.—
102
(a) Except where specifically required or authorized by
103
federal or state law, a charitable organization that accepts a
104
contribution pursuant to a written donor-imposed restriction may
105
not violate the terms of that restriction.
106
(b) If a charitable organization violates a donor-imposed
107
restriction contained in an endowment agreement, the donor, or
108
the donor’s legal representative, 90 days after notifying the
109
charitable organization of the breach,
may file a complaint
110
within
5
years after discovery for breach of such agreement.
The
111
complaint may be filed in
the circuit
court where a charitable
112
organization
’s
principal office
is or was last located or, if
113
none, where its registered office is or was last located.
The
114
complaint may be filed regardless
of whether
the
endowment
115
agreement expressly reserves a right to sue or enforce
the
116
agreement, unless other language in the endowment agreement
117
expressly waives this right. The complaint may
not seek a
118
judgment awarding damages to the
donor or donor representative,
119
but it may seek a refund of all or a portion of the donated
120
funds if the donor expressly reserved a right to a refund in the
121
endowment agreement
.
122
(c) If a charitable organization
determines in accordance
123
with its internal policies that it
is unable to fulfill a term
124
in the endowment agreement, the charitable organization must
125
notify the donor, or the donor’s legal representative, within
126
120
days
after such determination that it is unable to fulfill
127
the terms
and
must offer
an alternative solution that closely
128
matches the initial term in the endowment agreement
, unless
129
other language in the endowment agreement limits this
130
requirement
.
131
(d) A charitable organization may obtain a judicial
132
declaration of the rights and duties
expressed in an endowment
133
agreement
containing
donor-imposed restrictions
as to all of the
134
actions the endowment agreement contemplates, including, but not
135
limited to, the interpretation, performance, or enforcement of
136
the agreement, and a determination of its validity. The
137
charitable organization
may
seek a judicial declaration in any
138
suit brought under this section
, or by filing a complaint
.
139
(e) If the court determines that a charitable organization
140
violated a donor-imposed restriction in an endowment agreement,
141
the court may order one or more remedies consistent with the
142
charitable purposes expressed in the endowment agreement. The
143
court may not order the return of donated funds to the donor or
144
the donor’s legal representative
unless a right to a refund is
145
expressly reserved by the donor in the endowment agreement
.
146
(f) This act does not affect the authority of the Attorney
147
General to enforce any restriction in an endowment agreement;
148
limit the application of the judicial power of cy pres; or alter
149
the right of
a charitable organization
to modify a restriction
150
on the management, investment, purpose, or use of an endowment
151
fund in a manner
expressly
permitted by the
donor in the
152
endowment agreement
or
in a manner permitted
by the Florida
153
Uniform Prudent Management of Institutional Funds Act created in
154
s. 617.2104.
155
(4) SEVERABILITY.—If any provision of this section or its
156
application to any person or c
ircumstance is held invalid, the
157
invalidity does not affect other provisions or applications of
158
the section
which can be given effect
without the invalid
159
provision or application, and to this end the provisions of this
160
section are declared severable
.
161 Section 2. Section 496.433, Florida Statutes, is created to
162 read:
163
496.433
Charity Protection Act
.—
164
(1) LEGISLATIVE FINDINGS.—The Legislature finds that it is
165
necessary to minimize burdens on the charitable sector and to
166
create a grantmaking environment centered on effectiveness and
167
fiscal impact on charitable organizations.
168
(2) PROTECTIONS AFFORDED.—
169
(a) Except where specifically required or authorized by
170
federal law, a state agency or state official may not impose any
171
annual filing or reporting requirements on an organization
172
regulated or specifically exempted from regulation under this
173
chapter which are more burdensome than the requirements
174
authorized by Florida law.
175
(b) This subsection does not apply to state grants or
176
contracts or to fraud investigations.
177
(c) This subsection does not restrict enforcement actions
178
against specific nonprofit organizations.
179 Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2026.