Tallahassee, Fla. — Today, the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS) released the following statement, attributable to a department spokesperson, regarding its investigation into a planned “Tulips & Topiaries” fundraising event that was to be held in Naples, Florida in April featuring former First Lady Melania Trump.
“In January 2022, FDACS Consumer Services Division began investigating whether the ‘Tulips & Topiaries’ event involved an entity operating in violation of Chapter 496, Florida Statutes. Following our investigation into the event in question, we have been informed that the event is no longer moving forward as planned. We have also been notified that the recipient of funds raised for the event is Generation Justice, which is a registered charity. Additionally, Whip Fundraising, which was involved with the event, had not been registered with the state and has now come into compliance as a registered professional solicitor and a professional fundraising consultant. With these developments, we consider our investigation into the event now closed.”
The Solicitation of Contributions Act requires anyone who solicits donations from people in the state of Florida to register with FDACS and renew annually. This applies to charitable organizations, sponsors, professional solicitors and professional fundraising consultants. For more information on these regulations and requirements, click here.
About the FDACS Division of Consumer Services: FDACS is Florida’s state consumer protection agency responsible for regulating charities and handling consumer complaints. Florida state law requires all charitable organizations operating in Florida or soliciting funds from Floridians to be registered with FDACS to provide transparency of financial records and allow consumers to make informed decisions on charitable contributions. To see if a charitable organization is properly registered in the state, how much the charity is spending on administration and fundraising, and how much money goes to programming, you may utilize FDACS’ Check-a-Charity tool. To lookup registered professional solicitors or professional fundraising consultants, please visit FDACS’ license lookup.
FDACS has investigated and issued fines and orders in numerous high-profile consumer cases, including issuing an administrative complaint and levying a $10,000 fine against Defending The Republic, a Texas-based organization affiliated with former President Donald Trump’s former attorney Sidney Powell, that was established as a legal fund involved in conspiracies related to the 2020 presidential election. Other FDACS actions include issuing a $345,000 fine for 171 alleged violations of the state’s telemarketing law, illegally spamming consumers to market auto warranties; joining 38 states and the federal government to shut down a massive charity scam that made over 1 billion calls to 67 million consumers; and investigating We Build The Wall, an illegally-operating charity allegedly enriching its founder, now indicted on wire fraud, money laundering, and federal tax charges.
