Introduction:
This blog is about Alexandra Grant and the alleged non-profit charity she runs under the name grantLOVE Project (aka grantLOVE) through Alexandra Grant LLC. It has come to my attention that Alexandra Grant is grossly misrepresenting her philanthropic grantLOVE Project. Indications of this will be presented in this blog.
To the best of my understanding, she is operating an illegitimate charity and appears to be scamming the public on a global scale through the grantLOVE Project website, Instagram, Facebook, PR articles, personal interviews, her personal website (Alexandra Grant) and more.
These are the potential infractions as I see them:
- Operating an unregistered charity;
- Failing to submit regulatory filings with the Registry of Charitable Trusts;
- Misappropriation of funds;
- Self-dealing;
- False, deceptive and misleading advertising;
- Operating like a for-profit Entity;
- Representing that profits will be used for a charitable purpose when that is not true;
- Diverting charitable funds from their advertised beneficiaries;
- Fundraising for charities that do not fall under the purview of the grantLOVE Project mission statement;
- Lack of transparency.
All of these, and more, will be discussed in my blog. But firstly, I feel I must give an overview of grantLOVE Project and what is expected of a non-profit LLC charity. I will attempt to explain this in this first post. It's not the most engrossing read, but it is essential in order to explain how grantLOVE Project is operating outside of the rules and regulations stipulated by the Attorney General for every person or entity raising and/or holding charitable assets within the State of California.
About grantLOVE Project
Symbol/Brand:
Owner/Founder/Manager: Alexandra Grant
Founded : 2008
Years active: 2008 - present
Business Address: 1610 W 7th Street #504
Los Angeles, CA 90017
Mailing Address: 1001 Freemont ave. PO Box 3424,
South Pasadena, CA 91030
Website: https://www.grantlove.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/grantloveproject/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/grantloveproject/
Charitable Business Type: LLC / Charitable Trustee
**
Advertises as a non-profit but operates like a for-profit
Alexandra Grant, LLC:
DBA or Fictitious Business Name: grantLOVE & grantLOVE Project
** Filed
with LA County Clerk December 16, 2020 - first filing
http://rrcc.lacounty.gov/CLERK/FBN_Results.cfm
https://issuu.com/timespub/docs/12.24.20-20pages
Mission Statement:
"The grantLOVE project is an artist-owned
and operated project that produces and sells original artworks and editions to
benefit artists and arts non-profits.
Created by Los Angeles artist Alexandra Grant in 2008, grantLOVE is a symbol of
artist philanthropy. Alexandra was inspired by the work of Paul Newman and the
Newman’s Own brand as a form of lateral philanthropy, where a company sells
products in order to generate profits to give to charity. To date, the sale of
grantLOVE products and Alexandra’s artwork (prints, sculpture, etc.), necklaces
and rings have raised funds to support multiple Los Angeles art projects and
charities."
Other Entity Owned and Managed by Alexandra Grant: X Artists' Books, LLC (book publishing company)
** Shares the same business and mailing address as grantLOVE Project (LLC)
Other Entity That Shares the Same Business Address as grantLOVE Project (LLC): Marcia Grant LLC (residential real estate)
** owned and operated by Marcia Grant, mother of Alexandra Grant. Previously known as Orange Grove Investments INC.
Other Individual That Shares the Same Business Address as grantLOVE Project (LLC): Alexandra Grant (artist)
** Alexandra Grant uses this space as her art studio for her independent career as an artist (separate from grantLOVE Project)
FOUR BUSINESSES OPERATE OUT OF THE SAME ADDRESS!!!
More about grantLOVE Project (LLC):
Registered with the California Attorney General's Registry of Charitable Trusts: No
Registered with the IRS: No
Federal Employer
Identification Number (FEIN): Unknown
Employer Identification Number (EIN): Unknown
Form 990 filed: None
Tax Exempt Status: Not Exempt
Registered with the Franchise Tax Board: Yes, with Alexandra Grant, LLC
Pertinent Information and Rules Regarding Forming and Operating Charities in the State of California
** All the information quoted and screen captured in this section come from the Office of the Attorney General's website https://oag.ca.gov/charities
"All California public benefit corporations, and other persons or entities holding assets in trust for charitable purposes in California, must register with the Attorney General’s Registry of Charitable Trusts within 30 days of first receiving the assets."
Alexandra Grant, Alexandra Grant LLC, grantLOVE Project and grantLOVE are NOT REGISTERED with the Attorney General's Registry of Charitable Trusts in any way. Not as a charity, nor a commercial coventurer. They are delinquent on this for the past 12 years.
https://oag.ca.gov/charities/pf/cc
https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?sectionNum=12599.2.&lawCode=GOV
California
Attorney General's Rules Regarding LLC Charities:
"Although charities may be formed as limited liability companies or limited partnerships, exercise caution and consult with legal counsel before using these legal forms. To the extent a limited liability company or limited partnership accepts property to be used for charitable purposes, these entities are also considered charitable trustees and are required to register and report to the Attorney General’s Registry of Charitable Trusts."
Translation: LLC Charities must follow the same rules as Charitable Trustees. They are required to register and report (disclose financials) to the Attorney General's Registry of Charitable Trusts.
California Attorney
General's Rules Regarding Charitable Trustees:
"In California, any individual or organization that solicits charitable funds is considered a “charitable trustee” or “trustee for charitable purpose,” and is accountable for such funds."
"All charitable trustees and fundraising professionals are required to register and file annual financial disclosure reports with the Registry."
Again, an LLC charity is considered a Charitable Trustee. They must file and report to the Registry, regardless of whether they qualify for tax-exemption (see below).
https://oag.ca.gov/charities/content/new_990
What is interesting to me is that the value of your assets are also taken into account. If your charitable fundraising was negligible, or even nonexistent, in a given year, you would still have to declare the value of your charitable assets. For grantLOVE Project, this would entail declaring the value of all the merchandise she has for sale on her website, namely the hoodies, caps, neon signs, jewelry, etc. All of her inventory would need to be taken into account.
Also, as of 2020, any charity with a gross revenue under $50,000.00 must file a new form called a CT-TR-1.
What this all boils down to is, that every charitable entity, operating in the State of California MUST register and file with the Registry regardless of gross revenue or tax-exemption status. There is no escaping this. At minimum, Form RRF-1 (Annual Renewal Form) must be filed and the fee paid YEARLY.
The completed forms and filings submitted to the Attorney General are made available for public viewing on their website. Anyone and everyone has a right to view these. This is clearly stated on every one of their forms.
There are no filings to be found for grantLOVE Project. There are no registrations to be found either. grantLOVE Project has been conducting their "charitable" business for 12 years and has yet to register or make any filings with the State Registry (or 990 Forms with the IRS for that matter) during this period.
The Attorney General's also requires that you get a FEIN or EIN regardless of whether or not you intend to hire employees.
https://oag.ca.gov/sites/all/files/agweb/pdfs/charities/publications/guide_for_charities.pdf
These numbers would be available to the public if a charity were properly registered with either the IRS and/or the California Attorney General's Registry of Charitable Trusts. A FEIN or EIN cannot be located for grantLOVE Project as they are not registered.
Why is all of this Important?
"The Attorney General regulates charities and the professional fundraisers who solicit on their behalf. The purpose of this oversight is to protect charitable assets for their intended use and ensure that the charitable donations contributed by Californians are not misapplied and squandered through fraud or other means."
In other words, it's to protect the consumers from getting SCAMMED and the beneficiaries from getting SWINDLED by those who PRETEND to be doing charitable work by just and honorable means.
Running a charity, being a charitable fundraiser requires INTEGRITY and a STRONG CODE OF ETHICS. You have an OBLIGATION, to the people who are ENTRUSTING YOU with these funds and assets, in ensuring that these go to the individuals and organizations they were intended to go to. You have a RESPONSIBILITY, to the beneficiaries, in SAFEGUARDING these funds and assets that were ENTRUSTED TO YOU, FOR THEM.
Part of this responsibility is accountability. That is where the Attorney General comes in. That is who you must account to. When someone chooses, year after year, to NOT be held accountable for the funds and assets that have been entrusted to them, it raises a GIANT RED FLAG. Maybe they have something to hide? Wouldn't you think the same thing?
Failing to do this shows a great lack of ethics and integrity. Two qualities that are prerequisites for any true philanthropic project.
JUST LIKE YOU DON'T HAVE THE RIGHT TO DRIVE WITHOUT A LICENSE; YOU DON'T HAVE THE RIGHT TO DO CHARITABLE FUNDRAISING IN CALIFORNIA WITHOUT REGISTERING AND REPORTING. IT'S REALLY THAT SIMPLE.
Conclusion:
If grantLove Project had registered and done any filings, this would be accessible on the OAG website and would be available for public viewing. The fact that this isn't the case implies they are not operating within the confines of the law. As such, I don't believe they have any rights to solicit any funds for charity by any means whatsoever. This would likely bring into question every dollar that was ever raised by grantLOVE and Alexandra Grant for the past 12 years, regardless of whether or not the funds were given to the appropriate beneficiaries.
The fines for not registering and not filing can be significant. The funds used to pay for those fines cannot come from the charitable funds or assets raised. Should grantLOVE Project ever be fined for failing to do any of these MANDATORY things, the financial responsibility of this would fall on Alexandra Grant's shoulders and would have to come from her personal funds.
Charitable entities who are not in good standing with the Registry of Charitable Trust are PROHIBITED from operating. I suspect a cease and desist order would likely be immediately issued to grantLOVE Project should this information ever come to the Attorney General's Office's attention.
Oh! and because I stumbled across this and found it amusing, I figured I should add it here. This is a slide from a presentation on the OAG's website called "Regulation of Charities By the California Attorney General". The OAG takes these infractions very seriously. NO EXCUSES!!!
https://oag.ca.gov/sites/all/files/agweb/pdfs/charities/publications/boe_presentation.pdf
What has been presented here, in this first post, is enough to warrant an investigation by the Attorney General for the State of California. Unfortunately, this is just the beginning...
Please feel free to double check my findings regarding grantLOVE Project's lack of registration, lack of FEIN or EIN and lack of filings. I have provided the links below for this purpose.
IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search
California Attorney General's Charity Registry Verification Search
State of California Franchise Tax Board Entity Search
Access to all the Registry forms can be found here:
https://oag.ca.gov/charities/forms
Access to all 990 IRS forms can be found here:
https://www.irs.gov/charities-non-profits/required-filing-form-990-series
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteYou are free to comment on my blog, but not free to make false accusations. Despite what you may think, I am not Nana Jones. All of the research and information contained within this blog was done and gathered by myself alone. All the words expressed are mine also. I do quote from various online resources (i.e. websites, blogs, articles, legislature, etc.) but I then mention the source and give the appropriate link. Anything that may resemble something that someone else may have forwarded to another individual is coincidental and not something that I would be privy to.
DeleteIt seems, from your comment, that Ms. Parker has also been looking into this charity and may have found information that I do not have. I am glad that she forwarded this information to the appropriate authorities and that they are looking into it.
Thank you
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete