California cites charity over gifts‐in‐kind valuations, financial reporting

In a case that highlights the grey area of valuing in‐kind donations to charity, the California Attorney General's Office has issued a cease‐and‐desist notice to the New York–based Catholic Medical Mission Board that would stop the organization from fundraising in California. At issue, the state said, are misrepresented revenue figures and spending totals that give the illusion that the CMMB had a lower overhead expense ratio than it did—mainly because of how it valued in‐kind donations it received from pharmaceutical companies.