Save the date for the 2026 Conference October 6-8, 2026

Hosted by the National Association of Attorneys General and the National Association of State Charity

Officials, this conference is the sole annual event at which charity regulators and nonprofit organizations

and their attorneys, accountant, fundraiser, and advisors are welcome. Meet, learn about, and discuss

issues of interest across the sector.

A wrap-up from NASCO President Beth Short. OH AGO

Shortly after the award presentation on the public day was a luncheon discussion between NASCO president Beth Short and sports broadcaster and former OSU and NBA basketball star Clark Kellogg. Kellogg discussed basketball, NIL, and the importance of volunteerism and philanthropy. He also reflected on his experience on charitable boards, including the Columbus Foundation and the board of the Ohio State University, and noted that just like good teams, boards need to share common goals and work together to accomplish their important missions.

It takes an entire village to present a NASCO conference and so many people were critical in making the gathering a success. Special thanks go to the planning committee: Lynette Santoro-Au (OH); Josh Studor (WA); Michaael Schlein (MD); Kim Wickersham (SC) Leslie Friedlander (OK); Heathe Weigler (OR); Caitlin Noble (CA); Janet Kleinfelter (TN); Tifany Colon (CT). There was also an Ohio team who worked at the conference and at the optional social events that were held in the evenings: Missy Fite, Jared Friesner, Kayla Radekin, Derek Heyman, Kim Bossman, Matt McNeill, Amy Hardberger and others.

Without the help and support of NAAG, the conference wouldn’t be possible. Todd Leatherman, who has been our lead contact for several years, retired shortly after the conference and we wished him well at the conference. Other NAAG colleagues involved in the conference include Kate Donven, Robin Goodlett and Emma Shaw.

Countless NASCO members and friends of NASCO from the sector were involved as speakers. All of their names and materials from these excellent sessions will soon be available at the NAAG website where you can access old training materials.

There were two major experimental changes this year. NASCO sought suggestions from the general public for presentations and received significant replies with ideas and more early in the planning process. We will again solicit ideas for the next conference. Additionally, there were two optional gatherings in the evening at various restaurant/bar establishments where NASCO members were invited to gather if they were interested. Those ended up being very popular and will hopefully be repeated for future gatherings. It turns out that we enjoy spending time with our colleagues.

So thank you to all who participated in the planning, as well as to those who were participants at the event – whether for the live or virtual versions.

The NASCO conference gives us a chance to come together, learn and network. We want to make this special time as meaningful as possible. Several have already volunteered to serve on the 2026 planning conference. But we are eager to hear from anyone with ideas about topics for the conference or other training opportunities that are provided. Please feel free to reach out and know that your ideas are welcome.

It has been NASCO’s practice for the last several years to release our annual report that highlights activities and cases from all of your offices. If you haven’t looked at it yet, please check it out on our web page at xxxxxx. Thank you to everyone who contributed by submitting information from your state that helps others better understand the range of activities that NASCO members are involved in. It is impressive. Special thanks to the report editors Leslie Friedlander and Hanna Rubin.

So – there is much to be thankful for and much to be excited by. Your work is important, your voice is valued and your efforts are appreciated. I can’t wait to see what happens next!

NASCO Honors its Own

At the annual NAAG/NASCO conference, October 7, 2025 in Columbus, OH, Tracy Thorleifson received the Karin Kunstler Goldman Award for a career of service.  Her work at the FTC and her support of the charitable sector illustrates excellence in the field of charity regulation and oversight. Attending the conference and honored to bestow the award named in her honor Karin Kunstler Goldman shared, “As far back as I can remember, Tracy was an honorary member of NASCO. We relied on her for guidance, leading us in multi-state actions, appropriately nudging us when we drafted, for publication, an article about the regulation of charities.  It was because of Tracy’s commitment and dedication to our common goals that we were able to engage all 50 states, the District of Columbia and the FTC in the successful litigation against Cancer Fund of America.”

While at the FTC, Tracy was a great friend to NASCO, leading numerous multistate actions against organizations engaging in fraudulent and misleading fundraising activities. Some of these actions were supported by all 50 states and also created the opportunity to provide enhanced consumer education about informed charitable giving. In a video that was shown prior to the award presentation, many people commented on how much they had learned working with Tracy on these cases and how they became better lawyers from these experiences. Other comments discussed the absolute passion Tracy has always demonstrated about protecting donors and charities from fraud.

NASCO President Beth Short, Vice President Josh Studor and Karin Kunstler Goldman made the presentation while others’ views were recorded on a card and video shared at the meeting. She was presented a commissioned glass piece resembling a flame to represent the leadership she always displayed.

About the Karin Kunstler Goldman Award for Excellence

The Karin Kunstler Goldman Award, created in 2024, recognizes excellence in the field of state charity regulation and oversight. The award, made periodically and at the discretion of the NASCO board of directors, honors select charity regulators who demonstrate many of the qualities and achievements of the award’s namesake including, but not limited to:

  • Long-term professional commitment to charity regulation

  • Success and innovation in charity regulatory practice

  • Significant contribution to the education and training of state charity regulators and the nonprofit sector, in the U.S. and internationally

  • National recognition as a leader among state charity regulators

  • Generosity of spirit and enthusiasm for the work of charity regulation and oversight

KARIN KUNSTLER-GOLDMAN RECEIVES INAUGUARAL AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE FROM NASCO

The NASCO Board of Directors is pleased to announce the creation of the

Karin Kunstler-Goldman Award for Excellence in the field of charity oversight and regulation.

The inaugural “KKG Award” was presented to its namesake, Karin Kunstler-Goldman,

on October 8, 2024, at the NAAG/NASCO Annual Charity Conference in

Baltimore, Maryland.

About Karin Kunstler-Goldman

Karin Kunstler Goldman is the Deputy Bureau Chief in the New York State Attorney General's Charities Bureau.  Karin was the 2001-2002 president of the National Association of State Charity Officials and is a founding member of the Governance Matters. 

She has served on the advisory board of New York University’s National Center on Philanthropy and the Internal Revenue Service’s Advisory Committee on Tax Exempt Entities. As a volunteer, Karin participated in training programs conducted for charity regulators throughout the country by the National State Attorneys General Program at Columbia University Law School. 

As an Eisenhower Exchange Fellow in Hungary, Karin worked with nonprofit organizations, government officials and legislative drafters in developing the law and regulations affecting Hungary’s nonprofit sector.  She has consulted with government officials in Ukraine and China on the development of statutory regulation of charitable organizations in those countries.  Karin was a guest of the People’s Republic of China at its 2007 International Symposium on Charity Legislation in China at which she was a speaker, and in 2015 she participated in workshops in China on the developing nonprofit law. 

Prior to joining the New York Attorney General's office, Karin was a Reginald Heber Smith Fellow and a staff attorney at South Brooklyn Legal Services Corporation. 

Karin attended Tougaloo Southern Christian College in Mississippi during the fall semester of the 1962 – 1963 academic year and participated Freedom Summer, the 1964 voter registration project in Mississippi. Karin and her husband, Neal, spent two years as Peace Corps volunteers in Senegal, West Africa.  Karin has a law degree from Rutgers University Law School, a BA from Connecticut College and an MA from Columbia University.

In 2024, Karin received the Vanguard Award for distinguished lifetime achievement in the nonprofit sector from the Nonprofit Organizations Committee of the American Bar Association, Business Law Section.