AN ACT to protect the privacy of charitable donors.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

SECTION 1.  G.S. 55A‑16‑05 reads as rewritten:

§ 55A‑16‑05.  Limitations on use of membership list.

(a)        Without consent of the board of directors, a membership list or any part thereof shall not be obtained or used by any person for any purpose unrelated to a member's interest as a member. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, and without the consent of the board, a membership list or any part thereof shall not be:be used for any of the following:

(1)        Used to To solicit money or property unless such money or property will be used solely to solicit the votes of the members in an election to be held by the corporation;corporation.

(2)        Used for For any commercial purpose; orpurpose.

(3)        Sold to For sale to or purchased purchase by any person.

(b)        The identity of any person donating monies or other tangible goods to the nonprofit corporation shall not be disclosed by the nonprofit corporation if the person has notified the nonprofit corporation, in writing prior to or at the time of the donation, not to disclose the person's identity. This subsection shall not apply to disclosures required by State or federal law, criminal investigations, or orders of the court.

(c)        The court, in an action brought under subsection (b) of this section, may award reasonable attorneys' fees to the prevailing party.

SECTION 2.  G.S. 132‑1.1 reads as rewritten:

§ 132‑1.1.  Confidential communications by legal counsel to public board or agency; State tax information; public enterprise billing information; Address Confidentiality Program and information.

…

(i)         Nonprofit Donor Information. – Except as specifically required by State or federal law, criminal investigations, orders of the court, or as authorized by the person donating monies or other tangible goods, the identity of any person donating monies or other tangible goods to a nonprofit corporation is confidential. The court, in an action brought under this subsection, may award reasonable attorneys' fees to the prevailing party.

SECTION 3.(a)  G.S. 55A‑16‑24 is amended by adding a new subsection to read:

(c)      G.S. 132‑1.1(i) shall apply to any attachments or other information submitted in association with the Internal Revenue Service Form 990 or Form 990‑EZ required under subsection (a) of this section that identifies donors.

SECTION 3.(b)  G.S. 58‑3‑6 is amended by adding a new subsection to read:

(e1)    G.S. 132‑1.1(i) shall apply to any attachments or other information submitted in association with the Internal Revenue Service Form 990 or Form 990‑EZ required under subsection (c) of this section that identifies donors.

SECTION 3.(c)  G.S. 131E‑214.14 is amended by adding a new subsection to read:

(c)      Donor Information. – G.S. 132‑1.1(i) shall apply to any attachments or other information submitted in association with the Internal Revenue Service Form 990 or Form 990‑EZ required under subsection (a) of this section that identifies donors.

SECTION 3.(d)  G.S. 131F‑6 is amended by adding a new subsection to read:

(c)      Donor Information. – G.S. 132‑1.1(i) shall apply to any attachments or other information submitted in association with the Internal Revenue Service Form 990 or Form 990‑EZ required under subsection (a) of this section that identifies donors.

SECTION 4.  G.S. 163‑278.5 reads as rewritten:

§ 163‑278.5.  Scope of Article; severability.

(a)        The provisions of this Article apply to primaries and elections for North Carolina offices and to North Carolina referenda and do not apply to primaries and elections for federal offices or offices in other States or to non‑North Carolina referenda. Any provision in this Article that regulates a non‑North Carolina entity does so only to the extent that the entity's actions affect elections for North Carolina offices or North Carolina referenda.

(b)        The provisions of this Article are severable. If any provision is held invalid by a court of competent jurisdiction, the invalidity does not affect other provisions of the Article that can be given effect without the invalid provision.

(c)        This section applies to Articles and Article 22M of the General Statutes this Chapter to the same extent that it applies to this Article.

(d)       G.S. 132‑1.1(i) shall not apply to any disclosure of donor information required by this Article or Article 22M of this Chapter.

SECTION 5.(a)  G.S. 138A‑34 reads as rewritten:

§ 138A‑34.  Use of information for private gain.

(a)        A public servant or legislative employee shall not use or disclose nonpublic information gained in the course of, or by reason of, the public servant's or legislative employee's official responsibilities in a way that would affect a personal financial interest of the public servant or legislative employee, a member of the public servant's or legislative employee's extended family, or a person or governmental unit with whom or business with which the public servant or legislative employee is associated.

(b)        A public servant or legislative employee shall not improperly use or improperly disclose any confidential information.

(c)        No public servant shall use or disclose in any way confidential information gained in the course of the public servant's official activities or by reason of the public servant's official position in violation of G.S. 132‑1.1(i).

SECTION 5.(b)  G.S. 120‑87 is amended by adding a new subsection to read:

(c)      No legislator shall use or disclose in any way confidential information gained in the course of the legislator's official activities or by reason of the legislator's official position in violation of G.S. 132‑1.1(i).

SECTION 5.(c)  G.S. 14‑234.1 is amended by adding a new subsection to read:

(a1)    It is unlawful for any officer or employee of the State or an officer or employee of any of its political subdivisions to use or disclose in any way confidential information gained in the course of their official capacity in violation of G.S. 132‑1.1(i).

SECTION 5.(d)  G.S. 14‑234.3 is amended by adding a new subsection to read:

(c1)    It is unlawful for any public official to use or disclose in any way confidential information gained in the course of their official capacity in violation of G.S. 132‑1.1(i).

SECTION 5.(e)  This section becomes effective October 1, 2023, and applies to offenses committed on or after that date.

SECTION 6.  Except as otherwise provided, this act becomes effective October 1, 2023.