Cite as: 538 U. S. 600 (2003)
Opinion of the Court
raising, salaries, and overhead," Schaumburg submitted, "is not a charitable, but a commercial, for-profit enterprise"; "to permit [such an organization] to represent itself as a charity," the village urged, "is fraudulent." Id., at 636.
The Court agreed with Schaumburg that fraud prevention ranks as "a substantial governmental interes[t]," ibid., but concluded that "the 75-percent requirement" promoted that interest "only peripherally." Ibid. Spending "more than 25 percent of [an organization's] receipts on fundraising, salaries, and overhead," the Court explained, does not reliably indicate that the enterprise is "commercial" rather than "charitable." Ibid. Such spending might be altogether appropriate, Schaumburg noted, for a charitable organization "primarily engaged in research, advocacy, or public education [that uses its] own paid staff to carry out these functions as well as to solicit financial support." Id., at 636-637. "The Village's legitimate interest in preventing fraud," the Court stated, "can be better served by measures less intrusive than a direct prohibition on solicitation," id., at 637: "Fraudulent misrepresentations can be prohibited and the penal laws used to punish such conduct directly," ibid.
Four years later, in Munson, the Court invalidated a Maryland law that prohibited charitable organizations from soliciting if they paid or agreed to pay as expenses more than 25 percent of the amount raised. Unlike the inflexible ordinance in Schaumburg, the Maryland law authorized a waiver of the 25 percent limitation "where [it] would effectively prevent the charitable organization from raising contributions." 467 U. S., at 950-951, n. 2. The Court held that the waiver provision did not save the statute. Id., at 962. "[No] reaso[n] other than financial necessity warrant[ed] a waiver," Munson observed. Id., at 963. The statute provided no shelter for a charity that incurred high solicitation costs because it chose to disseminate information as part of its fundraising. Ibid. Nor did it shield a charity
613
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