If you solicit funds for charitable purposes without being registered you will violate the consumer fraud provisions contained in Missouri’s Merchandising Practices Act, Chapter 407, RSMo. In short, the Missouri Attorney General’s power to pursue fraud applies to failure to register, the same as any scam, fraud, swindle, etc.
The penalties can be severe since each solicitation constitutes a separate violation of Missouri law. And under Missouri each individual violation can be punished by a civil penalty of $1,000, a ban on solicitation in Missouri, restitution, and other relief. Since the penalties can be harsh we strongly encourage everyone to err on the side of registering.