I am doing a fund raising for the victims of a typhoon in the Philippines. My husband was born and raised in one of the many areas devastated by the typhoon. A lot of my friends willing to donate cash. Do I need to register in the state of Illinois. I'm only doing this for 1 week. What other legalities do I need to know or follow. I don't want to be in trouble. Thank you.

Are you just doing this as a person, then you have issues that none of the money is tax deductable, you may have to account for the money and need to keep it in separate bank accounts than any personal money.

Are you raising the money for some tax exempt charity and merely working on their behalf? If so you merely have to account for the money given and given to the charity.

If you are not working for a specific charity, do you have a written plan on what is going to happen to the money raised.