is the Department of Public Officers Association a real charity?

Question

we received a phone call asking for donations and we were like ok we'll send you a check and they sent us the bill saying that although they are a charity organization that benefits texas officers our contribution would not be tax deductible. how come?

ps Why did they call us if we're on the do not call registry?

Answer 1

These guys have been around for a long time. They are a bunch of telemarketers sitting in a room making calls. They say the money goes to help Texas peace Officers and their families. Trust me it doesn't. I'm a retired Texas Peace Officer and my husband is STILL an officer and even we get these scam calls. Just hang up on them and tell them no thanks. Also you may want to double check you DNC listing. Some times it can take months for the list to update and most places dont access it like they should.

Answer 2

Charities do not have to abide by the Do Not Call Registry. That is the one exception to the DNC Law.

However, you can request that a charity stop calling your number anyway, and they must abide by your request, or they can be charged with making harassing phone calls.

There is an organization in Texas called DPSOA..."Department of Public Safety Officers Association". You're not under any obligation to donate to them, but they are supposed to provide services to families of Texas Highway Patrol Officers. Whether they actually do or not, I couldn't tell you for sure.

Alot of folks think that if they have the DPSOA sticker on the rear of their car that they'll get "special" treatment by the police...I can assure you, you'll get no different treatment than anyone else on the street. So, don't even donate for that reason.

Answer 3

Not everyone subscribes to the Do Not Call Registry AND charities and political organizations can call even when you're on it.

The call you got was bogus--even if the organization exists. These telemarketing fundraisers take a HUGE percentage of anything they collect. NEVER give info to a telemarketer. IF you want to donate to Texas law enforcement of any sort, YOU look up a suitable charity and send them a check. It WILL be tax deductible as well. If you can't find such a charity, call a reference librarian for the info.

Don't let these thieves (telemarketers for ANYTHING) make you feel bad.

BTW, these folks ARE thieves:
"Uncharitable giving
Telemarketers take huge cuts
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By Michael Gormley
Associated Press

ALBANY, N.Y. -- Diana Mey remembers the telemarketing call for a charity that pushed her "over the edge."
"I remember getting a hard sell," said the mother of three from Wheeling, W.Va. "A telemarketer told me, C'mon, can't you spare $20? How about $10? These people are really counting on you."'

So was the telemarketer's professional fund-raising company, which would have netted $16 of a $20 donation.

In the competition for Americans' disposable income, charities including police benevolent associations, veterans' groups and those combatting diseases often find it best to hire professional fund-raisers. Despite years of negative reports, media stories detailing the fraction of funds that actually go to a charity and national warnings from consumer advocates, little has changed in the decade since the practice became more widespread, state officials said.

In New York last year, 592 charity campaigns used professional fund-raisers to raise $187 million, of which one-third was kept by the nonprofit groups, according to the annual "Pennies for Charity" report released by New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer.

"We don't expect 100 percent to go to the charity, but we would hope that over time it would be more than the 33 percent we're seeing," Spitzer said."
http://www.cincypost.com/2005/01/25/tele012505.html

They are not even giving one-third to the charity--that is THEFT, pure and simple.

Answer 4

There is an exception to the do not call registry for charitable organizations. They are exempt from the rules. However, you may individually opt out of each when they do call. So, when a charity calls asking for money, and if you are not interested, simply say, in no uncertain terms, "remove my name and phone number from your call list."

I'm not sure why it would not be tax deductible, other than it might be a charity that operates exclusively in Texas and has not organized itself as exempt under one of the internal revenue code section 501(c) subchapters (501(c)(3) being most common, especially for charities). They may be recognized as a charity in Texas, by Texas, but not on the federal level. But I really don't know outside of that.

Answer 5

Can I call you and ask for a donation too? If you want to donate money then do it in church or give to the United Way. You give any money out because of a phone call and you are going to keep phone calls in the future.

Answer 6

There is only one result in a Google search, which is very suspect to me. In contrast, a search for my name in quotes gets 16,000 results, and I'm not even a "charity".

Answer 7

WOW I KNOW.. i want to know to ..my bf donated like 50 dollars to them because he was scared.I just did some research and it looks legit. I found some it's name on websites that ended with .edu