Is it just me, or do “Sheriffs’ Associations” need their annual donations every couple of weeks? I made the mistake of picking up the phone the other night and got hit by one of these groups. I offered to look at their printed material, but of course the caller pressed me for a “commitment.” The envelope came today, from the United States Deputy Sheriffs’ Association, with a return address in Billings. Only they’re really based in Texas, and use post-office boxes to solicit in various states. They are a genuine 501(c)(3) charitable organization, and seem to do some actual good. However, as near as I can tell, they only use about one-seventh of their donations for actual projects—the rest is overhead and payment to their professional telemarketing firm. Good charitable giving percentages start at about 35%. The group’s director sports the requisite law enforcement facial hair, but I can’t tell from his bio if he is or ever has been an actual deputy sheriff. He seems to travel quite a bit to get his picture taken with other deputies, though.

Long story short, their envelope and “get-out-of-speeding-ticket” window decal went in the trash, and the ten bucks they wanted will likely go to fund a Caller ID subscription. I’d rather give to charities I know for sure are worthwhile. And there are other, less scrupulous groups to beware of. The similarly-named American Deputy Sheriff’s Association could only be called a charity, well…charitably. There may be others out there as well; if they spent as much time fighting crime as they do cadging for change, you wouldn’t be able to so much as jaywalk. If you’d like to donate to local law enforcement, call them directly and ask how. As for the telemarketing groups, well…there oughtta be a law.