The boiler room caller was luckier than he deserved to be.
He was, he said, raising funds for the United States Deputy Sheriffs’ Association to support law enforcement officers. He said thanks for last year’s donation, and hoped for the same amount or more this year.
He interrupted dinner time at Paul Pastor’s home. Pierce County Sheriff Paul Pastor’s home.
Pastor restrained a righteous urge to rain verbal brimstone on the caller.
Instead, he said, “No, thank you,” hung up, and steamed like a bowl of garden-fresh broccoli.
After dinner, he sat down at his computer, did a bit of research and organized his outrage.
USDSA, he learned, is based in Houston, where it operates out of the same address as its publication, The Deputy Sheriff Magazine, and The United States Municipal Police Association.
Pastor went to its Web site: www.usdsa.org.
He took a look at the director, Stephen “Steve” R. Van Dyke, and the mission statement.
He clicked on “annual report,” but it wasn’t there.
That left “our donations.”
Nowhere does that page provide the total number of vests, camcorders, shotguns, refurbished radar units and the like that USDSA has distributed to sheriff’s departments since its incorporation as a nonprofit in 1995. The photos of equipment, with recipients, have no dates indicating when they were given.
If you want numbers, Charity Navigator is a more useful source.
The site, www.charitynavigator.org, rates the efficiency of nonprofits, including two Northwest favorites.
Emergency Food Network in Lakewood earned four stars. Of its $11.47 million revenue in fiscal year 2007, it spent 96.3 percent on collecting and distributing goods to food banks. It spent 2.3 percent on administration, and 1.3 percent on fundraising. David Ottey, its president at the time, earned $73,825.
World Vision also rated four stars, with 86.7 percent of its $1.126 billion budget going to direct services. Administrative expenses account for 4.6 percent, and fundraising costs 8.5 percent. Its president, Richard Stearns, earned $376,799 for managing the worldwide charity.
United States Deputy Sheriffs’ Association earned zero stars for the $5.97 million Charity Navigator shows it reported in 2007. It spent 61.2 percent of that on fundraising, mainly through those boiler room call centers. It plopped another 11.1 percent into administrative expenses. Its executive director and founder, Steve Van Dyke, got paid $171,300. His wife, finance director Judy Van Dyke, got $88,362, for a couple’s total of $259,662. They spent only $1.64 million, or 27.5 percent, on their programs, according to Charity Navigator.
Even that measly percentage might be stretching it.
The Texas Office of Attorney General is investigating the operation, and Jeremy Rogalski, a “news defender” with television station KHOU, is on the case, and posted tax documents on the station’s Web site.
The group’s 2007 nonprofit income tax return shows that USDSA gave away only $167,127 worth of equipment and training to agencies. That’s less than Van Dyke’s salary.
Of that, $17,250 was in “donations to families of slain officers.”
“Funds donated to law enforcement organizations” amounted to $13,500.
It spent $31,337 on equipment given to law enforcement agencies.
The total so far: $62,087.
Then there’s $105,040 in training costs. USDSA puts on those sessions with trainer Mike Willis and David Hinners, independent contractors, who travel to law enforcement agencies and provide the sessions free of charge.
Hinners is relatively new to the company. Van Dyke used to accompany Willis on the training missions.
The records show USDSA also spent $1.47 million on The Deputy Sheriff Magazine, for which it also sells ads.
By contrast, it spent $3.30 million on fundraising, mostly telemarketing.
Even Stephen Van Dyke admits that’s a lousy percentage, but, he said, they would not be able to raise money without those calls.
“I’m not in it for the percentages. I’m in it for the help we do,” he said. “The consequences of doing (fundraising calls) in-house would be catastrophic. We outsource it, and we have been getting money from them every week. We’ve helped over 700 departments and put on over 200 training seminars, all free of charge to deputies. We don’t charge deputies anything.”
Still, it’s a bad deal for donors who think their money is doing more good than it actually does.
And those calls may be in violation of a 2000 settlement with the Texas attorney general’s office to which Rogalski referred. USDSA agreed then not to use “any language suggesting or implying the consumer has previously made a donation.”
Pastor, as you might guess, would not have given to USDSA in the past. Yet they told him he had.
“They thank you for contributing last year and tell you they hope you’ll give the same amount this year,” he said.
There’s a creepy threat embedded in that: The caller knows your name and address. The caller is from “law enforcement,” and is keeping track of your “support.”
The implication, Pastor said, is, “Gee, if I don’t contribute, maybe the deputies will look askance at me.”
That undermines his department’s credibility, he said. It angers and disgusts him.
The Pierce County Sheriff’s Department has never applied for training or equipment from this outfit. Nor will it.
“We have nothing to do with these people,” he said.
Nor should you. Unless you want to improve Steve and Judy Van Dyke’s standard of living, demand to be put on USDSA’s do not call list.
If they call you again, document it and report them.
When the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department needs help, Pastor said, it turns to trustworthy colleagues and supporters.
It does not make cold calls at dinner time.
Kathleen Merryman: 253-597-8677
kathleen.merryman@thenewstribune.com
RECOMMENDED CHARITIES
If you want to contribute to or volunteer with groups that benefit law enforcement, Pierce County Sheriff Paul Pastor recommends these:
• Behind the Badge Foundation, PO Box 2047, Issaquah, WA 98027. Assists family and colleagues of officers killed or disabled in the line of duty.
• Tacoma-Pierce County Chaplaincy, 6312 19th St. W., Suite A, University Place, WA 98466.
• Tacoma/Pierce County Crime Stoppers, 930 Tacoma Ave. S., Tacoma, WA 98402.
• Washington State Police Canine Association, 4227 S. Meridian, Puyallup, WA 98373.
• Pierce County Sheriff’s Cadet Program (volunteers), 271 John Bananola Way, Puyallup, WA 98374.
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