Iowans give $3 million to sheriffs’ group, but charities see only a third of that

Iowans have donated more than $3 million in recent years to a group of Iowa sheriffs, but only $1 million of that has been spent on the stated purpose of helping children and educating law enforcement personnel.

In fact, more than 60% of Iowans’ donations to the sheriffs in 2022 were consumed by the expenses of a for-profit marketing company.

For years, the Iowa State Sheriffs and Deputies Association Institute, which is a nonprofit, tax-exempt organization with a mission of sending underprivileged children to camp and educating law enforcement personnel, has raised money in Iowa through direct-mail solicitations.

Iowans who are targeted by the campaign are typically sent a letter on the letterhead from their own county sheriff, seeking contributions to provide “critical support and training” for law enforcement, to help send underprivileged children to camp and to provide support for the Iowa Special Olympics.

Some of the letters offer donors a set of “credentials” in return for a donation: a membership card for the donor’s wallet, a window decal and a bumper sticker.

Such items have been used by various police associations for decades as fundraising incentives, but they also have generated controversy. Because they are items that might be displayed on or in a vehicle during a traffic stop, some have argued they imply that donors can expect, if not receive, favorable treatment when pulled over.

Earlier this year, the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office promoted the campaign on its Facebook page, asking citizens to donate and play “an active role in helping make our community a safer place by providing resources and services to the sheriffs of Iowa.”

According to the institute’s most recently disclosed tax returns, the sheriffs’ hired fundraising company, Altus Marketing, collected $471,987 in by sending out such direct-mail solicitations in 2022.

Of the $471,987 that was raised, Altus Marketing kept $292,832, and the sheriffs’ organization received $179,155, according to the tax records.

The sheriffs then spent $108,375 sending children to a YMCA camp, donated $10,000 to the Special Olympics, and contributed $4,000 to an Iowa State Sheriffs’ Association museum.

That would suggest the sheriffs’ total charitable expenses that year were $122,375. As in years past, one of the organization’s biggest annual expenses is tied to meetings and conventions, which accounted for $185,424 in spending during 2022.

Sgt. Shawn Ireland of the Linn County Sheriff’s Office is the organization’s current president and says the Iowa State Sheriffs and Deputies Association Institute has struggled with the expense of fundraising.

“It is expensive to have a fundraiser,” he said. “The funds that we get do go to good things, but it takes money to make money and it’s hard to run a program like that by ourselves because we’re full-time sheriffs and deputies. So we hire a company that does the fundraising for us. And we never solicit by phone. We always send out those letters.”

The 2022 spending by the Iowa State Sheriffs and Deputies Association Institute is similar to what the group has reported to the Internal Revenue Service in previous years.

Between 2016 and 2022, only $1,006,153 — or 33% of the $3,080,928 Iowans donated in that time — was used for the stated purpose of training officers and helping underprivileged children.

Ireland said that while it’s not ideal to spend so much with a professional fundraising company, the sheriffs have yet to find a better way to raise money.

“If there’s a better way to raise money or help do those things, we would be all ears, if somebody has a better solution for us,” he said. “Of course, we would like to have a better outcome, we work to improve our processes always, but currently it just seems like this is the best way for us to do that kind of business right now.”