Sheriff Waybourn wants your money to fight crime. But he’s shilling for a 1-star charity
Sheriff Bill Waybourn wants us to give him $25 to “help fight crime in TEXAS!”
But his mass-mailed letter the other day actually raises money for his own professional association.
That would be the Sheriffs’ Association of Texas — rated one-star, “Poor,” the worst rating — by New Jersey-based Charity Navigator.
Waybourn is on the board.
His appeal says your gifts will “protect lives and property.”
But instead, your $25 actually buys a token “membership” as a donor to the nonprofit Austin-based career association for Texas sheriffs and peace officers.
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Now, there is no question Texas’ sheriffs and law officers need the kind of advocacy and training they get from a professional association, particularly in an age when every police call seems to involve either a mental patient or somebody with a gun.
Their convention here July 23-26 will be the largest peace officers’ gathering in Texas.
But sheriffs make a lot of money. Waybourn earns $207,487 in salary and car expenses.
You’d think they could finance their own professional association without relying on heavy-handed fundraising or sending manipulative letters.
Waybourn and sheriffs across Texas are playing on our emotions to beg donations from a trusting public.
Our gifts pay for more than half their organization’s budget, according to the latest published tax return.
The letters use tough-on-crime buzzwords to evoke sympathy and extract dollars.
They complain about “crooks, thieves, rapists, drug pushers and murderers” and ask for $25 to fight crime and support programs on “child identification, family violence and sexual assaults” and the “dangers of drugs.”
Who wouldn’t donate for that?
But that’s not where most of the money goes.
The charity flunked its rating because it really spends more than $1 of every $4 on raising more money, exceeding the 15% standard for good ratings.
That includes the cost of the letters and the magazine, car window decal and token “membership card” you get for a donation.
The Sheriffs’ Association also rated low for “accountability and transparency.”
When I called the headquarters in Austin last week, director Steve M. Westbrook was transparent about discussing the low charity rating.
As a 501(c)3 professional association, “we really don’t fit the rating system,” Westbrook said.
The rating appears to be based on tax returns through 2019. Some of the concerns have been fixed, he said.
(The Charity Navigator website acknowledges: “The IRS is significantly delayed in processing nonprofits’ Forms 990. As a result, the Financial and Accountability & Transparency score for Sheriffs’ Association of Texas may be outdated and the overall rating may not be representative of their current operations.”)
Westbrook gave more specific details than Waybourn’s letter.
The $25 gifts help pay for career training for officers and deputies, for legal updates and for education, including on topics like those emotional flashpoints listed.
Part of the money also helps pay for the group’s annual convention, this year at the Fort Worth Convention Center and Omni Fort Worth hotel.
The Sheriffs’ Association has 3,000 dues-paying peace officer members, he said.
And 20,000 donors.
“It’s strictly voluntary,” he said.
“If you want to help, send in $25.”
That’d make a more honest letter.
