Where Does $100 to the International Union of Police Associations (IUPA) Go (2018)?

The International Union of Police Associations AFL-CIO (IUPA) is a non-profit, tax-exempt 501 (c) (5) – a labor union –  whose mission is to be “the voice of law enforcement officers.”   IUPA is the AFL-CIO’s main police union with an estimated 19,000 members.

According to the Form 990 (2017) covering the year beginning April 1, 2017 to March 31, 2018 submitted by IUPA to the IRS, IUPA reported $19.5 million in revenue of which only $3.3 million came from membership dues. $16.2 million came from contributions which were primarily phone solicitation fundraisers who were compensated $14.4 million, netting IUPA $1.8 million. In other words, for every $1 raised by the phone solicitation fundraisers, only 11 cents went to IUPA because the phone solicitors kept 89 cents of every $1 or $89 of every $100 raised.

IUPA reported total expenses of $19 million, of which $14.4 million was paid to fundraisers, as stated below:

• $14.4 million (74% of revenue):  Fees paid to Fundraisers
• $ 2.0  million (10% of revenue):  Salaries, Benefits, Pension, and Payroll Taxes
• $ 1.3  million (7% of revenue):  Legal, Accounting and other Fees for Services
• $ 1.2 million (6% of revenue):  Office, Occupancy, IT, Insurance, Interest, Per Capita Taxes
• $ 0.1  million (0.5% of revenue):  Travel and Conferences

Using the above information, every $100 in revenue was spent as follows:

$100:  Revenue

-$ 74:  Fees to Fundraisers

-$ 10:  Salaries, Benefits, Pension, and Payroll Taxes

-$  7:  Legal, Accounting, and other Fees for Services

-$  6:  Office,Occupancy, IT, Insurance, Interest, Per Capita Taxes

-$  1:  Travel and Conferences

-$ 98:  Total Expenses

$  2:  Excess Revenue:  To General Fund

However, it is important to point out that if $100 in revenue came from fundraisers, only $11 is provided to IUPA. Basically, IUPA is a labor union with 26 employees whose expenses total $4.6 million a year but whose membership dues only bring in $3.3 million. To make up the $1.6 million shortfall, IUPA relied on fundraisers who end up keeping most of what they raise. If you don’t want 89% of your donation to go to fundraisers, don’t respond to phone solicitations for IUPA.

IUPA has affiliate organizations whose names are used by fundraisers. These organizations operate out of the same business address in Sarasota go by the following names:

• The Institute for Police Research
• The IUPA Law Enforcement Officers Relief Fund
• The US Secret Service Uniformed Division Officers Association
• International Union of Police Associations – Florida Local 6000 – AFL-CIO
• Law Enforcement Political Action Committee
• Lee County Deputy Sheriff’s Association

The phone solicitation fundraiser’s names are:

• Outreach Calling of Reno, Nevada: raised $2.2 million; retained $1.9 million
• Jak Productions, Inc of Atlanta, Georgia:  raised $2.1 million; retained  $1.9 million
• Charity Appeal of Carson City, Nevada: raised $2.1 million; retained $1.9 million
• Donor Relations of Wilmington, Delaware:  raised $9.7 million; retained $8.5 million
• Public Awareness of Baton Rouge, Louisiana
• With Community Services of Baton Rouge, Louisiana
• RPI of Eatontown, New Jersey

If you receive a phone solicitation call, ask who is calling (the phone solicitors usually say they are calling on behalf or an organization and don’t tell you who they work for) and do not make a donation unless you want 89% of your donation to go to the above organizations.

Other key pieces of financial information on the IRS Form 990 include:

The 26 employees received total compensation of $2 million which equates to $77,000 each.  4 employees received more than $100,000 in compensation:

• $248,886:  Samuel A Cabral, President
• $148,091:  Hugh Cameron, EVP and Secretary/Treasurer
• $127,420:  Holly E Van Horsten, General Counsel
• $114,405:  Kevin Boyle, General Counsel

Each director of IUPA received $800 in compensation.

IUPA has total assets of $2.5 million which is concentrated in securities, cash, and land.  Liabilities total $1.4 million, most of which is deferred compensation, leaving net assets of about $1.1 million (a significant increase over the previous year because IUPA did not spend about $500,000 of revenue; these funds were added to the general fund thereby increasing the balance to $1.1 million from $600,000 the prior year).

The bottom line is that IUPA is a labor union whose members don’t pay enough memberships dues to cover the expenses of the organization (most of which are staff, office/occupancy expenses, and fees). Instead of using fundraisers to make up the $1.6 million shortfall in revenue needed to cover expenses, IUPA uses fundraisers (who kept 89% of what they raised).  IUPA should raise membership dues to cover the services their members pay to be covered for instead of asking the public to cover the shortfall through phone solicitors who kept most of the donations.

To read the IRS Form 990 (2017 for the year ending March 30, 2018), click here.