I just got a fundraising phone call purportedly from the "Officer Down Foundation." The man said he was collecting for officers in Tennessee in my local area.

The group wasn't listed at GuideStar.org, so I checked the official IRS list of U.S. nonprofits at IRS Publication 78, the "list of organizations eligible to receive tax-deductible charitable contributions." It wasn't listed there either, not a good sign.

There is an "Oklahoma Officer Down Foundation," but the caller--who said he was calling "from the Northwest"--made no mention of Oklahoma; he repeatedly said this group was for helping officers right in my local Tennessee area.

Just in case, I looked for "Officer Down Foundation" at the Tennessee Department of State's Charitable Fundraising site. Surprise! There was a listing there:

OFFICER DOWN FOUNDATION
600 FISK AVENUE, #201, BROWNWOOD, TX 76801
Contact: DAVID FAIR
Phone: 512-289-9705
Website:
Status: Registered
Expires: 06/30/2010

No Financial Report on File

Although Tennessee had no web site listed for the group, I did find officerdownfoundation.org, which automatically forwarded to http://officerdownfoundation.squarespace.com/. That site said that donations to the organization are not yet tax exempt.

The whois record at (link...) for the officerdownfoundation.org domain showed a phone number for David Fair that is not in service.

As of this writing, Mr. Fair could not be reached by phone for comment.

-- OneTahiti