Got a tip? Crime Stoppers may not be able to help next year. Here’s why
Crime Stoppers of South Sound may close next year because the pandemic has hindered the nonprofit’s fundraising efforts, organization leaders say.
The non-profit organization has been offering rewards for tips about crimes that lead to arrests in Thurston County since 1991. It has operated all those years with funding from community sponsors and fundraising events, co-founder Ed Sorger told The Olympian.
But COVID-19 has stalled both of those funding streams, Sorger said. The pandemic has prevented them from holding fundraising events like they used to. For example, the organization used to host a “shred event,” where people could destroy documents and voluntarily donate to Crime Stoppers.
At the same time, he said some long-time sponsors have diverted their donations to other causes or have had their own fundraising woes.
“The corporations that gave money wanted to dedicate their yearly funding that we would usually receive to help programs associated with COVID-19,” Sorger said. “This really hit us hard.”
The Nisqually Indian Tribe also had been a key donor that provided consistent funding, Sorger said. Crime Stoppers manager Julie Wright told The Olympian their inability to conduct community outreach and host events made it difficult for them to make their case to the tribe for more funding.
“Everything is changing, which is impacting us big time with everything that we used to do,” Wright said. “So, we’re trying to find another way around it now and keep it alive.”
Wright and Sorger said their citizen-run organization has $25,000 in yearly operating expenses. But last year they received just under $20,000 and they expect even less this year.
Crime Stoppers can likely survive to the end of the year, Sorger said. But to keep going, they will need enough donations to at least equal their operating expenses, Wright said.
“I think it’d be a huge impact to the community if we lost this program,” Wright said. “It’s been around for so long and has done a lot of good for many different people.”
As the sole employee, Wright said she reviews 1,200-1,500 tips a year. Some of those may directly solve crimes but many also point law enforcement in the right direction, saving them time, she added.
A board of directors, which is comprised of volunteers, votes on tip payouts, she said. These are calculated based on the nature and number of charges a tip leads to. She then issues payouts of up to $1,000 each.
“I can anonymously contact the tipster and then I give them a code to take to the bank,” Wright said. “They take the code to the bank and the bank knows once they give that code, they hand over the money and that’s the end of it.”
Wright earns just $18,000 a year, according to Sorger. The rest of the budget goes to accessing a national call center, maintaining their website, funding rewards and other miscellaneous items.
Expenses have gone up every year as they have expanded into more counties, Wright said. They mostly process tips from Thurston County and its immediate neighbors, Sorger said. But they also serve areas on the Olympic peninsula, toward the southern state border and east toward Yakima, he said.
The nonprofit formed in 1991 with a one-time grant from the state legislature. Since then, Wright said they have avoided seeking or accepting money from government sources.
“We’ve always done it on our fundraising or citizens just donating,” Wright said. “It doesn’t seem like that’s working anymore.”
She said their organization has tried to keep themselves separate from local government to make it clear to tipsters and donors that they are separate from law enforcement agencies. Still, the assumption that their is a link has sometimes made it difficult for them to secure donations, she added.
Sorger previously served as a commander at the Lacey Police Department and some of their board members have law enforcement backgrounds, he said.
In its more than 30-year history, tips to Crime Stoppers of South Sound have led to over 1,000 arrests and about $175,000 in payouts, according to data shared by Sorger.
Crime Stoppers of South Sound accepts tips at 800-222-8477. People can donate by mailing a check to PO Box 6442, Olympia, WA, 98507 or online via PayPal.
This story was originally published August 1, 2022 at 9:00 AM.
