Millions in fundraising from so-called charity pays paltry "death benefits" for state trooper families

Following up on a story Grits covered in August, the SA Express-News today delves into the finances of the Texas Highway Patrol Association, a so-called "charity" that spends barely any of the millions of dollars it raises for its stated purpose - helping families of state troopers slain in the line of duty - and instead spends most of its money on fundraising costs and executive pay. When I received a call from them, the telemarketer said he was calling from the "Texas Highway Patrol," but the group is unaffiliated with the Department of Public Safety, which has publicly disavowed them.

The full article is being embargoed for several days (your correspondent was interviewed for the story), but they did post a set of charts giving details of the group's finances. Here are the organization's revenues for recent years (amounts in dollars):

And here's how much they actually spent on "death benefits" for families of dead troopers over the same period:

Assholes. How is it that the IRS, the Department of Justice or the Texas Attorney General hasn't pulled the plug on this scam and others like it long ago? As, Grits wrote in August, "This group is about as much about helping troopers as buzzards are about helping roadkill."