Help
Give to the Foundation
Give online in a minute, once or every month or year, to the fund you choose. We are a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, so every gift gets a tax receipt by email, and with a free account your gifts, receipts and year-end statements stay in one place.
In short
- To give once: choose Donate at the top of any page, choose a fund and an amount, type your name (and your email address if you aren’t signed in), choose how to pay and press Donate. No account needed.
- Pay by card, Apple Pay, Google Pay, PayPal or Venmo. Apple Pay and Google Pay show only on a device and browser that offer them.
- To give every month or every year: sign in with a free account whose email address is confirmed, choose Every month or Every year, pay by card (or PayPal, where the form offers it) and tick the box to agree.
- Your receipt comes by email as soon as the gift goes through. Signed in, every receipt and a year-end statement for each year are on your account page.
- Give $70 or more at once and you can ask for a pink patch as a thank-you, sent free.
Step by step
Give once
- Choose Donate at the top of any page.
- Under Where your gift goes, choose a fund. If a link from one of our stories or printed materials chose it for you, its name shows at the top; choose Change to pick another.
- Under Amount, choose an amount, or choose Other amount and type yours in dollars.
- Leave How often on Once.
- If you like, tick Add $… to cover the payment processing fee. The box names the amount.
- Under Your details, type your first and last name. If you aren’t signed in, type your email address for the receipt; if you are, the receipt goes to your account’s address.
- Under How would you like to pay?, choose Card, then type your card number in the card form. The ZIP code box appears once the form recognizes your card.
- Press Donate $…. Your bank may ask you to confirm the payment in its own window.
- The page says Donation received, with your receipt number. Your PDF receipt is on its way by email. To give again, choose Donate again.
Pay with Apple Pay, Google Pay, PayPal or Venmo
- Fill in the fund, the amount and your details as for a card gift.
- Under How would you like to pay?, choose Apple Pay, Google Pay, PayPal or Venmo. Each shows only where it can be used: Apple Pay and Google Pay where your device and browser offer them, Venmo when PayPal says you can use it.
- Apple Pay or Google Pay: press its button below the form and approve the payment in Apple’s or Google’s window. The card in your wallet is charged through Square, our card processor, and your receipt says which you used.
- PayPal: press PayPal’s button. PayPal opens in its own window to finish.
- Venmo: press Venmo’s button. Venmo opens to finish: on a phone, in the Venmo app; on a computer, with a code to scan in the app.
- If you close the window before paying, nothing is charged. Press the button again when you are ready.
Ask for a thank-you patch
- Give $70 or more as a one-time gift; the fee you cover doesn’t count toward the $70. Below that, the form says how much brings a patch.
- Tick Send me a pink patch as a thank-you.
- If the form asks How would you like to get it?, choose Send it to me (free, to any US address) or Pick it up.
- To have it sent, fill in Where should we send it? If you are signed in, it starts with the address in your profile.
- Give as usual. The confirmation gives the patch’s order number, and we email you when it ships or is ready to pick up.
Give every month or every year
- Sign in first. A monthly or yearly gift is kept on a free account so you can change or stop it any time. If you aren’t signed in, the form offers Sign in and Create a free account, and brings you back to the form with your choices kept.
- Choose a fund and an amount, then Every month or Every year under How often.
- If your email address isn’t confirmed yet, choose Email me a link to confirm it and open the link we send. It brings you back to this form.
- Choose Card, or PayPal where the form offers it. Venmo, Apple Pay and Google Pay are for one-time gifts only.
- Read the sentence above the button: it says what you give, how often and to which fund. Tick the box if you agree.
- By card: type your card and press Donate $… every month (or every year). Your first gift is taken today, and Square keeps your card for the next ones. By PayPal: press PayPal’s button and approve the payments in PayPal’s window.
- The page says Monthly gift set up (or Yearly gift set up), with your receipt number. Manage your monthly gift opens its own page.
Change or stop a monthly or yearly gift
- Open your account page. Under Monthly and yearly gifts, choose Manage beside the gift.
- To change the amount or the fund: under Change the amount or fund, make the change, tick the box to agree to it and choose Save the change. It applies from your next payment. A gift paid through PayPal can change its fund here, not its amount: stop it and start a new one.
- To use a different card: under Change your card, choose Use another card, type the card, tick the box and choose Save this card.
- To stop it: choose Stop this gift, then Stop this gift again to confirm. Stopping is immediate: no more payments are taken, and your past gifts and their receipts stay on your account page.
- To change how often you give, stop the gift and start a new one.
- A paused gift says why, on its page and on your account page, and what to do: add another card, choose another fund, or choose Start this gift again when the page offers it.
Find a receipt or a year-end statement
- Every gift’s PDF receipt comes by email as soon as the gift goes through.
- Signed in, open your account page. Under Giving and tax documents, each gift has its receipt number; choose it to download the receipt.
- Under Year-end statements, choose the year (for example 2026 statement (PDF)) for every gift you made that year, with the total.
- Gave without an account? Make one with the same email address and confirm it (see Confirm your email address), and your earlier gifts and their receipts appear there.
Good to know
- You can give from $1 to $25,000 online, in dollars and cents. For more, or another kind of gift, write to us.
- Our General Fund goes where it is needed most, including Blockwatch and Paws on Patrol. The Shop with a Cop Fund and the Officer Appreciation, Training and Equipment Fund are restricted: they pay only for those programs.
- Covering the fee is worked out so that, after the payment processor’s fee, we receive your whole gift. Your receipt shows the whole amount you gave, with the part that covers the fee.
- Apple Pay, Google Pay and Venmo are for one-time gifts only. Monthly and yearly gifts are by card, or by PayPal where the form offers it.
- Your card details go to Square, our card processor, and never reach this website. For a monthly or yearly gift by card, we keep only the card’s brand, last four digits and expiry date, and when you stop the gift we remove the card from Square.
- A monthly gift is taken on the same day each month as your first one; a gift started on the 29th, 30th or 31st is taken on the last day of shorter months. A yearly gift is taken on the same date each year, and we email you a reminder about a month before.
- An account can have up to five monthly and yearly gifts at once.
- The thank-you patch is for one-time gifts of $70 or more, while we have patches left. It is a token of thanks, so your whole gift stays tax-deductible, and your receipt says so.
- A gift goes to the fund you chose and keeps that fund’s name on its receipt.
Questions and answers
Ways to give
Do I need an account to give?
Not for a one-time gift: type your name and email address and give. After the gift, the page offers to keep it in a free account. A monthly or yearly gift needs a free account with a confirmed email address, so that you can change or stop it and every receipt reaches you.
Why can’t I give monthly with Venmo or PayPal?
Venmo takes one-time gifts only. PayPal can take monthly and yearly gifts when the form offers it; when it says Monthly and yearly gifts are by card for now., give by card instead.
Can I give by check?
Yes. The donate page says, under By check, who to make the check out to and where to mail it.
Where do I type my ZIP code?
In the card form, after your card number. The ZIP code box appears only once the form recognizes your card, and a card from a bank outside the US may be asked for a postal code instead, or none. See the FAQ.
Where your gift goes
Can I choose what my gift pays for?
Yes, under Where your gift goes. A restricted fund, marked Restricted, pays only for its program. The General Fund goes where it is needed most. Choose a fund to read what it pays for.
What does covering the fee mean?
Card, PayPal and Venmo payments cost us a small fee. When the form offers it, tick the box and we add enough to your gift to pay that fee, so the whole of your gift reaches the fund. The line under the button shows the gift and the fee apart.
Is my gift tax-deductible?
Yes. We are a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, and our EIN is on the donate page and on every receipt. A thank-you patch doesn’t change that. A purchase in our store is not a gift; a gift you add at the store’s checkout is, and gets its own receipt.
Receipts and records
I lost my receipt. Can I get another?
Yes, from your account page, where every gift’s receipt is ready to download. If you gave without an account, make one with the same email address and confirm it, and your gifts appear there with their receipts.
I gave without an account. Can I see my gifts later?
Yes. Make an account with the same email address and confirm the address by opening the link we send. Your earlier gifts then join your account. We wait for that confirmation so nobody can see your gifts by making an account with your address.
Will you email me after I give?
Your receipt comes at once. We may also write to thank you or welcome you; see the FAQ and Email from the Foundation.
Monthly and yearly gifts
What happens if a payment is declined?
Nothing is charged that time. We email you and try your card again a few days later; you can change the card in the meantime. If it keeps being declined, or your bank refuses it outright, the gift pauses until you add another card. A PayPal gift is retried by PayPal.
What if the fund my gift goes to closes?
We pause the gift and email you, and never move it to another fund without you. Choose another fund on the gift’s page to start it again.
Can I stop a PayPal gift in PayPal itself?
Yes, in your PayPal account under Settings, then Payments, then Manage automatic payments. We see that it was stopped and stop it here too. Stopping it on your account page does both at once.
If something goes wrong
The messages you may see, word for word (“…” stands for a part that changes), what they mean and what to do.
- “Your card could not be charged. Try another card, or contact your bank.”
Your bank refused the payment. Nothing was charged.
What to do: Try another card, or pay with Apple Pay, Google Pay, PayPal or Venmo. Your bank can tell you why it refused.
- “The ZIP code did not match the card. Check it and try again.”
The ZIP code typed is not the one your bank has for the card. Nothing was charged.
What to do: Type the ZIP code of the card’s billing address and press Donate again.
- “Your bank needs to verify this payment. Try again and follow your bank's prompt.”
Your bank wants to confirm it is you, and the confirmation did not finish.
What to do: Press Donate again and follow what your bank asks, on the page or in its app.
- “Your card could not be confirmed, and nothing was charged. Check the card details and try again, or use another card.”
The card form could not check the card you typed.
What to do: Check the number, the expiry date and the security code, or use another card.
- “The card form could not load. Reload the page, or give by check using the address on this page.”
The card form comes from Square, our card processor, and it did not load, for example on a slow connection or when a browser add-on blocks it.
What to do: Reload the page, or try another browser. You can also pay with PayPal or Venmo, or give by check.
- “… was closed before paying. Nothing was charged.”
The PayPal, Venmo or wallet window closed before the payment was made.
What to do: Press the button again when you are ready.
- “Card giving is paused for a short while. Try again later, or give with PayPal or Venmo.”
Many card payments failed on the site in a short time, so card gifts pause for a while. It keeps people from testing stolen cards on our form.
What to do: Give with PayPal or Venmo now, or try the card again later.
- “Giving without an account is busy just now. Sign in, or try again later.”
Card gifts without an account are paused for a while, for the same reason.
What to do: Sign in and give, give with PayPal or Venmo, or try again later.
- “Online giving is not available just now, and nothing was charged. Try again later, or give by check.”
Our card processor could not be reached.
What to do: Try again in a little while, pay with PayPal or Venmo, or give by check.
- “PayPal did not answer just now, so this gift is not finished yet. Try again in a moment; you will not be charged twice.”
You approved the payment, but PayPal did not answer when we asked for it.
What to do: Choose Finish my gift. It finishes the same payment, so you are never charged twice.
- “PayPal is reviewing this payment, which can take a few days. Your receipt follows when it clears; there is nothing more you need to do.”
PayPal holds some payments for a check before they go through.
What to do: Nothing: don’t give again. Your receipt comes by email once PayPal clears it.
- “This gift is still being processed. Wait a moment, then check your email for the receipt before trying again.”
The same gift was sent twice, perhaps by pressing the button again, and the first is still going through.
What to do: Wait a minute and look for your receipt before giving again.
- “Your card was charged, but the gift could not be recorded just now. The Foundation has been told and will send your receipt; please do not give again.”
The payment went through, but our records did not take it. We have been told.
What to do: Don’t give again. We send your receipt once the gift is recorded; write to us if it hasn’t come within a few days.
- “For a gift over $25,000, write to us so we can arrange it with you.”
Online gifts go up to $25,000.
What to do: Write to us and we will arrange it with you.
- “The thank-you patches have all gone. Your gift can still go ahead without one.”
The last patch went while you were giving. Nothing was charged.
What to do: Give again without the patch, if you would like to.
- “Tick the box to agree to the gift before you continue.”
A monthly or yearly gift starts only once you agree to the sentence above the button.
What to do: Read the sentence, tick the box and press the button again.
- “The terms of this gift changed while the page was open, and nothing was charged. Read the sentence above the button again, tick the box if you agree, and donate.”
Something in the sentence you agreed to, such as the date, changed while the page was open.
What to do: Read the new sentence, tick the box and press Donate again.
- “Give … with a free account”
You chose Every month or Every year without signing in. These gifts are kept on an account.
What to do: Choose Sign in or Create a free account; you come back to the form. To give once without an account, choose Once.
- “Confirm your email to give …”
Monthly and yearly gifts need a confirmed email address, and yours isn’t confirmed yet.
What to do: Choose Email me a link to confirm it, open the link in the same browser, and it brings you back to the form.
- “An account can have … monthly and yearly gifts at once. Stop one on your account page to start another.”
Your account already has five monthly and yearly gifts.
What to do: Stop one on your account page, or change one’s amount instead.
- “Your last payment was declined, and nothing was charged.”
A monthly or yearly payment did not go through. We try the card again in a few days.
What to do: Choose Manage, then Use another card if your card has changed.
- “Your card was declined, so we stopped trying it.”
A monthly or yearly gift is paused after its card was declined. Nothing more is charged.
What to do: Choose Manage and add another card to start it again.
- “Too many attempts. Wait a few minutes, then try again.”
There were many tries in a short time.
What to do: Wait a few minutes, then try once more.
Still need help?
- Write to us from the Contact page, with your receipt number if you have one: the Foundation’s administrators and treasurer answer questions about gifts, receipts and monthly gifts.
- For a gift over $25,000, or another kind of gift, write to us from the same page.
- Questions about your account or signing in? See Create an account and sign in and Your account page.