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CHARITY REVIEW
Issued: November 2025 Expires: November 2026

Concerns of Police Survivors

Accredited Charity
Accredited Charity

Meets Standards
Accreditation seal
(573) 346-4911
846 Old South 5
Camdenton, MO, 65020
http://www.nationalcops.org
📄 Full Report 🖨️ Print 📋 BBB Charity Standards

Standards For Charity Accountability

Governance

  1. Board Oversight
  2. Board Size
  3. Board Meetings
  4. Board Compensation
  5. Conflict of Interest

Measuring Effectiveness

  1. Effectiveness Policy
  2. Effectiveness Report

Finances

  1. Program Expenses
  2. Fundraising Expenses
  3. Accumulating Funds
  4. Audit Report
  5. Detailed Expense Breakdown
  6. Accurate Expense Reporting
  7. Budget Plan

Fundraising & Info

  1. Truthful Materials
  2. Annual Report
  3. Website Disclosures
  4. Donor Privacy
  5. Cause Marketing Disclosures
  6. Complaints

Concerns of Police Survivors meets the 20 Standards for Charity Accountability.

Stated Purpose:
"Rebuilding the shattered lives of surviving family members and co-workers affected by a line-of-duty death." 

Year, State Incorporated:
1984, MO

Each year, between 140 and 160 officers die in the line of duty and their families and co-workers are left to cope.
C.O.P.S. provides resources to help them rebuild their shattered lives. There is no membership fee to join C.O.P.S.,
for the price paid is already too high.

C.O.P.S. was organized in 1984 with 110 individual members. Today, C.O.P.S. membership is over 80,000
survivors. Survivors include spouses, kids, adult children, parents, siblings, fiancés, significant others, extended
family (aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, cousins, grandchildren, grandparents, and in-laws), co-workers, and suicide
survivors (as determined by the Public Safety Officer Support Act of 2022) of officers who have died in the line of
duty according to Federal government criteria. C.O.P.S. is governed by a national board of law enforcement
survivors. All programs and services are administered by the National Office in Camdenton, Missouri. C.O.P.S. has
over 50 chapters nationwide that work with survivors at the grass-roots level.

C.O.P.S. programs for survivors include the National Police Survivors' Conference held each May during National
Police Week; scholarships; peer-support at the national, state, and local levels; "C.O.P.S. Kids" counseling
reimbursement program; the "C.O.P.S. Kids" Summer Camp, "C.O.P.S. Teens" Outward Bound Adventure for young
adults, special retreats for spouses, parents, siblings, adult children, extended family, and co-workers; trial and
parole support, and other assistance programs.

C.O.P.S. knows that a survivor's level of distress is directly affected by the agency's response to the tragedy.
C.O.P.S., therefore, offers training and assistance to law enforcement agencies nationwide on how to respond to the
tragic loss of a member of the law enforcement profession. C.O.P.S. is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.
C.O.P.S. programs and services are funded by grants and donations.

For the year ended March 31, 2025, Concerns of Police Survivors's program expenses were:

Programs $6,784,196
Total Program Expenses $6,784,196

Chief Executive
Dianne Bernhard, Executive Director

Compensation*
$186,491

Chair of the Board
Dave Wallace, Community Volunteer

Chair's Profession / Business Affiliation

Board Size
11

Paid Staff Size
25

* Compensation includes annual salary and, if applicable, benefit plans, expense accounts and other allowances.

Method(s) Used:
Invitations to fund raising events, Print advertisements (newspapers, magazines, etc.), Radio, Grant proposals, Internet, Planned giving arrangements, Membership appeals, Appeals via Social Media (Facebook, etc.)

% of Related Contributions on Fundraising: 8.12%

This organization is tax-exempt under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. It is eligible to receive contributions deductible as charitable donations for federal income tax purposes.

The following information is based on Concerns of Police Survivors's audited financial statements for the year ended March 31, 2025.

Source of Funds
Grants and Contributions $2,824,825
Sponsorships $1,422,569
Investment Income $508,729
National Conference Fees $267,375
Sales $233,385
Special Events Income $140,802
Returning Survivor Fees $71,108
Miscellaneous Income $30,707
Loss on Sale of Property and Equipment $-1,862
Total Income $5,497,638

Programs: 88% Fundraising: 5% Administrative: 7%

Total Income $5,497,638
Total expenses: $7,678,569
  Program expenses $6,784,196
  Fundraising expenses $375,377
  Administrative expenses $518,996
  Other expenses $0
Income in Excess of Expenses $-2,180,931
Beginning Net Assets $13,686,270
Other Changes In Net Assets $1,699,771
Ending Net Assets $13,205,110
Total Liabilities $5,745,525
Total Assets $18,950,635

An organization may change its practices at any time without notice. A copy of this report has been shared with the organization prior to publication. It is not intended to recommend or deprecate, and is furnished solely to assist you in exercising your own judgment. If the report is about a charity and states the charity meets or does not meet the Standards for Charity Accountability, it reflects the results of an evaluation of information and materials provided voluntarily by the charity. The name Better Business Bureau is a registered service mark of the International Association of Better Business Bureaus.

This report is not to be used for fundraising or promotional purposes.

RELATED CONTENT

Report completed by:
BBB of Eastern & Southwest Missouri & Southern Illinois