Running a Successful "Tip-A-Cop" Program This best practice was submitted by Law Enforcement Torch Run officer Doug Sweeney of the California Highway Patrol and Mike Fitzpatrick of Special Olympics Southern California. 1) Briefly describe the goals of the event, activity or program.      The goal of the Tip-a-Cop program is to collect as many donations as possible for Special Olympics Southern California through “tips.” Tip-A-Cop is a Law Enforcement Torch Run® fundraising event in which law enforcement officers assist with waiting tables at a restaurant and collect “tip” donations for Special Olympics. Committed officers recruit as many friends and family as possible to come out to the restaurants on those designated days and give the biggest tips they could, even walking door-to-door and hanging posters and fliers to let the retailers or coffee shop owners know about the Tip-A-Cop dates. During the officers’ scheduled time to wait on customers, many get so competitive that they sing, dance or joke for the customers just to get a bigger tip. Some officers really “ham” it up to fully entertain the customer. [Image courtesy shutterstock, all rights reserved] Any restaurant or any group of people, once recruited to participate, can use the tips-as-a-donation program to help raise money for Special Olympics. The restaurant provides a few days in March where it designates its restaurant for this fundraising effort. The law enforcement community in Valencia, California, USA, recruits three different law enforcement agencies to sign up as wait staff for the day at the restaurant. These agencies are the California Highway Patrol, Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department and the FBI. Each agency recruits about 15-20 officers ranging from captains to officers. These three groups raised more than US$20,000 in tips alone in just a few days. 2) What were the biggest challenges or obstacles you faced in trying to achieve these goals?      The biggest obstacle was that in the six-month period following September 11, 2001, in the United States, the available pool of donations was reduced due to corporate and individual support going to the families of the victims of September 11. Although this was completely understandable, the fear was that people would not continue to donate at the levels they had previously to Special Olympics. 3) What were your tactics to achieve success and overcome those obstacles?      As mentioned, the three agencies raised more than before — US$20,000. A variety of factors contributed to their success. The agencies joined forces and planned early, used the media and involved athletes. However, what really made the fundraising successful was the fact that the officers tapped into the already existing competition between the agencies by putting forth a “challenge” to be the number-one fundraising agency. The challenge and incentive for officers: These three agencies already have some naturally occurring rivalries but when they joined forces to help Special Olympics they didn’t let this bring them down. They leveraged these dynamics and used the challenge to goad officers on to be the number-one fundraising agency for Special Olympics. Possibly the biggest incentive to win and raise the most money was the disincentive they created for the losing agency. Whichever agency lost would have to put the bumper sticker of the winning agency on their car for one month. To add to this, the sticker is an advertising recruitment sticker for the winning agency and has to be placed on the highest ranking officer’s car. Usually the press is pulled in to take a photo of this as well. This made the competition fun but also something the officers took seriously. They were enthusiastic and joking with each other whenever they had the chance. This challenge motivated them to recruit as many friends and family as possible to come out to the restaurants on those designated days and give the biggest tips they could. In some cases, officers would walk door-to-door and hang posters and fliers to let the retailers or coffee shop owners know about the Tip-A-Cop dates. However, the biggest show of force usually comes during the officers’ scheduled time to wait on customers. The officers get so competitive that they sing, dance or joke for the customers just to get a bigger tip. Some officers really “ham” it up to fully entertain the customer. Planning: By starting about six months ahead of the event the officers join forces and get organized. They have older experienced officers train and give orientation to new officers, sometimes with a briefing and video on the Torch Run. They designate who will schedule the officers as wait staff, who will handle the media relations and who will get the word out to their respective agencies. They work together with the Special Olympics office throughout. Media involvement: Most of the officers are natural salespeople, and when they call on the media to help promote the event they present a compelling case. They usually convince the media to run ads on the radio or in the newspapers for two weeks prior to the event, advertising the event to the general public as much as possible. Then, on the day of the event, newspaper reporters and the local television news crew show up for a live broadcast. Athlete Involvement: On the day of the event, Special Olympics athletes help man an information booth in the restaurant to sign up volunteers or help greet customers at the door. This is important so the athletes have a presence at the event and the customers can understand more about Special Olympics. This is a great idea to use this public event and location to get people involved and not just get money. 4) In your experience and considering your expertise, why do you think these tactics worked?      The natural enthusiasm and rivalry among the officers is a tremendous incentive that you can’t force. It just happens naturally. The community of Valencia is unique as well. Just outside sprawling Los Angeles, and even with a population of 150,000, it remains tight-knit and community-oriented. The law enforcement community is highly regarded and maintains good relations with the town and media as well. These are elements that are unique to Valencia and contribute to the event’s success. 5) How could the approach be improved?      One improvement would be to invite a celebrity or radio personality to the event to draw an even larger audience and customer base.