If they are legit then why do they not or have not responded to the Better Business Bureau's requests for information. When I am contacted by an unknown caller claiming to be from the State of Ohio, I do two things automatically: 1. Call them back and 2. Check the charity out with the Better Business Bureau. If the company or charity is trustworthy, and are registered with the BBB, then I will continue to pledge my hard-earned dollars. If not, then I will do whatever I must, including report them to the FTC, to get them to stop calling me. No offense, officer, but you cannot be certain that they are legit. Just because they have a tax-deductible number does not make them legit.
I just read an article about this organization and although they ARE legitimate, only 19% of the funds actually go to buying the teddy bears. The article WAS four years old but I am pretty sure the game is the same.
The Cops for Kids of Ohio are far from a scam, they are actually Ohio's number 1 children's charity, and are registered with both the Attorney General and the IRS as a 501c3 charity. Kinda hard to be a scam and still be registered with the AG and the IRS....so think before you badmouth a good organization.
I just got a call from these same place cops for kids. When I told the caller on the other end I wanted to check into it a little more before I gave them anything he said well we have all your information same my name gave me my address city and state and said so I already know where you live, I kindly so I would like to check things out first he said STUPID lady and hung up I called this number right back because I wanted to talk to some one like a supervisor or something 419-496-2310 and it says this number has been disconnected. I's going on 4:00 pm here so I will be calling the better BBB tomorrow.