K9s4COPs Inc.
Stopping Crime One K9 at a Time
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
K9 Grants
In the front lines of keeping families and communities safe, no team provides a more potent line of protection than law enforcement officers partnered with K9s. Trained for specific tasks, these highly intelligent dogs stop criminals in the act, apprehend fleeing fugitives, confiscate illegal narcotics, and participate in search and rescue missions. They find cadavers, explosives, and are used in arson investigations. They have saved their partners' lives, sometimes at the cost of their own. Given the crime-fighting value of K9s, you may find it surprising to learn that, with budget cuts, law enforcement agencies across America are having a hard time funding the acquisition and training of K9s. Depending on their specialty, each K9 costs between $15,000 and $25,000. This cost is nominal in comparison to the millions of dollars in narcotic seizures and criminals that have been taken off the street. Crime does not discriminate and it happens in every zip code in America. K9s4COPs provides an answer for this crisis. Our goal is to fill the gap by gifting trained K9s to agencies in need. Through an application process and quarterly review, we grant K9s. As a nonprofit we are only able to accomplish this through generous donations from our supporters. K9s4COPs' mission is to build a safer future by placing K9 officers in communities and schools.
K9s4KIDs
The K9s4KIDs initiative was created in 2013 after the tragedy of the Sandy Hook Elementary shooting. This terrible event hit too close to home for founder- Kristi Schiller, who has a school age daughter. The K9s4KIDs initiative provides trained K9s to schools making them a safer place for students, faculty, staff and visitors. K9s4KIDs was created to sustain an alternative, kinder and gentler approach to keeping our school children safe. Statistics show that having a trained K9 on campus serves as a double deterrent, keeps narcotics from being distributed and serves as a personal protection barrier between potential harm to innocent students. These K9s are extremely social, yet highly qualified warriors that are accustomed to going straight to the source of the dilemma—the shooter or threat—and disengaging the suspect. These exceptional K9s, along with their handlers, sweep thousands of lockers, classrooms and cars each school year and meet and greet with the students they keep safe each day. In addition to the safety of having a trained police dog on campus to protect kids— these four-legged officers and their handlers provide outreach by visiting with students at school assemblies, events and participating in crime safety prevention presentations.
Where we work
Awards
American Hero Dog Charity Partner 2012
American Humane Association
HPD Humanitarian Service Award 2012
Houston Police Department
On website 2012
Harris County Sheriff's Office
American Hero Dog Charity Partner 2013
American Humane Association
American Hero Dog Charity Partner 2014
American Humane Association
Director's Leadership Award 2016
FBI
American Hero Dog Charity Partner 2015
American Humane Association
American Hero Dog Charity Partner 2016
American Humane Association
Houston Award 2013
Crime Stoppers
Heroes Among Us 2014
People Magazine
Recognition 2015
US House of Representatives
Recognition 2015
Texas House of Representatives
Harvey's Hero 2015
Steve Harvey Show
Affiliations & memberships
Texas Association of Nonprofit Organizations 2014
External reviews
Photos
Videos
Goals & Strategy
Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
Within our mission and vision, K9s4COPs' goal is to build a safer future by placing K9 officers in communities and schools. This is accomplished by providing K9s officers to agencies in need, educating communities on the importance of K9s in law enforcement, and training professionals to use their K9 partners effectively. K9s4COPs provides highly skilled and trained K9s to agencies who otherwise couldn’t afford them. These dogs help their partner officers do their jobs safer and faster helping ensure these brave men and women get home safely each night.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
K9s4COPs provides direct services to law enforcement agencies across the country by providing a life saving tool of a K9.
An application is the first start to the process. A review committee made up of K9 handlers and law enforcement officers play a crucial role in fulfilling our mission by calling and vetting each application that is received. The Executive Board finalizes which departments will receive grants based on the recommendations of the review committee and funding. Departments are notified and handlers then set up a time when they will travel to a kennel of choice to select their dog as well as attend training. For a new handler, training can last up to ten weeks. After returning back to their respective communities, K9 teams are required to train weekly and submit statistics and annual health reports to K9s4COPs. Besides the granting process, K9s4COPs strives to make connections and deepen engagement of donors through actionable awareness.Other strategies include increasing revenue, retention and acquisition of our individual giving donors through consistent identification, exceptional engagement, timely solicitation and relevant stewardship. Ensure effective and efficient business operations.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
The organization’s staff is internally responsible for financial reporting and day-to-day accounting functions.
The K9s4COPs Executive Board members provide leadership to the organization and ensure operational and fiscal responsibility.
The organizations grant processes and agreements are periodically reviewed and improved to incorporate the best practices in grant making and growth of the organization’s capabilities. A review committee made up of law enforcement officers and K9 handlers assesses grant applications. The organization has invested in technology solutions that provide efficient and accurate donor and financial information. These include NEON donor management system and Quickbooks.
K9s4COPs has a positive working relationship with each kennel that is vetted and approved. The law enforcement agencies that receive K9s continue to raise awareness and support K9s4COPs through public demonstrations. We also have a significant number of individual donors, volunteers, and corporate supporters to contribute to our fundraising and awareness building efforts.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
The core focus of K9s4COPs is to build a safer future by placing K9 officers in communities and schools. As of 2023, over 300 K9s have been granted to 29 different states.
Our long terms goals include continuing to build effective programs to raise funds and grant canines to law enforcement agencies in need. Also, continue to educate the public on the importance of K9s and the work that they do in communities.
How we listen
Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.
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How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?
To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve,
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Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?
We aim to collect feedback from as many people we serve as possible, We take steps to ensure people feel comfortable being honest with us, We engage the people who provide feedback in looking for ways we can improve in response, We act on the feedback we receive
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What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?
It is difficult to get the people we serve to respond to requests for feedback
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
K9s4COPs Inc.
Board of directorsas of 08/31/2023
Mrs. Kristi Schiller
Manny Sanchez
Ted Dahlin
Harris County Contable's Office PCT 4
Robert Eckels
John Hoss
Port of Freeport
David DeLeon
Preston Hall
Laurie Krohn
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? No