Source: MIAMI HERALD, Feb 3, 2007
Author: Brian Costa
Charitable Disorganization
FUNDRAISING BY ATHLETES
Sports figures such as Alonzo Mourning and Dan Marino continue to work tirelessly to raise millions for
charity. But there are many others whose attempts fail hopelessly.
Dolphins wide receiver Chris Chambers had been to celebrity fund-raisers. He had seen the benefit golf
outings, bowling bashes, poker tournaments, memorabilia auctions and so on -- all in the name of other
athletes who had started their own charitable foundations.
What Chambers did not envision, when he started his own foundation in 2005, was where he found
himself last offseason: sitting behind a desk at his home in Davie, planning a fund-raising party with no
one to run the foundation for him. Chambers said he spent hours writing invitation letters to other
athletes, even working with a designer to come up with the foundation's logo.
Then he had enough.
For now, Chambers said in December, his C.A.T.C.H. 84 Foundation is on hold until he can find a
full-time director.
''I felt like I had a job,'' Chambers said. ``I was doing too much work, taking too much of my time.''
Hundreds of professional athletes have started foundations in the past several years in South Florida
and around the country. But like Chambers, many have found that the idea of giving back does not easily
translate into a successful, lasting charity.
Some athletes' foundations have become fixtures in their communities, doling out hundreds of thousands
of dollars annually to support charitable causes. Some have been grossly mismanaged, largely inactive
or even shut down after a few years.
Most fall somewhere in between, according to the public records of dozens of foundations and interviews
with athletes and industry analysts.
''Some guys may have seen a teammate start his foundation,'' said Kimberly Haynes, an Atlanta
consultant who manages foundations for several athletes. ``He sees the glitz and the glamour, the
notoriety, but he just doesn't know exactly what goes into the daily operation of a foundation.''
SOMETHING PERSONAL
Most athletes participate in at least some goodwill appearances organized by their teams -- hospital
visits, book readings to school children, holiday giveaways and the like.
But some want to make a greater impact. Something lasting. Something personal. And many see a
foundation as the way to do it.
''It's just something you can have your name on,'' said Dolphins tight end Randy McMichael, who started
his foundation in January 2006. 'I love working in the community, and I want [people] to be able to say,
`Randy McMichael and his foundation helped us do this.' ''
There also can be benefits for athletes, namely tax breaks and good publicity.
The Dwyane Wade Foundation was widely cited in reports about Sports Illustrated's selection of the Heat
guard as its 2006 Sportsman of the Year. In its announcement, the magazine praised Wade for working
``to ensure young people have the chance to realize their own dreams.''
Yet, two years after it was established, Wade's foundation is only in ''start-up mode,'' according to its
director, Lisa Joseph. It has consisted of a free summer basketball camp and a holiday party for children.
''He had the foundation established, but we did not do anything with it immediately,'' Joseph said.
Said Wade: ``It's not at the point where it will be in five years.''
Wade's foundation illustrates the growing role of athletes' agents in their charitable work. Joseph works
for CSMG, the agency that represents Wade.
Family members also are often involved. Heat forward Udonis Haslem started his foundation in 2005 at
the urging of his stepmother, Barbara Wooten, who runs the organization from the family's home in
Miramar.
'I called him one night and said, `Udonis, do you mind if we start a foundation in your name?' '' Wooten
said. ' `Just think about the number of children we could touch.' ''
There is some reason for Wooten's optimism, given what the top handful of athletes' foundations have
accomplished.
Dan Marino started his foundation in 1992, when he was still the Dolphins' quarterback, to help children
with chronic illnesses and developmental disabilities.
He now has a wing named after him at Miami Children's Hospital. And in 2005 alone, records show the
foundation gave out nearly $1.7 million, most of which went toward the creation of the Marino Autism
Research Institute.
Heat center Alonzo Mourning's foundation awarded nearly $1.5 million to Miami community groups in
2005, the most recent year for which records are available. About half the money went to the Overtown
Youth Center, which Mourning's foundation helped build in 2003.
Mourning, who donated $455,000 of his own money to his foundation in 2005, said he is focused on
helping local children overcome a public school system he called ``sad.''
''I can't just sit back and rely on my government and the people in Tallahassee to do it,'' Mourning said.
``I want to stimulate that change on my own.''
MANY FALL SHORT
Relatively few athletes' foundations have made the kind of impact Mourning's and Marino's have,
although the Jason Taylor Foundation has grown quickly since starting in 2004.
Most do some good, even if it's just putting on a sports camp or taking local children on a holiday
shopping spree.
Where many fall short is how efficiently they spend the money they raise from the public. Out of every
dollar a foundation spends, nonprofit watchdogs say at least 60 cents should go toward charitable
purposes, with the rest covering fund-raising and administrative costs.
The Gary Payton Foundation spent more than $110,000 in 2005, but only about $10,000 of it went
toward a charitable function -- mainly Payton's annual Christmas giveaway. Although the foundation has
not reported any fund-raising activity since 2003, it paid its director, former Seattle Sonics employee
Steve Banks, more than $72,000 in salary and benefits in 2005.
''Gary's very active in the community of Miami,'' Banks said. When asked about the foundation's
spending, Banks ended the interview, saying, ``Now you're taking it to a place where you don't need to
go.''
Another problem some athletes run into is making sure their foundations meet numerous legal
requirements. State and federal laws require groups with tax-exempt status to register with the
government and file detailed financial records.
''If you're playing football full-time, you're not going to have time to be an expert at this even if you were a
genius,'' said Greg Johnson, executive director of The Sports Philanthropy Project, which assists teams
and athletes around the country. ``Then they will have family members on the boards and hangers-on
and people who are not professionally adept at this type of work, and that complicates it further.''
Texas Rangers outfielder Sammy Sosa's foundation, based in Pembroke Pines, came under IRS
investigation in 2000 after it was alleged that funds were used to purchase a sports car for Sosa's
brother, among other things.
And although there is nothing scandalous about the vast majority of athletes' foundations, some have
nonetheless failed to comply with the law.
Shaquille O'Neal's Real Model Foundation has been lauded for helping homeless women and children.
But details of the organization are unclear.
''I have a lot of charities,'' O'Neal said. ``I don't really have a charity where we raise money or anything. I
just use all of my own money out of my own pocket.''
But in the past two years, the Real Model Foundation has been named as the beneficiary of several
sales promotions and auctions. The foundation is not registered in Florida, as is legally required of any
group soliciting public donations, a state official said.
Neither O'Neal's agent, Perry Rogers, nor O'Neal's assistant, Cynthia Atterberry, responded to
numerous requests for comment over the past two months.
TRANSIENT CAREERS
For other athletes, the most difficult part of having a foundation is making it hold up through sometimes
nomadic careers. Relatively few players stay connected to one community the way Mourning and Marino
have.
Consider here-and-gone-again Dolphins running back Ricky Williams, who might be the only athlete to
have started and shut down two nonprofits in his name.
In 2000, while playing for the New Orleans Saints, Williams started the Ricky Williams Foundation. It was
initially run by his mother, Sandy. But when Williams was traded to the Dolphins in 2002, he was unable
to move the foundation to Miami.
''We were trying to take over the Ricky Williams Foundation, because it really wasn't doing anything,''
said Rob Socol, an accountant who managed Williams' charitable work in Miami. 'And Ricky said, `I really
don't know where anything is. I don't personally run it.' ''
So Williams opened a second foundation, Run Ricky Run. In 2003 and 2004, Run Ricky Run donated a
combined $85,000 to charities in South Florida and San Diego, Williams' hometown.
Then Williams announced his retirement in 2004, drawing significant backlash from fans in Miami. Run
Ricky Run would run no more.
A CONTINUING TREND
Given all the potential problems, nonprofit analysts say there are better ways for most athletes to help
the needy than starting a foundation.
''Help a charity that's out there doing good work in the area you want to impact,'' said Marc Pollick,
president of The Giving Back Fund, which helps athletes manage foundations. ``They all need help.''
Pollick said too many athletes put little or no money into their own foundations. Most athletes interviewed
for this story would not specify how much they have contributed.
''You don't need a stand-alone foundation unless you really have about a million dollars to sink into it,''
Pollick said.
But that idea does not seem to resonate in professional locker rooms. Wade said he will relaunch his
foundation this year as The Wade's World Foundation. And Chambers said he hopes to host a charity
golf tournament before next season.
''I think that's going to be my real big coming-out party,'' Chambers said.
Dolphins defensive end David Bowens said he is in the process of starting a foundation with the help of
his girlfriend. And linebacker Zach Thomas said he wants to start one this offseason.
Mourning offered some advice for all of them.
''I tell guys, if they do start a foundation, they have to be fully committed,'' Mourning said.
'It just can't be, `Hey, I'll just put my name on it and let it go from there.' There's a lot more to it than that.''