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Athletes often find themselves doing charity photo-ops rather than actual charity work since there is such a high demand for their time. Mason Crosby of the Green Bay Packers is an athlete who is the exception to this rule. Athletes often find themselves doing charity photo-ops rather than actual charity work since there is such a high demand for their time. Mason Crosby of the Green Bay Packers is the athlete who takes exception to this rule.
Not many players consider their charitable ties when negotiating their next major contract. However, Mason Crosby is not just any player. Crosby has an impressive track record of supporting the Lombardi Foundation, the Wisconsin chapter of Make-A-Wish, and other local organizations in the Green Bay Area. He is extremely entrenched in the community – so much so that his community ties played a big role in his desire to stay in Green Bay. What makes it even more special is that Crosby and his family serve their community with virtually no fanfare or social media promotion. An important component of any charitable strategy is promoting causes. Still, not all philanthropic impact needs to be publicized to be impactful. During Crosby’s five years as co-chair, the Lombardi Golf Classic has sold out every year. He is involved in every part of the event, from delivering player invitations, to securing sponsorships and silent auction items. He is the perfect example of how a narrow and dedicated approach can have exponential impact. Further, he has proven that career and philanthropy can align in professional sports if it is prioritized. Click here for more details.
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Technology is changing the way athletes raise money for charity. Most professional athletes have large fan bases on social media. Pair this with success on the court or the field, and you get a new way to fundraise.
Pay for play – it’s a term used in the college space when talking about paying athletes to play in college. However, it has a new meaning in the social fundraising sphere. Organizations like FanAngel, PledgeIt, and PlayCause enter the market at the intersection of sports and philanthropy. Many athletes don’t have the time or resources to create a foundation or have fully developed programs. These web-based fundraising organizations allow athletes to create campaigns and use social media to get the word out to fans. These fans double as donors as they can pledge money based on the performance of their favorite athletes or teams. You can pledge to donate any amount for any time an athlete does something meaningful – scores a touchdown, sacks a quarterback, hits a home-run, etc. These organizations help sustain participation and make it easy for an athlete to raise money for charity, without requiring much additional time from the athlete. Many charities focus on how to get repeat monthly donors; with these crowd-funding organizations, fans can set up recurring donations throughout a sports season. This provides great value to a charity as it receives an expanded donor base, and an athlete can amplify his or her charity efforts through social and digital media. If a corporate partner is willing to jump on with a matching component, this creates a triple bottom line for all involved. The social media-driven basketball tournament has upped the ante for its second year with a $2 million prize. Find out how the world’s first truly open sporting event has harnessed its popularity to benefit charity.
The Basketball Tournament (TBT) is an open-application, 5-on-5 single-elimination basketball tournament. It is driven by social media, with a grand prize of $2 million to the winning team. The teams can be compromised of anyone – most teams are former professional or collegiate basketball players. The tournament has 64 teams and each team builds its fan base through social media, and encourages fans to vote them into the tournament. Its unique set-up and program design allow for grassroots marketing to occur. Social media is an important component to the tournament’s strategy – from the tournament entry, to building a fan base, to its charitable efforts. The teams enter into bracket play with four regionals: Northeast, South, Midwest, and West. This year, TBT is working with GoFundMe (a crowdsourcing site) and Big Brothers Big Sisters to integrate charity into the tournament. In each region, the final slot will go to the team that raises the most money in support of its local Big Brothers Big Sisters chapter. TBT is an incredible example of social media’s power to engage fans around sport. With the new partnership, TBT is tapping into the proven competitiveness of its fans, and the tournament is effectively converting social engagement into donations. TBT’s model works because ultimately, if your team wins, its fans win too. It has created enough incentive that audiences are eagerly donating to charity in hopes of being part of the action. Most non-profits understand the difficulty of turning “clicktivism” into financial support. The Basketball Tournament is successfully converting all of its online clicks and engagement into donations for charity. Click here for more details. It seems like the whole world is playing Pokémon GO. Kids and adults alike are spending hours walking about hunting Pokémon. Learn how this new craze can be used for good.
Whether you like the game, Pokémon GO is getting people off the couch and keeping them active. It’s a blast from the past as fans of the game remember growing up playing the video game while sitting in a house. Now, the augmented reality game requires players to physically walk around their neighborhoods to find and capture Pokémon. The mobile app even tracks how many kilometers users have walked while hunting for Pokémon. Think of this feature as a pedometer with a twist. This uptick in physical activity alone is a positive side effect of the hysteria, but it has allowed the brilliant people at Charity Miles to capitalize on the phenomenon. The Charity Miles mobile app tracks distance walked, run, or biked, and then donates 25 cents per mile to a charity of choice. When the Pokémon craze hit, Charity Miles challenged its users to turn on the app while playing. Consequently, they have seen a major increase in activity, which has translated into more charity dollars donated. Technology makes it easier than ever to stay active and do good. It will be interesting to see if this game is simply a fad, or if it can be integrated into our daily lives. With all the additional add-ons that users can purchase, there seems to be an opportunity to increase the charitable component while taking Pokémon players back to their glory days. Click here for more details. The NFL has made an unprecedented financial gift to help prevent sexual abuse and to support victims of sexual and domestic assault.
After several mishandled domestic violence incidents, the National Football League (NFL) has taken a major step towards abuse prevention and victim support. The NFL has committed $10 million to a joint initiative to end sexual violence. This is the first corporate commitment made to this cause. It will help kick start a new entity called Raliance, which will allocate funds to prevention programs across the country. Raliance will also act as a resource center for policy makers, advocates, and service providers who work on behalf of sexual violence victims. Unfortunately, the NFL’s response to several instances of domestic violence among its players has shown a spotlight on how teams and leagues deal with offenders. Now more than ever, professional sports are being scrutinized for their disciplinary processes, and the NFL has been slowly taking steps to hold its players accountable for sexual violence issues. Its unprecedented gift shows their commitment to the cause, and hopefully it will spur other leagues to consider similar pledges. It will be interesting to see if leagues proactively give financial support for these causes moving forward, rather than reactively as a response to player misconduct. Click here for more details. It all started with an Instagram post. In the wake of all the violence our country has endured over the past few weeks, Carmelo Anthony posted a photo from the Ali Summit of June 1967, where the nation’s top black athletes convened in support of Muhammad Ali’s decision to object his induction into the Vietnam War.
What resulted was a moment unseen on this stage. The ESPYS reached out to Carmelo Anthony and he, along with Lebron James, Chris Paul, and Dwayne Wade, decided to take advantage of the platform they were given. Each athlete spoke and addressed the recent killings that have transfixed the country and challenged athletes to do more and be better within the community. Each athlete acknowledged that they are looked upon to lead in each community, and as Dwayne Wade said “It won’t always be convenient. It won’t always be comfortable. But it is necessary.” ESPN senior vice president and executive producer Connor Schell said, “Now more than ever their platform gives them the power to voice what they stand for and on a night where the ESPYS are honoring the legacy of Muhammad Ali in front of so many sports legends, this message was so powerful and appropriate.” This might be a turning point as athletes all know that this is bigger than sports: it is about positively impacting our communities to ensure our world is a safer place. Click here for more details. You don’t need to be a superstar to make an impact in the community. A desire to give back and a big heart is enough to change a group of children’s lives for the better.
Jaquiski Tartt is a safety for the San Francisco 49ers, but I doubt many people (even hardcore NFL fans) would recognize him on the street or know that he's a professional athlete. None of that matters though because Tartt is using his platform as a football player to make a difference in his hometown of Mobile, Alabama. He recently hosted 150 kids from his hometown to a free football camp. The clinic focused on the fundamentals of football and also addressed off-field issues such as staying in school, saying no to drugs, and the importance of nutrition. The goal of the camp was so simple, yet so profound: allow one day of football training to impact the other 364 days of the year for each participant. Some of Tartt's friends, who are also NFL players, attended the camp as attendees and were partnered as mentors or coaches to the children. Tartt said, "I have been blessed with great opportunities and I want to repay that favor to those children and let them know somebody does care. We have a lot of kids here in Mobile that deserve to have someone to look up to. I want to teach them the things that helped me get where I am now like the importance of education, work ethic and faith while having fun." He was given a key to the city of Mobile as it was a special day for both children and Jaquiski Tartt. The greatest thing Tartt said was, "I'm just so thankful, so blessed to be here to be able to do this. If anybody had told me 4-5 years ago I would be getting a key to the city of Mobile, I'd have thought they were crazy. It's a wonderful feeling. It's probably one of the best achievements or awards I've ever received in my life." He is only 22 years old, yet he knows that he can make such a strong impact on the children in his hometown. Tartt is aware of his platform and knows that he needs to continue his charitable efforts throughout his playing career and beyond. The lesson learned here is that you don't need to be an NFL star or a star at the professional level to make a profound impact. While Tartt may not be able to command the dollars for a camp that some athletes do, he knows he is making a difference. No athlete needs to be everything to everyone; rather, it is important to pick one cause and make an impact, whether it is big or small. If everyone plays his or her individual role, the world will be better off because of it. Click here for more details. As technology has increased over the last twenty years, so has the popularity of charity races. It is now, more than ever, easier to fundraise or friendraise for charity.
The number of road race finishers in the United States rose from just 5 million in 1990 to its all-time high of 19 million in 2013. This past year, there were 17.1 million road race finishers. One of the major reasons for the increase in popularity is technology. No longer do participants have to go door-to-door to ask for pledges or donations. In the past, you were limited to the number of people you knew or could visit by foot or car. In today’s world, you simply have to log-on to Facebook or Twitter and ask for pledges. A participant’s network is largely expanded due to the digital society we live in. Furthermore, you can have friends and family rally behind you, which has led to peer-to-peer fundraising and friendraisers. No longer are you simply asking for donations, but you are also asking others to fundraise on your behalf. The fitness community is one of the most loyal target markets, which makes corporate sponsorship a great strategy for businesses. Because charity races can be so specific (Breast Cancer walks, bicycle events, Tough Mudders, etc.), brands can reach its desired target market while making a positive impact through philanthropy. This community is not only loyal, but they engage with the brands involved in fitness. As a result, this creates organic and authentic brand champions, which is priceless to a corporate brand. Click here for more details. Michael Jordan’s name is legendary in the sports world. Now he’s making a name for himself as a star philanthropist.
Last month, Michael Jordan doubled down on his investment into Charlotte, North Carolina, with a $500,000 donation to organizations supporting literacy at all age levels. A portion of the money will go towards building 18 libraries for preschools, community centers, and nonprofits in the city’s most underserved neighborhoods. Jordan partnered with Lowe’s and Bank of America to make his gift, and the announcement came a day before the Charlotte Hornets’ annual day of service, Swarm to Serve. Jordan’s donation has been impactful in several ways. First, Hornets employees were able to engage with their owner’s cause in a direct way by helping with the construction of some of the libraries. Second, Jordan picked a cause that will directly benefit from his celebrity and status. His reputation allowed him to secure major partners and together they are having a much greater impact on the community. Lastly, Jordan will continue to grant dollars to literacy programs that will have measurable success. Increased literacy rates are directly linked to economic stability, healthy decision making, and lower crime rates. One of the most effective ways to improve childhood literacy is to increase their access to print materials, and Jordan’s libraries are doing just that. Click here for more details. |
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