Zach Osterman, Indianapolis Star. 1. Multiple calls to Rodriguez's business manager and agent were not returned. When Hurricane Maria devastated his native Puerto Rico, Beltran launched a fundraiser that he started by donating $1 million of his own money. If it's a non-cash donation, in some instances you must obtain a . . Michael Phelps 5. When he donated $5 million in 2013 to his alma mater, the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC), it was the largest one-time donation to a university by any athlete ever. ", Bondarowicz said some athletes use a charity's money to finance all sorts of costs that go beyond the charity's needs, such as expensing a weeklong stay at a five-star resort when he or she is doing a one-hour seminar at a children's camp. In order to make a difference and to help the society, he established his own non-profit organization in 2013 called Blanket Coverage - The Richard Sherman Family Foundation. Please try again later. The university's student-athletes have nearly 150 deals, and most of them are for marketing products through social media. Not content to merely give generously to charities other individuals were running, he also established his own the Roger Federer Foundation. Who is the most charitable athlete in the world? In 2006, Davis and Celtics forward Paul Pierce took over a celebrity charity event in Los Angeles that the Magic Johnson Foundation had sustained for 20 years, raising millions of dollars. https://www.facebook.com/Charity-Truth-1633642980077593/, https://www.pinterest.com/charitytruth/pins/. Hes given much, much more to other charities, individuals, organizations and disaster-relief efforts. Stories that'll make you smile, The Last Night's Game Team. "When you look at how much money is raised versus how much money actually comes into the organization, you have to scratch your head sometimes to say, 'Were you really in the business of running an event? Through the LeBron James Family Foundation he has raised around $40 million which he has used to support over 1,100 thousands kids to school in his hometown. He supports various charities, including Elton John AIDS Foundation, United Nations Development Programme, and The Trevor Project. Keep a record of the contribution (usually the tax receipt from the charity). The institution also caters to families of the children enrolled there by teaching them how to read and write, how to recycle, and how to manage their health and finances. In 2019, he donated $500,000 to firefighters battling historic wildfires in California. His foundation is best known for coming to the rescue in the wake of Hurricane Harvey in 2017, when Watt raised $37 million to build more than 1,100 new homes and nearly 1,000 new child care and after-school programs in and around the devastated Houston area. He has also shown support for the Bryan Bros. Foundation, City Harvest, the Willow Foundation, and the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation. Weve narrowed down the best charities of different categories to make giving to your favorite cause easier. If you have given or are planning to give to a charity run by an athlete, the OTL report on the fraud and inefficiency inherent in the vast majority of charitable foundations linked to athletes . He was named to Forbes 2012 Most Generous Athletes list for a sizable donation to his alma mater's, University of Mississippi, sports program, named one of the the top philanthropists under age 40 in 2015, and even funds an operational clinic for children at the University of Mississippi . Two years earlier in 2014, he launched the Why Not You Foundation to dedicate much of his off-field time and energy to charity. We give them nonprofit status because that organization is supposed to be giving back to society in some way, shape or form," he said. Kershaw established Kershaws Challenge after he visited Africa with his wife during a Christian mission. 3. With that in mind we built a brief . 11 Cristiano Ronaldo - $8 Million. Being an elite athlete today involves more than just great feats on the court or the field it also includes charitable outreach. In 2020, when tennis great Serena Williams won her first title in more than three years, she donated her $43,000 prize money to relief funds for raging Australian bushfires but that was hardly her first charitable donation. Shop Pay is an innovative payment solution developed by Shopify. Neither the audit nor copies of the correspondence with the IRS were provided to "Outside the Lines.". she donated her $43,000 prize money to relief funds for raging Australian bushfires but that was hardly her first charitable donation. Here at Charity Truth, well help you find the best charities you can give to today And the ones youll want to avoid. She has also been named a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador. Richard Sherman is amongst the most charitable athletes in the NFL. Federer has supported a wide range of charities including the Elton John AIDS Foundation, the Mines Advisory Group, the Small Steps Project, and the Humpty Dumpty Foundation. California ranked as the eighth least charitable state in the nation. Colin Kaepernick Following his acrimonious breakup from the NFL, the former quarterback and current free agent engaged in his charitable mission. A huge portion of that money went towards Nebraska Athletics, while the rest went to the UNL College of Engineering. When fundraising costs with LA Stars exceeded sponsorships, we felt a responsibility to focus on more efficient ways to raise money.". Like everyone else in the Philadelphia area, my least favorite is Ben Simmons, who is unwilling to learn to shoot from the outside, a very learnable skill for an athlete that would do wonders for his team. Plenty of athletes, however, give back by reaching for their own checkbooks to donate to charities, fund disaster-relief efforts, sponsor scholarships and bolster their alma maters because not all athletes are looking to just make outrageous purchases. Gallup has released a new report detailing the most and least generous countries worldwide. Portuguese soccer legend Cristiano Ronaldo is one of the greatest and richest footballers in history and hes famous for spreading his money off the field when hes not earning it on the field. Most Supported Charities. Links for Learning was officially terminated, but Moss' Foundation for Children is still presumably active, at least according to IRS records. Reddit Ask Social media Mobile app Meta/Reddit Information & communications technology Technology . Moss -- who had signed a $27 million contract with the New England Patriots -- gave $21,500 to initially fund his Foundation for Children, which spent the money on Christmas gifts for children living near his hometown of Rand, W.Va. His other charity, Links for Learning, raised money from a golf tournament and spent about $72,000 repairing sports facilities at schools. She later sponsored an online quiz-based drive that got sponsors to donate 10 grains of rice for every correct answer it fed 100,000 people. Check out these generous NFL players and share this post to spread gratitude. "If you're not going to properly support an organization, why have it?" The couple donated another $5,000 to the. He kicked in a lot of that money himself and he currently donates all proceeds from his Valor shoe line to veterans organizations. In 2010, Favre combined his Brett Favre Fourward Foundation with his wife Deannas charity and created the Favre 4 Hope Foundation. Athletes are known for using their massive salaries and endorsement deals to furnish lavish lifestyles sometimes to the point of going broke. ", Despite that argument and the bottom line, Berger, from Charity Navigator, stands firm, saying the shootout was, "so vastly inefficient that it just sort of trumps everything else. . He also donated $1,000 for every catch he made and 10 cents for every new Twitter follower. These athletes strive to make the world a better place every day. Tebows name is synonymous with Christianity, so it seems somewhat expected that he incorporates charitable efforts into his life its what a good Christian would do. Cristiano Ronaldo 3. These are the 20 most charitable athletes in the world. Considered by many as one of the greatest basketball players of all time, LeBron James is also one of the most charitable athletes around. These offers do not represent all available deposit, investment, loan or credit products. His foundation has raised $40 million for the After-School All-Stars and his I Promise program provides mentors, supplies, support and programs for 1,400 Akron students much of which comes from James own donations. Tennis great Maria Sharapova has a long legacy of charitable giving. Mel Gibson. Its income and deductions were not challenged." Below is a rundown of the most charitable NBA athletes and the people they help prosper. He also established the Larry Fitzgerald First Down Fund, which helps children by providing funding for positive activities such as youth football camps and supporting children in crisis as well as health-related organizations that deal with families. The weekend of celebrity basketball games, poker tournaments and entertainment touted big-name sponsors such as Coors, Clear Channel and Spalding and featured household names such as Jessica Alba, Usher, Snoop Lion and Donnie Wahlberg as well as several NBA players. 24 Hour Services - Have an emergency? Williams supports numerous charitable organizations, amongst them the Common Ground Foundation, Build African Schools, the Elton John AIDS Foundation, the Eva Longoria Foundation, Hearts of Gold, and more. Foundations can be organized as various forms of legal entities. Russell Wilson, Nick Foles, and recently . He has also hosted or helped organize a variety of events that benefit the youth of the community, and has donated to the Living Classrooms Foundation. Requests for copies of the charities' IRS forms -- which must be made public -- went unfulfilled long after the 30 days required by law. QCDs count toward your RMD if you are required to take one. Take a closer look at some of 2020's top donors. Mike Mussina. The World's Most Entertaining Car Website. Moved Permanently. In 2015, legendary New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees donated $1 million to the football program of his alma mater Purdue University, but hes long been charitable in his adopted city of New Orleans. Neymar Jr 7. "It's critical that when these kind of opportunities are available that the celebrities involved realize the profound responsibility that they have to try to get as much money to support these worthy causes as they can and to make sure they don't damage the public trust," he said. Why not help them as opposed to just letting something flounder? All in the family: how three generations of Jaquezes have ruled West Coast basketball. In the ensuing years, shes donated large portions of her T-shirt sales to childrens martial arts and her pet topic of mental health. With social media, the "megaphone" of sports stars now reaches even farther, and many Christian football players use their platform to spread the Gospel. But instead of raising money for Team Play or the Truth Foundation, LA Stars took money from Team Play -- a total of $623,000, according to the charity's IRS filings. Watchdog groups like Charity Navigator and the Better Business Bureau have standards that go beyond IRS regulations, and those standards are what "Outside the Lines" used to assess the charities in its study. Russell Wilson, Nick Foles, and recently . Most charitable athletes Lance Armstrong. His Lebron James Family Foundation gave $2.5 million and 1,000 new computers to the Boys and Girls Club of America, and James himself gave $2.5 million to the Smithsonian National Museum of African-American History and Culture. It further funds schools in Kenya and immunization programs in Ghana. Hes also known, however, to open his own wallet. is so widespread in the NBA that at least 40 players have been inducted into the organization's Alumni Hall of Fame - about 20 percent of the total inductees. The loss of a major corporate sponsor resulted in the Kyle Petty Charity Ride's percentage to charity dipping to 46 percent in 2010 and 60 percent in 2011, former NASCAR driver Kyle Petty told "Outside the Lines.". His agent did not return calls seeking comment, and an accountant who serves on the Foundation for Children board of directors declined to comment. 4. Find Out: Todays Richest Athletes in the World. Here are 25athletes in a wide range of sports who have shown the world exactly how generous and charitable some athletes can be. Serena Williams is another athlete that does not need an introduction. "There are hundreds and thousands of qualified organizations and many, many people who are legitimately trying to do good things. Much like Moss' charities, both seem to have fizzled. Lea Good, Emma Ramsey, Julia Ramsey, and Katherine Siedem were selected to join 130 other athletes nationwide for the National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA) 2022 Impact Senior Team. The fund charges a 0.60% annual administrative fee (or a flat fee of $100, whichever is greater) for . Hes donated his winnings from the Chevron World Challenge every year since the events genesis in 1999. Berger, the charity watchdog expert, said he would give the charity a "zero rating" for its finances, because Charity Navigator expects nonprofits to spend a minimum of 66 percent on actual charitable work.