WAG Questions about starting a charity

[cbone]

One thing that I have seen in my short involvement in the sport is that it's a wealthy person's sport. Before you jump on the "I'm not wealthy!" response, understand that I mean that relatively. I have felt a strong inclination to start a non-profit charity that allows for payment of fees for lower income individuals or families that have unemployed parents. I have a framework in my head, but I would love ANY practical advice/considerations that you have to offer. I'm not sure that this will be able to take off, but if I can come up with a clear enough concept, I think I will make a go of it.

Let the brainstorming begin!

 

[GymSurvivor]

I have no suggestions except for the fact that this is a wonderful idea!!!

I would also love to see the answers as I'm wanting to start my own charity, except on a completely non-gymnastics related topic.

 

[AmandaLynn]

Does your club have a booster club or a "parent association"? These are typically nonprofits and their purpose is to fundraise in order to reduce competition costs.

Or were you thinking about a charity to help pay tuition for those who can not afford it? If it is the latter, that could get kind of sticky, I would think...

 

[cbone]

Our booster club doesn't serve the function I want to serve. It supports kids at out gym who can already afford to be at our gym. I want to find a way to open up the sport to a whole different group and I envision my focus not being local, since there is a conflict of interest there. It may be sticky, but it can be done. A kid that gets a Pop Warner scholarship doesn't lose their eligibility. I'm certain that it can be structured properly.

 

[Galadriel]

probably not relevant as not usa
our gym - if a talented kid is there and there are money issues there are options.
eg if picked for a regional or national event that is self funded the gym might fundraise or loan the funds . Also help the family with applications for sponsorship.

 

[wallinbl]

Do any YMCAs in your area do gymnastics? There are some around her and they're rather inexpensive. They're not as competitive as most of the clubs, but there's at least a way to get started. You might see about working with them to offer club scholarships for those kids that exceed the YMCAs coaching ability.

 

[cbone]

There's no Y gym in our area, but I'm interested in reaching outside of my community anyway. That's a GREAT idea.

 

[Foxy's Leos]

A few ideas to start:
-Blog about it
-Make an invite on Facebook
-Use your contact from email to call out for ideas, donations to get started....

It is a fabulous idea! You can use my Facebook page to post about it to!

Please let me know when you get going on it, and if there is anything I can do to help once you do. I can add it to my blog
twitter
etc....
We love to support gymnastics, and anything we feel strongly about, and we feel strongly that EVERY child had the opportunity to be a part of something, regardless of their situation.

Great to see you are thinking this way! xox

 

[cbone]

FL, this may take up to a year to get in place, but I really want to do it. I will keep you posted.

Are there any NCAA experts out there with practical knowledge of how to structure this type of assistance?

 

[Deleted member D3987]

i think i know what they're going to say. they are a Nazi organization and there is no love lost for me there. but you must speak to the right people to get the answer you're probably not going to like.

here is who you want to contact:

Committee on Infractions - NCAA.org

 

[bookworm]

Our booster club doesn't serve the function I want to serve. It supports kids at out gym who can already afford to be at our gym. I want to find a way to open up the sport to a whole different group and I envision my focus not being local, since there is a conflict of interest there. It may be sticky, but it can be done. A kid that gets a Pop Warner scholarship doesn't lose their eligibility. I'm certain that it can be structured properly.

Cbone I don't mean to rain on your parade, but this could get VERY messy as you're talking about a year round sport , and who would define who "needs" the help...and then there's the whole NCAA eligibility thing ...and before people say "well it wouldn't just be scholarships for future college gymnasts", if you want to compete in ANY NCAA sport (diving, fencing, skeet shooting...you get my drift), you cannot have accepted any individual money, period.

It's a nice idea but my other concern too would be that the people accepting this help wouldn't realize (at the time) that they had foregone any future NCAA eligibility. You say there is a parents group that is a non-profit in your gym...this would be what they are for. I know that you feel like they don't address the affordability of the sport but in actuality, it's the gym itself that owns that issue, not the parents' group. This is where high school sports and town rec departments come in to play in making gymnastics accessible to those of lesser means..

 

[Pineapple_Lump]

Is this aimed at potential team kids or would it be for any kid to participate in a recreational class? To me the latter is the better option because 5 kids could benefit for the same price as one team kid.

 

[gymdog]

Here's what I think you would have to do: identify gyms to work with (probably in a metro area that is accessible by public transport, not very realistic). Funds aren't the only thing that make gymnastics an impossibility for many families, because transport and parent's work schedules make it hard too.

Then you would fund rec classes, and contract with the gyms to provide a certain number of scholarships for any kids who progressed through the rec path. I think it would have to be an overall program with reduced tuition rates offered by the gym. Which could be funded through a grant from your organization. So you are not cutting a check to individual families. Obviously as to who qualifies, they would have to apply to the program and be accepted, many programs work like this. I wouldn't see the best path as picking through the gym's existing clientele, if they're already paying for gymnastics they either have some money or generous family who can help. Many programs like this exist where kids who qualify (or the program uses the proxy of free lunch program qualification) can participate in a sports program, camp, etc. The difference here is that if the child wants to continue/progress, it requires specialized training.