- Joined
- Mar 14, 2006
I was going to post this in another thread, but the thread has been closed.
In case people don't know, there is at least one group through which one can make tax-deductible contributions to, if not any skater, than certainly many different skaters. The one I know of is called the New England Amateur Skating Foundation. Unfortunately they don't seem to have a website, but various skaters, such as Nathan Chen and Emmanuel Savary for example, suggest that people who want to support their training do so via the NEASF. I believe that the group is specifically for U.S. skaters for tax reasons but I could be wrong.
I've donated through them twice for a specific skater. Both times, I received a letter confirming that my contribution would be used for that skater's expenses and stating that my donation was tax-deductible. All the money goes to the skater's training costs (they pay the expenses directly) without an administrative fee. The foundation reviews the donation requests and reserves the right to make final decisions about the use of funds, but I have the impression that they generally honor requests. It should also be noted that the skater never learns the identity of the donor, so no donor should expect to get a thank-you note from the skater. It's anonymous support for the skater, which I think is very wise as it keeps the skater from feeling beholden to anyone in particular, which would be a big burden to carry around, and also protects their privacy. Some very kind person or group set this foundation up - it's a labor of love for them to do what they do without charging an administrative fee (speaking as a former non-profit exec).
If you're wealthy , you can also sponsor a skater through this group. I'm not quite sure what that entails... a commitment for substantial, regular contributions, I guess.
I'd be interested to know if people have been involved with other ways of helping out individual skaters. Discussions in this forum about even a star like Patrick Chan make it clear that expenses are a huge burden. I guess it takes a village to raise a skater.
In case people don't know, there is at least one group through which one can make tax-deductible contributions to, if not any skater, than certainly many different skaters. The one I know of is called the New England Amateur Skating Foundation. Unfortunately they don't seem to have a website, but various skaters, such as Nathan Chen and Emmanuel Savary for example, suggest that people who want to support their training do so via the NEASF. I believe that the group is specifically for U.S. skaters for tax reasons but I could be wrong.
I've donated through them twice for a specific skater. Both times, I received a letter confirming that my contribution would be used for that skater's expenses and stating that my donation was tax-deductible. All the money goes to the skater's training costs (they pay the expenses directly) without an administrative fee. The foundation reviews the donation requests and reserves the right to make final decisions about the use of funds, but I have the impression that they generally honor requests. It should also be noted that the skater never learns the identity of the donor, so no donor should expect to get a thank-you note from the skater. It's anonymous support for the skater, which I think is very wise as it keeps the skater from feeling beholden to anyone in particular, which would be a big burden to carry around, and also protects their privacy. Some very kind person or group set this foundation up - it's a labor of love for them to do what they do without charging an administrative fee (speaking as a former non-profit exec).
If you're wealthy , you can also sponsor a skater through this group. I'm not quite sure what that entails... a commitment for substantial, regular contributions, I guess.
I'd be interested to know if people have been involved with other ways of helping out individual skaters. Discussions in this forum about even a star like Patrick Chan make it clear that expenses are a huge burden. I guess it takes a village to raise a skater.