Ditka to dissolve assistance fund after critical report

[Pujo]

Looks like Ditka needs to worry about his own problems more and the Patriots less.

http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news?slug=ap-nfldisability&prov=ap&type=lgns

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- Mike Ditka will dissolve his Hall of Fame Assistance Trust Fund in the wake of a report that the charity had given only a small amount of money to needy former NFL players.

USA Today reported last week that Ditka's fund had collected $1.3 million since it was formed in 2004, but netted only about $315,000 after expenses and distributed just $57,000 to former players.

 

[BradyManny]

WTF, 1.3 mill and he only turns out $57K? I'm sorry, but that's pathetic and there's gotta be some corruptness involved there.

 

[FirstAndGoal]

Startup costs. I don't think anything funny is going on. Ditka isn't the type as much as he can be an ass.

 

[pol_troop]

Maybe someone needs to do a Ditka prayer?

 

[BTTA]

Startup costs. I don't think anything funny is going on. Ditka isn't the type as much as he can be an ass.

A million dollars in start up and fund raising costs? Sounds a bit extreme, to say the least.

 

[FirstAndGoal]

A million dollars in start up and fund raising costs? Sounds a bit extreme, to say the least.

It depends. Lawyer fees, office space, salaries, promotional events (meetings), travel, etc.

It could cost that much. He's not trying to start a pizza joint. He's trying to start an organization with rules, policies, outreach programs, etc.

He was just over his head IMHO.

 

[phimseto]

There might be something unseemly going on, but I doubt pretty strongly that Mike Ditka had anything to do with it. Celebrity-driven charities have this problem a lot, like the Baldwins' breast cancer awareness charity. There's probably some kind of racket to gaming the systems that people use. The celebrities pushing these charities really have no idea how things are run. That is the case most of the time, at least, and I'm sure it's the case with Ditka's fund. I'm sorry to hear that's the case, too. It is a worthwhile charity.

 

[Snake]

Jim Rome is presently discussing this on Rome is Burning.

 

[PlattsFan]

That's too bad because this charity (and work pushing the NFL and NFLPA to pony up for former players) is really needed.

 

[PatsFanSince74]

It depends. Lawyer fees, office space, salaries, promotional events (meetings), travel, etc.

It could cost that much. He's not trying to start a pizza joint. He's trying to start an organization with rules, policies, outreach programs, etc.

He was just over his head IMHO.

we don't know yet. but he might have been trusting the wrong people who were padding their pockets and expense accounts. he's never struck me as having a lot of "non-football" intelligence. we sometimes forget that there are high profile sports personalities whose abilities are pretty limited outside of football.

he's been really negative, judgmental and self-righteous about the pats so i really don't have much sympathy for him, but i feel very bad for the players he thought he was helping.

 

[The Boston Patriot]

Another dismal failure for Ditka. Am I surprised? No, not at all...

Big mouth, no brains...

 

[Steamer86]

Well done is better than well said. Ditka talked a big game.....

 

[eom]

they just failed to report the whole story.

it was actually $57k distributed PLUS 1000 cases of his bbq sauce.

 

[fnordcircle]

Organizing fund raisers, sending out cards asking for donations, flying your fund raising employees out to expensive events, these are not things that are free.

I have no doubt that there was probably some expenses that could have been avoided, but saying OMG 57k out of 1.3m is oversimplifying it.

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

No it's NOT oversimplified.
Sad to say many such 'non-profit' orgs pay very large salaries and expense accounts to the top dogs. I do not want to discourage charitable contributons by anyone, especially in the Christmas season but people please look into the charities that you choose. Don't use cynicism as an excuse to give little or nothing, just do your homework.

 

[He Ban Me]

No it's NOT oversimplified.
Sad to say many such 'non-profit' orgs pay very large salaries and expense accounts to the top dogs. I do not want to discourage charitable contributons by anyone, especially in the Christmas season but people please look into the charities that you choose. Don't use cynicism as an excuse to give little or nothing, just do your homework

Could you do it for me?? Please check in to the "Human Fund". It sounds a little fishy, but worthwhile at the same time. I'm confused.

 

[patchick]

Don't use cynicism as an excuse to give little or nothing, just do your homework.

Much easier now than it used to be, too, since a couple of different groups report on charities' spending/finances and rate their efficiency. The variability turns out to be HUGE. One year my family wanted to give to a visiting nurses' agency. There turned out to be three in our region -- three organizations doing the same work in the same area. The percent of their spending that went to "administration" ranged from 25% to 70%.

In Ditka's case, there's very little chance he had anything to do with the actual mechanics of the charity. Probably he was more disgusted than anyone to hear that so little good had been done.

 

[abejarano12]

Ditka has said some really dumb things about the Pats, but I don't think that he had any thing fishy going on in his charity work.

 

[BradyManny]

Ditka has said some really dumb things about the Pats, but I don't think that he had any thing fishy going on in his charity work.

Surprise, surprise, ESPN comes to his defense:

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=3150418

Read between the lines, and it basically looks like the organization got exposed and is trying to make up for it now. Not saying he personally had anything to do with it, but that's just one crappy organization.

 

[njpatsfan]

Sadly, charities are one of the biggest scams going today in America. Tax exempt status, little government oversight and lax governance laws have created a system ripe for abuse. Tellingly, a charity that gives out only 60% of what it takes in is considered a "good" charity.

Often times the boards are paid out of charity funds, and are stocked with relatives and cronies of the management. Lack of transparency and conflicts of interests about. A CEO of a charity often makes a good 6 figure salary, and big ones have 7 figure salaries.

A great site to check out the particulars of your favorite charity is www.give.org. I've used it for years .... it's been my experience that if the charity doesn't have a report there, then there's a good chance that there is something fishy going on in that organization.

R