A new generation of givers has emerged from the ranks of America's athletes, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports.
Wealthy, youthful sports stars are giving larger gifts to favorite causes, such as their alma maters and programs in their childhood neighborhoods, the newspaper reported April 24.
Colleges that used to find that former athletes were among the least-giving of their alums now are seeing more high-profile contributions from former student-athletes.
Michigan State is one school that has worked to establish a successful money-raising method that teams star athletes with academic-oriented projects, the paper reports.
"I believe that 79 percent of our athletes eventually contribute to Michigan State," says Terry Braverman, director of the Ralph Young Fund, which raises money for Michigan State athletics.
Steve Smith, a guard with the Atlanta Hawks basketball team, is an example. He gave $2.5 million in 1997 to help build an academic center for student athletes. The center is named for Smith's mother.
Sports agents tell the paper that while the gifts are good for positive publicity and for tax breaks, more and more athletes feel an obligation to share their good fortunes. Rex Gary, a Philadelphia sports agent, says one of his clients, a now-retired baseball star, had given hundreds of thousands of dollars to a church, insisting that the gifts not be publicized.
Beyond their schools, athletes have been making gifts to a variety of causes. Many are aligning themselves with specific charities, using a variety of methods to raise money for them.
For example, Philadelphia Phillies baseball pitcher Curt Schilling has helped generate close to $1 million for the Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Society (Lou Gehrig's Disease).
Fundraisers say the increased giving is being noticed.
"The pay scales have made athletes a target on the radar screen," says Matt Kupec, a former University of North Carolina quarterback who is that school's vice chancellor for university advancement.
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