Introducing the Evergreen Athletic Fund

Combine a slowing economy and a post-Olympic year and you have a recipe for struggling amateur athletes. Nike, adidas, and other shoe companies have been the traditional financial backers of elite track and field athletes. Like nearly every other sector of the economy, shoe companies have had their own share of problems recently, including layoffs. Most track and field athletes will have to wait until 2012 to return to the spotlight. With most contracts up for renewal after Beijing, track and field sponsorships have been a quick and easy way for the companies to trim costs.

But the athletes continue to train and dream. Athletes are also thinking up new ideas to help make ends meet. Marathon runner Matt Downin is working to find new sponsors outside of the footwear industry. He is now contracting runners to represent Strands Inc., a developer of social recommendation technology. My former teammate and fellow Bellevue native Mike Sayenko is one of the distance runners representing Team Strands. Another athlete, French pole vaulter Romain Mesnil, has resorted to running naked through the streets of Paris and then auctioning off a sponsorship on eBay. This is a similar approach to what shot putter Adam Nelson had success with back in 2005 (minus the nudity).

EAF: Helping athletes reach the next level.

I’ve begun implementing my own approach. In November, I formed the Evergreen Athletic Fund. We received tax-exempt status from the IRS last month and are now officially up and running. The goal of the Fund is to work together to raise money for Seattle-area throwers training towards the Olympics. Our approach is not new; the New York Athletic Club has been providing similar support to amateur athletes in many sports for years.  However, we think it will provide an additional level of support for local athletes. By working together, we are able to gain several advantages that are not available to individual athletes looking for donors.  For instance:

• Banding together – It is easier to sell a group of athletes than selling one individual.  None of the local athletes involved with the Fund are household names.  However, we create a bigger name by working together.  The whole is now greater than the sum of the parts.  I also find it easier to ask for money on behalf of an organization rather than on behalf of myself.
• Greater opportunity to be heard – Local service clubs and other venues are always eager to have speakers from other non-profit organizations.  This opens us up to a new audience.
• Access to additional corporate donors – Funding a hammer throw  or discus thrower is as much about generosity as it is about business.  Few throwers will prove a worthwhile investment for a company to sponsor.  When seeking a donation of cash or services from a corporation (rather than a sponsorship), most companies require that the recipient is a non-profit.  With this organization, we are now able to approach more potential donors.
• Tax deductions – By forming an organization, we can now offer donors valuable tax deductions for their contributions.

In addition, the organization allows us an opportunity to pass the Olympic dream on to the next generation.  We use the websites I have developed (HSHammer.com, CollegeHammer.com, and Hammerthrow.com) to expose a new generation of athletes to track and field.  We also hope to put on clinics and other educational events in the future.

If you would like to donate or learn more about what we are doing at the Fund, check out our webpage.  Also, here is an article from this week’s Bellevue Reporter that talks about our goals.  Finally, a press release about our formation is available here.