In this college football Bowl season and NFL football playoffs, it once again reminds us of the gross abuse of the IRS’s non-profit status for organizations that are hardly deserving of relief from taxes and the ability to offer donors a tax deduction for contributions.
Although the first Bowl game, the Rose Bowl, began in 1902 as a fundraiser for one such deserving entity, the Tournament of Roses and its parade, the first of several such efforts that later included chariot and ostrich races in 1902, it has since become just one of 35 Bowl Games that make billions of dollars and have only a tiny connection to truly charitable organizations, as noted in an opinion piece in today’s USA Today.
The NFL is even less connected historically to anything remotely justifying its 501(c)(3) non-profit status.
While I am not lobbying for that non-profit status to be removed from the NFL, the NCAA or any of the hundreds of other moneymaking machines such as Comic Con, I would like to advocate for the equal 501(c)(3) status of more deserving organizations like Chambers of Commerce, which are relegated to 501(c)(6), the most salient distinction being that the “6” does not allow donors to write off their contributions or member fees as tax deductions.
I would argue that Chambers of Commerce provide a far greater direct benefit to the community at large, as well as the health of the business community, than does the NFL or the NCAA. And Chambers certainly need the assistance more than the NFL or the NCAA.
— By Scott Hettrick