Russell Wilson Charity Scam

[Richard Noggin]

1 hour ago, GolfandBills said:

Let me guess.. You probably think Columbus sailed the ocean blue in 1492 and discovered America too right?

 

You might like Howard Zinn's A People's History of the United States. I seek the most evidence-based truths I can find. Untruths about the overall frequency of non-profit malfeasance do NOT line up with reality. There is inefficiency and bloat in some non-profits, just like some/many for-profit corps, but the majority are small, threadbare, noble organizations.

 

I'm no fan of Russel Wilson the player. I don't know Russel Wilson the person, but I presume we wouldn't exactly hit it off.

[Ethan in Cleveland]

There has always been something rotten about this guy. He was never liked in the locker room in Seattle. Obviously they were fine moving on from him. 

[Shaw66]

9 hours ago, sullim4 said:

 

The linked article isn't very complete.  Here's a copy from Yahoo Sports which cites the original USA Today article, which does cite the salaries paid out: https://sports.yahoo.com/russell-wilsons-why-not-you-foundation-reportedly-spent-more-on-employee-salaries-than-charitable-activities-185532088.html

 

 

All I will add to the salary thing - the CEO of Northwest Harvest, one of the two major food banks in the Seattle area and one of the most well known charities in the region, is pulling in $175,000 according to Charity Navigator.  The salary itself is certainly comparable to Tarpley's, but size and scope of the two CEOs' workloads certainly cannot be compared.

 

It's entirely possible that everything is above board, but the response from Wilson's charity didn't refute any of the reporting.

Thanks.  I agree.  An organization that size shouldn't need two exe s earning that kind of money.  And spending $800,000 on a gala seems way out of line, too.  

[Bob Jones]

10 hours ago, Shaw66 said:

You're correct about this.   The extent of ignorance about nonprofits is remarkable, and it comes out on this board whenever there's a report like this.  

 

Notice that this article doesn't say how much anyone in the foundation actually got paid, other than one friend of Wilson's being paid $100,000.  Directors of many nonprofits are not paid anything, and this report doesn't say how much, if anything, all of these directors are paid.  

 

The report also says the foundation had revenues of $7.5 million but distributed only $2.8 million.  It DOESN'T say the rest of the money went to Wilson's friends or others.  It's quite possible, in fact likely, that the Foundation is making grants over time; if they passed out all the money immediately, the Foundation would close up shop unless more money came it.  And if they're in the business of giving scholarships, they want to build endowment.   In other words, there are plenty of reasons why they might not have distributed the whole $7.5 million.  

 

Plus, where do you think the $7.5 million came from?   Almost certainly, the biggest portion of the money came from Russ and his wife, probably a million or more, maybe several million.   Do you think Wilson is putting all that money in just to waste it?   And if you do think that, whose being defrauded by this foundation?  Wilson, that's who.   So, he's making charitable donations to defraud himself?   

 

Are there fraudulent charities?  Sure.  Is the country awash in fraudulent charities?   No.  There aren't weekly reports in the news about charities stealing from people.  Charities do good work.   

Aren't charity organizations like this required to file annual tax returns? And wouldn't the latter reveal all the answers to the questions you posed in this post? Wilson should make public those tax returns ASAP, to show that everything is on the up & up. If he doesn’t, or won't release those tax returns, then Houston, we've got a problem! LOL

[Luvbills]

11 hours ago, I am the egg man said:

A charitable cause that is fraudulent?

 

…..if folks only knew how few of the dollars donated to a charity actually go to the said “charity”.

There is a site, cannot remember the exact name, where you can check and see how much actually goes to the charity

[Sharky7337]

11 hours ago, wppete said:

Completely agree. I think a lot of people are starting to figure this out.  

Not on this forum everytime something happens everyone rushes to donate their money to them!

[Back2Buff]

Worst part about this whole story was that I read in an article that all his foundation really did was give the net amount (collected minus overhead) to another organization.  So now your donation is being cut into even more with that organization's "overhead".  A true scam Mr. Wilson was running.  It's not uncommon, but these "charities" have been a way for Athletes to funnel money to their friends and family for many, many years.

[DaggersEOD]

11 hours ago, Royale with Cheese said:

I think the decent ones average like 40%-45% towards the cause.

I run a charity for Vets/1st Responders and you really want to find one that’s in the 80-85% range. That’s really the sweet spot that good charities aim for.
 

Enough admin to sustain the effort but the vast majority going to whatever cause it supports. 

[Royale with Cheese]

3 minutes ago, DaggersEOD said:

I run a charity for Vets/1st Responders and you really want to find one that’s in the 80-85% range. That’s really the sweet spot that good charities aim for.
 

Enough admin to sustain the effort but the vast majority going to whatever cause it supports. 

 

I read an article years ago and they had these published from the bigger ones.

 

I need to start donating again to St. Judes hospital.  I believe 100% of proceeds go to the hospital.

[PatsFanNH]

11 hours ago, I am the egg man said:

A charitable cause that is fraudulent?

 

…..if folks only knew how few of the dollars donated to a charity actually go to the said “charity”.

So true! Why if you’re going to give to charity you need to look them up! IMO the best charity is St Jude’s Hospital.. 

[wppete]

14 minutes ago, Sharky7337 said:

Not on this forum everytime something happens everyone rushes to donate their money to them!

 
That’s true they are making the employees of these ‘charities’ rich. It’s becoming comical at this point. 

[Don Otreply]

11 hours ago, I am the egg man said:

A charitable cause that is fraudulent?

 

…..if folks only knew how few of the dollars donated to a charity actually go to the said “charity”.

Kinda like them golf balls as of late… twenty in the pocket, five to the charity…, and it gets worse than that, 

If your are going to give, go directly to the organization you want to help out, no middle men/women 

[DaggersEOD]

8 minutes ago, Royale with Cheese said:

 

I read an article years ago and they had these published from the bigger ones.

 

I need to start donating again to St. Judes hospital.  I believe 100% of proceeds go to the hospital.

 

Yeah that’s a great one and so is the Marine Corp Law Enforcement Foundation (98%!)

[Airseven]

Are the millions donated for Hamlin being tracked anywhere? Who specifically is controlling that money?

[Bob Jones]

11 minutes ago, Airseven said:

Are the millions donated for Hamlin being tracked anywhere? Who specifically is controlling that money?

Good post, and good question. I guess after GoFme takes their cut, it'll be less than $10 million, but that's still a lot of dough.

 

My educated guess is that just like in this Wilson story, some close friends of DH, as well as some family members, are going to be making some real nice bank "administering" the charity. And good for them.

[Shaw66]

1 hour ago, Bob Jones said:

Aren't charity organizations like this required to file annual tax returns? And wouldn't the latter reveal all the answers to the questions you posed in this post? Wilson should make public those tax returns ASAP, to show that everything is on the up & up. If he doesn’t, or won't release those tax returns, then Houston, we've got a problem! LOL

I don't think there's a law that that information be made public, but all well-run charities do it. I didn't find it on the website for Wilson's foundation, but that isn't unusual for a small charity like this.  

 

You can get a lot of answers from the return, and from organizations that try to evaluate the worthiness of charities.  

38 minutes ago, Airseven said:

Are the millions donated for Hamlin being tracked anywhere? Who specifically is controlling that money?

Hamlin foundation probably was a private foundation, because most of the mo e came from him.  Not any more.  His is for sure a public foundation now, and someone is going to have to start paying attention to it. 

[nucci]

11 hours ago, John from Riverside said:

I only donate to charities for veterans, and some of them have been iffy

Roswell Park for cancer. Lost too many family members

[H2o]

Russ and Ciara will have to answer for Russ and Ciara. It's not my place to sit here with a robe and gavel. I will say that you could see the change in Russ after they won that first SB in 2014. Two months later Russ and his first wife split. A year later he begins dating Ciara. From that point he seems to have become more of a Prima Donna entertainer type, while becoming less and less genuine. It feels like most of what he, they together, appears to be is a sham. I mean, how many people have you ever seen practice running out of a tunnel onto an empty practice field and even taking it as far as practicing giving people five. It's a bit strange. This is just me standing on the outside looking in, and I could be completely wrong as I know neither of them personally. 

 

 

Edited February 10, 2023 by H2o

[WhoTom]

2 hours ago, Luvbills said:

There is a site, cannot remember the exact name, where you can check and see how much actually goes to the charity

 

https://www.charitynavigator.org/

 

[Augie]

13 hours ago, Richard Noggin said:

That's an insane claim. Of course it's criminal when fraudsters use charitable causes to enrich themselves. But not even remotely true that "most any non profit is shady like this." 

 

I was in real estate here in Atlanta for a few years. The nicest (and most expensive) house I was in was listed for $25 Million. It sold for $17.5 Mil…..to a TV televangelist. That made me feel ill.