Sports Philanthropy

Arizona is home to many current and retired professional athletes who give back to the community in important ways. Through the Jerry Colangelo Center for Sports Philanthropy at ACF, athletes now have a trusted, local, nonprofit partner in giving.

Your partner in giving back

Custom services are uniquely tailored to athletes, whose charitable goals and demanding schedules can make managing a foundation on their own a daunting task. Athletes enjoy the experience of supporting important causes, while ACF provides the back-office support, professional investment management, grants administration, and all of the tax, accounting and reporting required for IRS compliance.

A variety of fund options are available to suit nearly any objective. Popular choices among athletes include donor advised funds and scholarship funds to support students from a particular area or school, or those playing a certain sport. 

Services of the Jerry Colangelo Center for Sports Philanthropy include:

• Working with athletes and their advisors and representatives to identify the most appropriate charitable vehicle based on individual goals;
• Developing a giving program tailored to specific interest areas and priorities, such as youth sports and recreation, after-school programs, health services or something else;
• Cost-effective and customized back-office solutions for investment management, due diligence, tax reporting, accounting, and grants management;
• Identification of local, regional and national programs in need of funding;
• Facilitation of grant requests and fielding of inquiries;
• Grant administration services including due diligence, proposal review, check processing and final evaluation;
• Tailored investment options and financial reporting.