04-03-2025, 05:37 AM
There are two separate issues. The first is whether any work that the athletes due can be classified as for the benefits of a charity. The answer to that is probably yes, as you note, although you can reasonably ask about whether the compensation they receive for that work is truly reflective of that work. Regardless, though, I believe that if they are receiving compensation for that work, it is reportable as income tax (I’m not a tax lawyer, though). I know plenty of people whose employer is a charitable entity (ie, program managers for foundations), and they do pay income taxes on their salaries.
The second question is whether donations to the collectives are tax deductible. As Bob notes, and you had identified earlier, Lifetime Cardinal can be registered as a non-profit, and (maybe) donations to it might be tax deductible (again, not a tax lawyer). My only point is that let’s be honest here, in spirit donations to Lifetime Cardinal might technically be tax deductible (I’ll say again, I’m not a tax attorney) but they utterly fail in the spirit of the idea of donating to charity. Let’s be honest here, anyone donating to Lifetime Cardinal is not doing it so that our athletes can spread positive messages about not doing drugs or mental health. Donors to Lifetime Cardinal are doing it so that we can pay our athletes to play for Stanford. That’s my point. In spirit, calling Lifetime Cardinal (or any collective) a charity is borderline offensive. If people want to pay athletes NIL money that’s their business, but come on… it should not be tax advantaged.
BC
The second question is whether donations to the collectives are tax deductible. As Bob notes, and you had identified earlier, Lifetime Cardinal can be registered as a non-profit, and (maybe) donations to it might be tax deductible (again, not a tax lawyer). My only point is that let’s be honest here, in spirit donations to Lifetime Cardinal might technically be tax deductible (I’ll say again, I’m not a tax attorney) but they utterly fail in the spirit of the idea of donating to charity. Let’s be honest here, anyone donating to Lifetime Cardinal is not doing it so that our athletes can spread positive messages about not doing drugs or mental health. Donors to Lifetime Cardinal are doing it so that we can pay our athletes to play for Stanford. That’s my point. In spirit, calling Lifetime Cardinal (or any collective) a charity is borderline offensive. If people want to pay athletes NIL money that’s their business, but come on… it should not be tax advantaged.
BC