Icing the buck
Overhead for charity arm of Coyotes threatens franchise image
Sept. 18, 2003 12:00 AM
Every fund-raiser for charity has overhead costs. But when overhead charges reach 69 percent of what is raised, something is afoul.
The tax returns for Coyotes Charities, the fund-raising arm of the Phoenix Coyotes hockey team, show the group spent on itself more than two-thirds of its revenue over the past two years.
That is just wrong. It is an injustice to contributors to the fund, and it blemishes the community image of the Coyotes, whose well-publicized financial woes have obscured the solid- local-citizen profile the team has projected since it first arrived in the Valley in 1996.
Financial trouble on the hockey-business side is no excuse for the kind of expenses Coyotes Charities has racked up.
As reported by The Republic's Craig Harris, the charity paid $37,000 in management fees back to the team in 2002. None of Arizona's other major sports franchises assesses such a fee.
Other expenses of the charitable foundation have included entry fees for golf tournaments sponsored by other charities, and meals at expensive restaurants. One festive evening at Foster's, a restaurant in north Scottsdale, cost the charity $1,811.
The saddest example among the charge-backs was a $20,000 payment the charity made on behalf of owner Steve Ellman so he could attend an event for another charity. While half of Ellman's dues paid to the Fight Night Foundation were earmarked for a charity of his choosing (in this case, Coyotes Charities), it scarcely absolves the act of robbing Peter of $10,000 to pay Paul.
To his credit, new Coyotes President Doug Moss insists things will change. The team's new managers have invested heavily in crafting a sterling new image for the Coyotes that includes a host of new players, new uniforms and, of course, a handsome new arena nearing completion in Glendale.
While Coyotes Charities consistently has been the smallest charitable arm among the Valley's four major sports franchises - it donated less than $160,000 in 2002 while Diamondbacks Charities, for example, distributed $1.4 million - its contributions are important. Among its beneficiaries has been Newspapers in Education, a program run by The Republic that puts newspapers into classrooms.
The team insists charitable giving will increase once its season begins in its new arena. That's welcome news. It will be good to put such discouraging reports on ice.
