Dan Snyder’s Commanders in trouble as report reveals NFL team’s charity has red flags, with potential of abuse “really, really high”
Dan Snyder and the Washington Commanders find themselves in the headlines when it comes to the team's charity. The Commanders Charitable Foundation gets close to 75 percent of its donations from fans and the public. However, the foundation has been called into question as to whether it is maintaining its charitable objectives in a responsible manner.
Aaron Dorfman is president and CEO of the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy. He commented that the charity's practice of filling the board with team employees was concerning. Dorfman said:
"The potential for abuse is really, really high."
Nonprofit watchdog groups CharityWatch and the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy looked at the charity's tax filings. Both groups note that there are red flags to justify the attention of attorneys general in the two states where they operate: Maryland and Virginia. The attorney general oversees nonprofits at the state level and has the power to impose civil penalties.
NEW: The Washington Commanders Football Charitable Foundation is operating in a manner that calls into question whether it is upholding its charitable mission, according to two independent watchdog groups and an ESPN analysis of financial documents
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ESPN started examining the foundation's finances after the foundation wrote a bad check worth $14,822 to the winner of its 50/50 raffle in September. The foundation said it was a "bank error" and commented that the team wired the ticket holder his prize money.
As of March 31 last year, the foundation had a little under $1.7 million in cash on hand, according to its most recent filings. They had an average of $2.1 million in the bank in the last five years.
What were some of the major red flags with the Washington Commanders charity?
One of the major red flags for the Washington Commanders charity is that it lacks sufficient independent oversight. Co-CEO of the Commanders, Tanya Snyder, was the foundation's only voting board member starting March 31 last year through April of this year. She took on a greater role in the team in July 2021 after Dan Synder was suspended after an NFL investigation into the franchise's work environment.
Dorfman stated that it is a breach of all the ideal practices in philanthropy. Laurie Stryon, CharityWatch's executive director, concurred with Dorfman. Stryon said:
"This is a big problem. One person can't govern themselves. There is no board. There is no independence. There are no checks and balances against conflict or competing interests."
Next, the Commanders' charity owes money to and is owned by Dan Snyder. The charity also included odd transactions in its financial filings. One transaction is how it accounts for ticket donations.
The other one is the designation of a $6K payment to a for-profit company that gave marketing services to the foundation as a "donation." Lastly, the charity made grants to organizations that didn't mesh with its stated mission.
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