From the Globe article: Ditka said yesterday the fund's balance of more than $600,000 would be divided between Misericordia, a residential facility for developmentally disabled youth, and Gridiron Greats Assistance Fund, another fund that helps ex-pro football players in need. Well, where to begin? The fact is that a lot of charitable fundraising smells a lot less rosy if you lift the wrapper to take a look. Professional fundraisers create campaigns that gross some impressive numbers, but then they make off with an enormous slice of the pie. Big-name used-to-bes account for a lot of what's left -- appearance fees are the rule, not the exception, and they ain't cheap. And then there are other expenses, like publicity and venues: yes, you can often get some donated time and materials, but not all of it, and what you can get takes time and legwork. The result is that many, quite possibly most "charities" direct a tiny amount of their gross to the ostensible beneficiaries. But almost no one wants to talk about those things, because the truth makes a cynic out of the grassroots donors; they stop giving, and the intended recipients don't get even the pittance that's left after the overhead. The fix, of course, is to do it another way...but that means that you have to do it yourself. You can't just write a check or buy some "portion of the proceeds benefit" chachki, you have to make the phone calls and pound the pavement and do the work, and you have to do it for free. Furthermore, you have to know how it's done, or be willing to take the lumps of learning on the job, because you'll be competing for charity dollars with the six-figure-salaried professional fundraisers. I don't see any suggestion that Ditka feathered his own nest through this "foundation". Perhaps his intentions were entirely good, although I think he's got a pretty strong self-promotion streak, and that that played a role. My guess is that he thought it would be a lot easier and more straightforward than it is. The foundation is being liquidated, which suggests to me that he just doesn't want to play any more. It looks a bit too much like work.
Not that I'm a fan of Mariotti or Ditka, both annoy the hell out of me, but I think it's worth pointing out that Mariotti is (at least now) a columnist and not a journalist. There's a big difference. Columnists' sole job is to spout "unique" opinions and perspective, not to report facts through a journalistic process. This may seem like splitting hairs, but it is a big difference. Columnists are basically the pre-historic blogger...
