Athletes for Hope

OUR MISSION

To educate, encourage and assist athletes in their efforts to contribute to community and charitable causes, to increase public awareness of those efforts, and to inspire others to do the same.

OUR PURPOSE

Educate
Athletes, with the proper information and tools, can make a tremendous positive impact on the charitable community. By connecting with professional athletes and teaching them about their philanthropic options, we will equip them with the tools to effectively give back to their community, educate their peers, and inspire many others to support charitable causes.

When AFH recruitment efforts achieved critical mass (passing 500) and momentum continued to be strong, the opportunity for AFH to mobilize athletes transitioned from a concept to a reality, from a vision to an asset. Athlete membership has grown by 56% to 700+ members in the past 2 years. Matches between athletes and charities have grown by 62% year over year, to 450+ matches.

Despite the history of sports as a centerpiece of American culture, the sports field itself is only just becoming a community. Currently, this powerful platform is an untapped resource for most charities and causes. AFH has taken a leadership role in four complementary strategies to catalyze sports philanthropy and to create a movement that is recognized nationwide: 1) education 2) connection 3) collaboration and 4) recognition.

Through these strategies AFH is creating a systemic approach for connecting 20,000+ active professional and Olympic athletes, and 100,000+ retired athletes to social issues. The AFH model is unique, there is no other entity actively uniting athletes and charities, for personal engagement with no focus on money.

AFH's model combines a curriculum-based workshop with a custom matching process that results in deeper civic engagement by the athlete. In 2010, AFH will pilot a variation of its core program for young athletes as part of their team experience. The youth curriculum will reinforce those traits that make for great sportsmanship and great civic engagement, with the goal of giving young athletes the skills, confidence, and enthusiasm to seek opportunities for social engagement over their lifetime. This initiative will be delivered through national partners who specialize in providing youth recreational sports. The target audience is ages 8-14, in urban, under-resourced communities. By 2011, the youth initiative will launch nationally, eventually scaling up to serve a significant portion of the 20 million youth represented by these partner organizations.

Separately, AFH is developing curriculum and educational guides for athletes and their advisors. This "best practices" program will encourage high standards that result in impactful and effective athlete philanthropy. Approaching this process as an individual journey for each athlete will help them determine the opportunities and risks along the way. Part of the material will provide compelling alternatives to starting a foundation. Other components will include webinars, conferences and an online resource.