A Wonderful donation to Stanford

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RE: A Wonderful donation to Stanford - Maple Leaf - 10-09-2025

I wonder if there is/was any correlation with the timing of the donation and the official departure of the previous AD, Univ. President and Provost?

RE: A Wonderful donation to Stanford - cardcrimson - 10-09-2025

(10-08-2025, 04:37 PM)BostonCard Wrote:
(10-08-2025, 01:00 PM)cardcrimson Wrote: Anybody know what position he played, and how good he was. Just curious. . . .

And grateful. . . .

Yes, “this” was a reference to this gift. 5% of $50 million is $2.5 million, which is what the annual payout would be. In order to have an annual payout of $20 million to cover the full House benefits, you need an endowment of $400 million.

Good info, but not sure that really answered my questions. . ..

RE: A Wonderful donation to Stanford - 82lsju - 10-09-2025

O

(10-08-2025, 01:00 PM)cardcrimson Wrote:
Anybody know what position he played, and how good he was. Just curious. . . .

And grateful. . . .

“Freeman got the name as a freshman at Stanford University. The lanky star end from Fargo High arrived in California with a four-year football scholarship and a sharp sense of humor -- both of which proved critical to his survival. "I went from outstanding player of the year to setting a record at Stanford for the most minutes not played in four years," he says with the distinctive flat vowels of the Dakotas still discernible in his voice.

The other players were bigger, tougher, faster. Freeman's entire college football career lasted a grand total of 10 seconds. "I'm the highest paid student-athlete in NCAA history -- on a per second basis," he adds with a grin.“

https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A60159-2001Jan14.html

RE: A Wonderful donation to Stanford - cardcrimson - 10-09-2025

(10-09-2025, 06:30 PM)82lsju Wrote:
(10-08-2025, 01:00 PM)cardcrimson Wrote:
Anybody know what position he played, and how good he was. Just curious. . . .

And grateful. . . .

“Bradford Freeman was a star football player at his high school in Fargo, North Dakota, and came to Stanford on a football scholarship. In a 2014 interview, he reflected, “I went from outstanding player of the year to setting a record at Stanford for the most minutes not played in four years.”

https://news.stanford.edu/stories/2025/10/stanford-football-gift-bradford-freeman?utm_content=httpsnewsstanfordedustories202510stanfordfootballgiftbradfordfreeman&utm_source=feedotter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=ext-10-07-2025&mkt_tok=NjYwLVRKQy05ODQAAAGdYuOPBt-Zm7zAocUHTg85kOEhwaB4jypHWZtppDEKhyQN2WrLykgREaHeDkDnCmiqW8IQUczRQ00T_tMkSYOqD4HoXOwQJpIZ70pCCQE&fbclid=IwY2xjawNVQBVleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETF5aWxDUHJVbTVkU3VwckY3AR4IMZNCEiiy1u_EgUcLriCkqmJVU2_6r_lkRcvdULzFeIAf7noEzbZ0vW5GuQ_aem_fIS3t2Rv1xtPu5nDhcULVQ

Great quote. Thanks!

RE: A Wonderful donation to Stanford - BostonCard - 10-09-2025

(10-09-2025, 04:49 PM)cardcrimson Wrote:
(10-08-2025, 04:37 PM)BostonCard Wrote:
(10-08-2025, 01:00 PM)cardcrimson Wrote: Anybody know what position he played, and how good he was. Just curious. . . .

And grateful. . . .

Yes, “this” was a reference to this gift. 5% of $50 million is $2.5 million, which is what the annual payout would be. In order to have an annual payout of $20 million to cover the full House benefits, you need an endowment of $400 million.

Good info, but not sure that really answered my questions. . ..

Perhaps I should have replied to the correct person.

BC

RE: A Wonderful donation to Stanford - Jamesy - 10-09-2025

(10-09-2025, 11:19 AM)TonyLima Wrote:
(10-08-2025, 10:50 PM)chrisk Wrote:
(10-08-2025, 07:42 PM)BostonCard Wrote: Question for smarter people than me. If I were a billionaire (I wish, but please indulge me) and I wanted to make a lasting donation to Stanford but didn’t want my donation to get taxed, could I just establish the “Boston Card Family Foundation to Support Stanford” and donate money to that foundation, whose annual payout goes to support Stanford football expenses. It is essentially an endowment, but it is operated by the non-profit foundation and thus not officially part of the endowment.

Is that a thing?

BC

I am a tax planning expert, but whether you donate directly to Stanford or to a private foundation, there are annual limits on the amount you can deduct from income.

It's possible that Freeman could deduct the entire amount in one year, but excess contributions can be carried over for 5 years. It's also possible he already has the money in a private foundation or he could disburse the money over a period of years, which is common with large gifts. I would guess that Stanford football could use a big chunk of this contribution in the next few years.

The reason I hang out here. Actual expertise! Many thanks.

He already has a foundation in place. He donated $5 million to Stanford University in 2023.
https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/956040946/202423209349105127/full

RE: A Wonderful donation to Stanford - Mick - 10-10-2025

(10-09-2025, 06:36 PM)cardcrimson Wrote:
(10-09-2025, 06:30 PM)82lsju Wrote:
(10-08-2025, 01:00 PM)cardcrimson Wrote:
Anybody know what position he played, and how good he was. Just curious. . . .

And grateful. . . .

“Bradford Freeman was a star football player at his high school in Fargo, North Dakota, and came to Stanford on a football scholarship. In a 2014 interview, he reflected, “I went from outstanding player of the year to setting a record at Stanford for the most minutes not played in four years.”

https://news.stanford.edu/stories/2025/10/stanford-football-gift-bradford-freeman?utm_content=httpsnewsstanfordedustories202510stanfordfootballgiftbradfordfreeman&utm_source=feedotter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=ext-10-07-2025&mkt_tok=NjYwLVRKQy05ODQAAAGdYuOPBt-Zm7zAocUHTg85kOEhwaB4jypHWZtppDEKhyQN2WrLykgREaHeDkDnCmiqW8IQUczRQ00T_tMkSYOqD4HoXOwQJpIZ70pCCQE&fbclid=IwY2xjawNVQBVleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETF5aWxDUHJVbTVkU3VwckY3AR4IMZNCEiiy1u_EgUcLriCkqmJVU2_6r_lkRcvdULzFeIAf7noEzbZ0vW5GuQ_aem_fIS3t2Rv1xtPu5nDhcULVQ

Great quote. Thanks!

Love quotes like that. Rick Barry's kid, Jon Barry, was a little-used NBA player who said "I led the league in billions" meaning a stat line of one minute played, then nine zeros straight across, no FGA/FG, 3PTFGA/3PTFG, FTA/FT, TOs, Assts, Fouls.

As for general quotes on athletics, I always liked this one: "Talent sets the floor, character sets the ceiling."

RE: A Wonderful donation to Stanford - SkiBum80 - 10-10-2025

(10-09-2025, 06:30 PM)82lsju Wrote: O
(10-08-2025, 01:00 PM)cardcrimson Wrote:
Anybody know what position he played, and how good he was. Just curious. . . .

And grateful. . . .

“Freeman got the name as a freshman at Stanford University. The lanky star end from Fargo High arrived in California with a four-year football scholarship and a sharp sense of humor -- both of which proved critical to his survival. "I went from outstanding player of the year to setting a record at Stanford for the most minutes not played in four years," he says with the distinctive flat vowels of the Dakotas still discernible in his voice.

The other players were bigger, tougher, faster. Freeman's entire college football career lasted a grand total of 10 seconds. "I'm the highest paid student-athlete in NCAA history -- on a per second basis," he adds with a grin.“

https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A60159-2001Jan14.html

If we keep having so many injuries and transfers out, maybe they'll be another roster spot open for him again.

RE: A Wonderful donation to Stanford - OCcardinal - 10-10-2025

(10-09-2025, 11:19 AM)TonyLima Wrote:
(10-08-2025, 10:50 PM)chrisk Wrote:
(10-08-2025, 07:42 PM)BostonCard Wrote: Question for smarter people than me. If I were a billionaire (I wish, but please indulge me) and I wanted to make a lasting donation to Stanford but didn’t want my donation to get taxed, could I just establish the “Boston Card Family Foundation to Support Stanford” and donate money to that foundation, whose annual payout goes to support Stanford football expenses. It is essentially an endowment, but it is operated by the non-profit foundation and thus not officially part of the endowment.

Is that a thing?

BC

I am a tax planning expert, but whether you donate directly to Stanford or to a private foundation, there are annual limits on the amount you can deduct from income.

It's possible that Freeman could deduct the entire amount in one year, but excess contributions can be carried over for 5 years. It's also possible he already has the money in a private foundation or he could disburse the money over a period of years, which is common with large gifts. I would guess that Stanford football could use a big chunk of this contribution in the next few years.

The reason I hang out here. Actual expertise! Many thanks.

I'm a tax lawyer. I think Boston Card's question was about how to avoid the new 8% tax on endowment profits. I was thinking about this exact problem. I haven't vetted it yet, but a multi-year pledge accompanied by a donation to a separate private foundation seemed like a good option. The only issue is that you are assuming that your foundation's profits would be able to keep up with the endowment's profits. The Stanford Management Company is really good at what they do. They have a 14.2% 5-year annualized return despite the need to be conservative in some of their investments. If you had $50M in the foundation, a 14.2% return for the year would be $7.1M. If the same amount were in Stanford's endowment, the tax on that would be $568K, resulting in an after tax return of $6,532,000 (or 13.06%). So, whoever's managing your foundation would be required to earn a return of greater than 13.06% to make you any better off. If they earn less you are worse off. I don't know that the Federal taxes are material enough to make it worth taking that risk.

RE: A Wonderful donation to Stanford - BostonCard - 10-10-2025

Thanks, OC; that was precisely my question.

Of course, past results are no guarantee of future performance, and there is a question as to whether large endowments will be able to keep up their results going forward. Nonetheless, you raise a really good point; differences in return could wind up being much more important than the tax implications.

BC

RE: A Wonderful donation to Stanford - Treebound - 10-11-2025

Yes, thank you OC. I'm curious, do you have return info for the Stanford Management Company for the last 10 years, or more? The markets have been very kind over the last 5 years. I believe the Management Company also manages the ADs main endowment. The DAPER Advisory Board (I think that's the name) I think may manage a smaller VC based fund, but others may know more here. Would be great to raise Andrew's $400-$500M fund to put us in great position to compete. Hat's off to Freeman for kicking things off in a great way!

RE: A Wonderful donation to Stanford - 82lsju - 10-11-2025

(10-11-2025, 11:49 AM)Treebound Wrote:
Yes, thank you OC. I'm curious, do you have return info for the Stanford Management Company for the last 10 years, or more? The markets have been very kind over the last 5 years. I believe the Management Company also manages the ADs main endowment. The DAPER Advisory Board (I think that's the name) I think may manage a smaller VC based fund, but others may know more here. Would be great to raise Andrew's $400-$500M fund to put us in great position to compete. Hat's off to Freeman for kicking things off in a great way!

“Today, Stanford University announced a 14.3% investment return in its Merged Pool for the year ending June 30, 2025, bringing its five- and 10-year annualized return to 11.7% and 9.4%, respectively. These returns are net of internal and external costs, but do not reflect the Federal excise tax to which Stanford and a small number of other universities are subject. The Merged Pool is the university’s principal investment vehicle.”

https://news.stanford.edu/stories/2025/10/report-investment-portfolio-value-endowment

RE: A Wonderful donation to Stanford - qwerty49 - 10-11-2025

For those of us who haven't sorted out the math, can one of the experts here translate what the Freeman donation means in terms of PLAYERS (ie how many, and for how long) we could conceivably obtain?

Obviously, a great QB costs more than, say an OG, but please give us a sense of what this gift means in terms of bodies, given the current market.

And yes, I suppose we could blow the whole 50M in one year, but I'm guessing that's not the way Stanford will play it.

RE: A Wonderful donation to Stanford - BostonCard - 10-11-2025

The House settlement money is limited, for now, to $20 million, across all sports, though football will take up the lions share due to its importance and the sheer number of players. NIL is above and beyond tha, but it is supposed to be legitimate and not a way to funnel payments from boosters (we will see).

Usually one assumes that 5% of an endowment can be put towards annual payments each year in order to maintain the value of the endowment, so that means the $50 million should be able to pay out $2.5 million annually, or about 1/8th of what Stanford can give out to players under the House settlement.

BC

RE: A Wonderful donation to Stanford - 82lsju - 10-13-2025

(10-11-2025, 08:48 PM)BostonCard Wrote: The House settlement money is limited, for now, to $20 million, across all sports, though football will take up the lions share due to its importance and the sheer number of players. NIL is above and beyond tha, but it is supposed to be legitimate and not a way to funnel payments from boosters (we will see).

Usually one assumes that 5% of an endowment can be put towards annual payments each year in order to maintain the value of the endowment, so that means the $50 million should be able to pay out $2.5 million annually, or about 1/8th of what Stanford can give out to players under the House settlement.

BC

what's the all in cost of endowing an athletic scholarship? He's adding five

Quote:Freeman’s gift includes significant support for institutional NIL and creates five new football scholarships for student-athletes.

if the all in cost is ~$90k (or is it more since many players go to school in the summer) then using the 5% above each one costs $1.8m so that would be $9m of the $50m