[BobK]

https://gostanford.com/news/2025/10/8/st...-m-freeman

[BobK]

https://gostanford.com/news/2025/10/8/st...-m-freeman

[terry]

Great news!

[terry]

Great news!

[SkiBum80]

Wow
Impressive
My hope is focus priority on OLine and DLine.
To borrow and mangle a quote from Field of Dreams:
If you build it (the Lines), they (QB, ...) will come.

[SkiBum80]

Wow
Impressive
My hope is focus priority on OLine and DLine.
To borrow and mangle a quote from Field of Dreams:
If you build it (the Lines), they (QB, ...) will come.

[martyup]

If the funds are donated to Stanford, how can they be used for NIL payments?  I thought no NIL payments could come from the schools, just outside businesses/collectives.

[martyup]

If the funds are donated to Stanford, how can they be used for NIL payments?  I thought no NIL payments could come from the schools, just outside businesses/collectives.

[BobK]

Stanford and other schools now pay their players. I believe 6 sports at Stanford. Donations are and have been made to cover some ? All? I don’t know

[BobK]

Stanford and other schools now pay their players. I believe 6 sports at Stanford. Donations are and have been made to cover some ? All? I don’t know

[TonyLima]

For NIL etc.

Edit: sorry, Bob’s post didn’t show up in my feed before I posted this.

[TonyLima]

For NIL etc.

Edit: sorry, Bob’s post didn’t show up in my feed before I posted this.

[chrisk]

If the funds are donated to Stanford, how can they be used for NIL payments?  I thought no NIL payments could come from the schools, just outside businesses/collectives.

Schools can pay $20.5 million total to all their athletes annually.

[chrisk]

If the funds are donated to Stanford, how can they be used for NIL payments?  I thought no NIL payments could come from the schools, just outside businesses/collectives.

Schools can pay $20.5 million total to all their athletes annually.

[BostonCard]

Assuming a 5% payout, to fully endow the House settlement payments you’d need a $400 million endowment, so this will be a substantial help, but this will put out about $2.5 million a year for House payments.

I wonder if this will fund the Bradford Freeman Quarterback.

BC

[BostonCard]

Assuming a 5% payout, to fully endow the House settlement payments you’d need a $400 million endowment, so this will be a substantial help, but this will put out about $2.5 million a year for House payments.

I wonder if this will fund the Bradford Freeman Quarterback.

BC

[BobK]

$25M ?

[BobK]

$25M ?

[cardcrimson]

Anybody know what position he played, and how good he was. Just curious. . . .

And grateful. . . .

[cardcrimson]

Anybody know what position he played, and how good he was. Just curious. . . .

And grateful. . . .

[murky]

$25M ?

The flow of post made the numbers look funny, I think he meant 5% of the $50 million, not the $400 million.

[murky]

$25M ?

The flow of post made the numbers look funny, I think he meant 5% of the $50 million, not the $400 million.

[chrisk]

Assuming a 5% payout, to fully endow the House settlement payments you’d need a $400 million endowment, so this will be a substantial help, but this will put out about $2.5 million a year for House payments.

I wonder if this will fund the Bradford Freeman Quarterback.

BC

This commitment sounds more like a pledge that will be paid out as expended. No reason to pay 8% tax on several million dollars per year in earnings. Freeman may be able to do better if he holds onto it.

I would think that the hope would be that this donation can provide significant funding in the early years while the fundraising ramps up and works toward more broad-based support as the program improves.

---

frontofficesports.com gives Stanford Football one of its up arrows today.

Stanford football ⬆ The program has received a $50 million gift from former trustee Bradford M. Freeman, who played for the Cardinal in the 1960s and went on to become a successful financial investor and political fundraiser. Led by GM Andrew Luck and interim coach Frank Reich, Stanford is currently 2–3 this season and plays at SMU on Saturday.

[chrisk]

Assuming a 5% payout, to fully endow the House settlement payments you’d need a $400 million endowment, so this will be a substantial help, but this will put out about $2.5 million a year for House payments.

I wonder if this will fund the Bradford Freeman Quarterback.

BC

This commitment sounds more like a pledge that will be paid out as expended. No reason to pay 8% tax on several million dollars per year in earnings. Freeman may be able to do better if he holds onto it.

I would think that the hope would be that this donation can provide significant funding in the early years while the fundraising ramps up and works toward more broad-based support as the program improves.

---

frontofficesports.com gives Stanford Football one of its up arrows today.

Stanford football ⬆ The program has received a $50 million gift from former trustee Bradford M. Freeman, who played for the Cardinal in the 1960s and went on to become a successful financial investor and political fundraiser. Led by GM Andrew Luck and interim coach Frank Reich, Stanford is currently 2–3 this season and plays at SMU on Saturday.

[fullmetal]

This is a nice anchor for what I'm sure will be many conversations during Reunion Homecoming weekend.

[fullmetal]

This is a nice anchor for what I'm sure will be many conversations during Reunion Homecoming weekend.

[BostonCard]

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.

[BostonCard]

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.

[TonyLima]

Thank you, mods, for merging the two threads.

[TonyLima]

Thank you, mods, for merging the two threads.

[PalmTree]

Assuming a 5% payout, to fully endow the House settlement payments you’d need a $400 million endowment, so this will be a substantial help, but this will put out about $2.5 million a year for House payments.

I wonder if this will fund the Bradford Freeman Quarterback.

BC

This commitment sounds more like a pledge that will be paid out as expended.  No reason to pay 8% tax on several million dollars per year in earnings. Freeman may be able to do better if he holds onto it.

I would think that the hope would be that this donation can provide significant funding in the early years while the fundraising ramps up and works toward more broad-based support as the program improves.

---

I also thought the gift sounded expendable at first but then re-read the announcement which mentioned it'd also support a number of scholies, which tend to be supported by endowments (at least for grad aid gifts/funds I worked with in one of the schools). That got me to wondering if there was another possibility for the $50M gift - that part of the gift is expendable - "seed" money for NILs, program improvements and other immediate needs - and part endowed - to support scholies & other identified purposes best served with steady long term income.  This would be rare, but I'm pretty sure, allowed, by the university's current fund management system/GAAP. Additional/future fundraising would just be targeted according to identified priorities.

[PalmTree]

Assuming a 5% payout, to fully endow the House settlement payments you’d need a $400 million endowment, so this will be a substantial help, but this will put out about $2.5 million a year for House payments.

I wonder if this will fund the Bradford Freeman Quarterback.

BC

This commitment sounds more like a pledge that will be paid out as expended.  No reason to pay 8% tax on several million dollars per year in earnings. Freeman may be able to do better if he holds onto it.

I would think that the hope would be that this donation can provide significant funding in the early years while the fundraising ramps up and works toward more broad-based support as the program improves.

---

I also thought the gift sounded expendable at first but then re-read the announcement which mentioned it'd also support a number of scholies, which tend to be supported by endowments (at least for grad aid gifts/funds I worked with in one of the schools). That got me to wondering if there was another possibility for the $50M gift - that part of the gift is expendable - "seed" money for NILs, program improvements and other immediate needs - and part endowed - to support scholies & other identified purposes best served with steady long term income.  This would be rare, but I'm pretty sure, allowed, by the university's current fund management system/GAAP. Additional/future fundraising would just be targeted according to identified priorities.

[BostonCard]

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

[BostonCard]

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

[fullmetal]

I think it is a thing, but I also think that you wouldn't need to set up a foundation if you were donating directly to a 501©(3)...this excludes NIL collectives.  And also, you cannot receive any tangible benefit from the recipient of the donation, so no season tickets, PSLs, field passes, etc.  And yes, I think in-kind donations of appreciated equities (public or private) can be donated without first selling under the above conditions as well as the condition that they must have been held for at least a year (otherwise the tax-deductible value will be just the cost basis).

[fullmetal]

I think it is a thing, but I also think that you wouldn't need to set up a foundation if you were donating directly to a 501©(3)...this excludes NIL collectives.  And also, you cannot receive any tangible benefit from the recipient of the donation, so no season tickets, PSLs, field passes, etc.  And yes, I think in-kind donations of appreciated equities (public or private) can be donated without first selling under the above conditions as well as the condition that they must have been held for at least a year (otherwise the tax-deductible value will be just the cost basis).

[chrisk]

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 not 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.

[chrisk]

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 not 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.

[TonyLima]

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.

[TonyLima]

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.