NIL nonprofits can't lose in College Football Playoff championship

No matter who takes home the College Football Playoff championship Monday night in Houston, a rare nonprofit from the murky, still-developing world of Name, Image, Likeness programs is set to come out on top

No matter who takes home the College Football Playoff championship Monday night in Houston, a rare nonprofit from the murky, still-developing world of Name, Image, Likeness programs is set to come out on top.

Numerous NIL organizations, which help college athletes get compensated, have sprung up since a Supreme Court decision in 2021 allowed the National Collegiate Athletic Association to pay student athletes for use of their brands — with some restrictions. Many are for-profit organizations that funnel donations they receive to college athletes in return for work they do for the organizations, like personal appearances, signing autographs and posting on social media.

But both Hail! Impact, an NIL organization for the University of Michigan's Wolverines, and Montlake Futures, which supports athletes at the University of Washington, have philanthropy at their cores. They are both registered 501(c)(3) nonprofits. That's increasingly rare in the NIL world, especially after the Internal Revenue Service issued guidance in May that NIL collectives may not qualify as tax-exempt if their main purpose is paying players rather than supporting charitable works.

Andy Johnson, co-founder of Hail! Impact, said his group, which launched in April, worked with the IRS and believes it is the first NIL collective to be designated a charity since the agency issued its guidance about donations. When Hail! Impact receives a donation, 70% of the gift goes to one of its partner charities in its community and 30% goes to the Michigan student athletes who work at events for the charities.

“In every team, especially a football or basketball team, there are going to be a handful of players that the market allows to go out and maximize their NIL opportunities on a commercial basis,” said Johnson, adding that Champions Circle, a for-profit group that supports Michigan student athletes, can help them sign those deals. “But that doesn’t extend to every recruit, every player .... We can address that gap.”