About Tennis For Good
What’s your origin story?
Longtime social entrepreneur and Tennis for Good founder Carl Frankel wrote a book called Tennis as a Wisdom Practice: A Story About the Quest for Mastery. He created a Facebook group by the same name, posted daily ‘tennis wisdom meditations,’ and gained a modest global following. Along the way, it occurred to him that if he was claiming to be teaching wisdom, he wouldn’t be practicing what he preached without adding an active service component to his work. Thus was Tennis for Good born.
The specific inspiration came to him from this quote by the Indian poet Rabindranath Tagore: “I dreamt that life was joy, I awoke and saw that life was service, I acted and behold, service was joy.”
Are you an official non-profit?
Yes, we are. We are a US-based 501(c)(3). We are registered in New York State and have tax-exempt status with the IRS.
How do I know that you’re actually doing what you claim to do?
In line with our commitment to 100% transparency, we will publish an annual report detailing our performance, including a full accounting of income, expenses and disbursements including donations to our Nonprofit Partners.
How did you come to choose your current roster of Nonprofit Partners?
Months before the Tennis for Good concept was born, the grassroots nonprofit Tennis for All Uganda came to our attention because a notice about it was posted on founder Carl Frankel’s Tennis as a Wisdom Practice Facebook group. He didn’t know if it was legitimate so he did some due diligence and discovered that it wasn’t just above board — it was wonderful. In this manner, the world of grassroots tennis nonprofits was introduced to him. After he conceived of Tennis for Good, he approached Geoff Moore, an impact investor and member of the Tennis for All Uganda Board of Directors who pointed him to other great grassroots nonprofits, including the other three (Tennis Aid, One Love Tennis, and Proset Inclusive Canada) that are Tennis for Good’s launch Nonprofit Partners. Props to Geoff for his great support!
All four Nonprofit Partners meet the required specifications: They are grassroots, they serve an underserved community (or communities), they are underfunded, and collectively they deliver global coverage.
How is your revenue divided between donations to your Nonprofit Partners and defraying your own costs?
Eighty percent of the sales commissions we derive from our Retail Partners and our Teaching Partners is donated to our Nonprofit Partners.
We retain all net revenue from our book and merchandise sales.
In some instances, our Teaching Partners donate their time, in which case the revenue they would have earned instead goes to Tennis for Good. When this is the case, it is noted on the website.
Tell me about your executives’ salary structure.
There is no salary structure. Executive director Carl Frankel volunteers his time and he is currently the sole staffer. He happily takes payment in the form of good karma and good vibrations.
Getting Involved
I love the Tennis for Good concept. How can I help?
If you don’t have an online business, there are basically three ways you can help. You can buy from one of our Retail Partners, making sure you ‘bounce’ there from our website. You can donate directly to Tennis for Good. And: You can spread the word. Tennis for Good will raise money for grassroots tennis programs in direct proportion to how much the concept spreads virally.
If you do have an online business that would make a good fit for Tennis for Good, you can join us as a Retail Partner.
Do I have to ‘bounce’ from the Tennis for Good website to a Retail Partner website every time I want to buy from the Retail Partner and support your work?
Technically, no. Most affiliate-marketing cookies are good for thirty days. In other words, if you visit Retail Partner A today, we will get a sales commission for anything you buy there for the next thirty days. As a practical matter, though, it’s better to ‘bounce’ every time. For one thing, thirty days passes quickly — you don’t want to think you’re helping and be wrong. For another, not all affiliate-marketing cookies are created equally. While most are good for 30 days, others have a much shorter window. For these reasons, we recommend bouncing from our website every time.
Are direct donations to Tennis for Good tax-exempt?
Because Tennis for Good is a 501(c)(3) corporation with tax-exempt status, all donations to Tennis for Good are tax-exempt. (This is true for United States citizens. If you’re from another country, please confirm that your donation will be tax-deductible.)
I don’t live in the United States. Can I get involved?
You most certainly can. The only requirement is that the Retail Partner ships to where you live — and if you’re buying a service like an online tennis course, that only needs to be downloadable where you live.
We’re constantly seeking to expand our roster of Retail Partners with an eye toward making it easy and desirable to support Tennis for Good and its Nonprofit Partners regardless of where you live.
