Quote:
Originally Posted by New Era
Really? Can you think of another Calgary based non-charity interest that has dedicated 36 years to supporting the community as part of their operational mission? How many companies provide fund raising opportunities for charities like the Flames? There may be corporations that donate money to charities, and do so on a regular basis through the likes of the United Way and such, but how many of them take an active highly visible role in the community at large? The profile the Flames and their family of athletes, current and past, bring a level of credibility to these charitable efforts that your dear corporations just can't buy.
The Flames have been run as a non-profit interest since they arrived in town. That was the desire of the original ownership group and that spirit continues on today. They do not profiteer from the enterprise and are just short of operating like the Green Bay Packers, which are a true community owned non-profit bearing entity. The Flames do immeasurable goodwill in the community and are part of the fabric that is Calgary. It annoys me when their motives are second guessed like this, especially when they have put up with the Stampede Board for the past 35 years!
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You answered your first question with your last sentence...the Calgary Stampede is legitimately a not-for-profit organization. I'm not sure about their charity preceding the Flames arrival, but I'm also not sure about how much charity the Flames did in their first few years either.
I hate the Stampede for a lot of reasons, but they are generally good corporate citizens, and do a lot on the arts and culture side for the city (look no further than the upcoming youth campus.
I have no doubt the Flames Foundation is a non-profit, but I'm skeptical about the Flames org as a whole (and haven't been able to find anything to support your assertion)...can you provide any evidence to support your claim? If they are a non-profit (I assume you actually mean not-for-profit), shouldn't they have stockpiled even more money to reinvest into their most predictable business need?
While you're at it, how about some evidence of actual conflict between Stampede and Flames (bonus if you can show that the Stampede was any more aggravating)?