Good Sports, Inc.

Kids Who Play Do Better

Braintree, MA   |  www.goodsports.org

Mission

Good Sports gives all kids the lifelong benefits of sport and physical activity by providing new equipment, apparel and footwear to those most in need.

Ruling year info

2004

Chief Executive Officer

Melissa Harper

Chief Operating Officer

Christy Keswick

Main address

1515 Washington Street Suite 300

Braintree, MA 02184 USA

Show more contact info

EIN

75-3138664

NTEE code info

Other Recreation, Sports, or Leisure Activities N.E.C. (N99)

Community Improvement, Capacity Building N.E.C. (S99)

IRS filing requirement

This organization is required to file an IRS Form 990 or 990-EZ.

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Communication

Blog

Programs and results

What we aim to solve

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

Over five million children across the country are without access to proper equipment to participate in regular sports and fitness activities. Only one in three children are physically active everyday, according to Fitness.Gov. Sports and physical activities help youth to create lifelong healthy habits, as well as introduce them to real life social situations and build upon their sensory development. The biggest barriers to consistent play are the rising costs of sports and fitness equipment, barring many children from being active early on in their developmental years. Good Sports, with the help of our partners, is working to eliminate those barriers and give all kids the chance to experience the lifelong benefits of sport.

Our programs

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?

Good Sports, Inc. Programs

Good Sports exists because children in need are missing a key developmental opportunity: the chance to be active and play sports. Limited program budgets and high pay-to-play costs create significant financial barriers for children in need. Active play is essential for a child’s physical, cognitive, social and emotional development.

This is a problem that can be solved and Good Sports plays a key role in the solution. By leveraging key relationships within the sporting goods industry, Good Sports provides brand-new equipment, apparel and footwear to youth organizations in high-need communities. Starting with a donation of 500 basketballs in 2003, Good Sports has now distributed $73 million in equipment across the country to increase access to play for eight million children in need. As the cost of play continues to rise, we are committed to giving every child equal opportunity to play and experience the lifelong benefits of being active.

Population(s) Served
Children and youth
Low-income people

Where we work

Accreditations

Better Business Bureau Wise Giving Alliance 2017

Charity Navigator 4 Star Charity 2017

S&I 100 2017

Charity Navigator 4 Star Charity 2018

Better Business Bureau Wise Giving Alliance 2018

Charity Navigator 4 Star Charity 2019

Charity Navigator Perfect 100 for Financial Accountability & Good Governance 2019

Charity Navigator 4 Star Charity 2020

Charity Navigator 4 Star Charity 2021

Awards

Robert W. Crawford Achievement Prize 2010

National Recreation Foundation

Project Play Champion 2019

Aspen Institute

Videos

Our results

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.

Number of youth who demonstrate that they have developed skills and attitudes to make physical activity a habit

This metric is no longer tracked.
Totals By Year
Population(s) Served

Children and youth

Type of Metric

Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues

Direction of Success

Increasing

Context Notes

To date, Good Sports has served over 8 million kids around the country.

Goals & Strategy

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.

Charting impact

Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.

Create accessibility, equity, and equality in youth sports and physical activity. Through distribution of brand new sports equipment, our goal is to help youth programs gear up and engage the children in their community. By doing so, financial burdens are lightened in these programs so they can offer scholarships to include more kids. Sometimes, they are able to eliminate the cost to play completely. Through the donation of gear, Good Sports aims to help close the gap where many children are barred from sport simply because of the cost.

Good Sports accomplishes our goals by partnering with foundations and companies that share our mission of giving all kids the lifelong benefits of sport and physical activity through providing new equipment, apparel and footwear to those most in need. In addition to financial backing in the form of grants, sponsorships, and individual donations, Good Sports leverages our relationships with many industry leaders in sports equipment manufacturing in order to acquire brand-new donated or deeply discounted sports equipment. Good Sports then utilizes our tested due-diligence process to vet organizations in order to ensure that our donations are going to high-quality programs in order to reach the highest number of youth in need. Once an organization has been approved, they are eligible to receive three donations over the course of two years, which are packed and shipped from our own warehouse.

Good Sports utilizes capabilities across multiple areas of operation to accomplish our goals. In order to secure requisite funding, Good Sports has the capability to raise both directed funding for specific programs or initiatives from foundations and corporation sources. We also raise unrestricted funds through our major annual fundraising events, including virtual events. On the community outreach front, we have a skilled team of program assistants who work to identify qualified recipient organizations and then continue to support them from approval through the duration of their two-year relationship with Good Sports. Finally, in executing the logistics of successful donations, Good Sports utilizes our distribution expertise, operating from our own warehouse space to store athletic equipment and pick, pack, and ship donations to recipient schools and organizations nationally.

Good Sports began in 2003 with a small donation of 500 basketballs made to a few local Boston organizations. Since then, Good Sports has grown to provide over $60 million in brand-new athletic equipment to approximately 4,200 organizations serving underprivileged youth in all 50 states, impacting more than eight million children. Good Sports is continually seeking ways to reach new populations of youth in need.

How we listen

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.

done We shared information about our current feedback practices.

  • Who are the people you serve with your mission?

    Children in low-income communities across the United States. This population faces disproportionate access to sports and physical activity due to the cost to play and be active.

  • How is your organization collecting feedback from the people you serve?

    Electronic surveys (by email, tablet, etc.),

  • How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?

    To identify and remedy poor client service experiences, To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To identify where we are less inclusive or equitable across demographic groups, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve,

  • What significant change resulted from feedback?

    During the COVID-19 pandemic, we sent multiple surveys to collect insight on how the pandemic has impacted organizations we work with. The results influenced the creation of the Restore Play initiative, which delivered $15M in equipment between May 2020-June 2021. A key finding was that many children were stuck at home without equipment to play with. For the first time, Good Sports donated individual Play Packs to keep children active at home or while physically distant at their community's programs. This became a permanent model for Good Sports and will help us fulfill individual children's needs in programs, in foster care and more.

  • With whom is the organization sharing feedback?

    The people we serve, Our staff, Our board, Our funders, Our community partners,

  • Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?

  • What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?

    We don't have any major challenges to collecting feedback,

Financials

Good Sports, Inc.
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Operations

The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.

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lock

Connect with nonprofit leaders

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Build relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.

  • Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
  • Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
  • Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations

Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.

Good Sports, Inc.

Board of directors
as of 9/15/2021
SOURCE: Self-reported by organization
Board chair

Joel Hughes

Right Networks

Term: 2019 - 2021

Melissa Harper

Good Sports

Dave Belyea

Jackrabbit Design

Kyle Betty

Bain Capital Credit

Matt Camp

Initiative for a Competitive Inner City (ICIC)

Jim Catudal

Simsbury Partners, LLC

Lewis Collins

GW&K Investment Management, LLC

John Gates

Elevate Communications

John Gibbons

Greenberg Traurig, LLP

Joel Hughes

Right Networks

Andrew Laurence

Vintage Capital Management, LLC

David Mischler

Brian O'Callaghan

CPI

Brett Peterson

Acme World Sports

Bry Roskoz

EF Education First

Drew Sawyer

2SV Capital, LLC

Liam Weston

Paul Bowen

Bowen Advisors

Rick Charron

KPMG LLP

Anna Hitchner

Bain & Company

Candace Reich

W.L. Gore & Associates

Kevin Roche

Camden Consulting Group

Sam Schaefer

Tishman Speyer

Paul Bowen

Bowen Advisors

Marty Blue

Boston Consulting Group

Michael Flood

Westwood Partners

Jennifer Hartnett-Bullen

State Street

Kelly Begg Lawrence

United States Attorney's Office

Magan Munson

Mayflower Sails 2020

Derek Schoettle

Great Hills Partners

Kent Weldon

Thomas H Lee Partners, LP

Sean Wilder

BV Investment Partners

Board leadership practices

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.

  • Board orientation and education
    Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes
  • CEO oversight
    Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes
  • Ethics and transparency
    Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes
  • Board composition
    Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes
  • Board performance
    Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? No

Organizational demographics

SOURCE: Self-reported; last updated 12/22/2020

Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? GuideStar partnered on this section with CHANGE Philanthropy and Equity in the Center.

Leadership

The organization's leader identifies as:

Race & ethnicity
White/Caucasian/European
Gender identity
Female, Not transgender (cisgender)
Sexual orientation
Heterosexual or Straight
Disability status
Person without a disability

The organization's co-leader identifies as:

Race & ethnicity
White/Caucasian/European
Gender identity
Female, Not transgender (cisgender)
Sexual orientation
Heterosexual or Straight
Disability status
Person without a disability

Race & ethnicity

No data

Gender identity

No data

 

No data

Sexual orientation

No data

Disability

No data

Equity strategies

Last updated: 12/22/2020

GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more

Data
  • We review compensation data across the organization (and by staff levels) to identify disparities by race.
  • We disaggregate data to adjust programming goals to keep pace with changing needs of the communities we support.
  • We employ non-traditional ways of gathering feedback on programs and trainings, which may include interviews, roundtables, and external reviews with/by community stakeholders.
Policies and processes
  • We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.
  • We have community representation at the board level, either on the board itself or through a community advisory board.
  • We help senior leadership understand how to be inclusive leaders with learning approaches that emphasize reflection, iteration, and adaptability.
  • We measure and then disaggregate job satisfaction and retention data by race, function, level, and/or team.