Hall of Fame close to solving golf charity snafu, board chair says

Dan Nelson: Paying back charities is the top priority of the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame, which runs the charity tourney.

The Price Cutter Charity Championship Celebration of Sharing is an annual holiday season event highlighted by a series of oversized checks being awarded to area nonprofits.

As previously reported, this year’s celebration was scheduled for Nov. 19 at Highland Springs Golf Club, but the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame, host organization for the PCCC, canceled the celebration the day before the event.

On deck to receive the big checks were 49 nonprofits that were expecting approximately $850,000 in funds raised in the annual golf tournament, according to figures obtained by KSMU. The tournament was held July 18-21 at Highland Springs Country Club.

Nonprofits typically pay to be included among the supported agencies. According to Springfield Business Journal reporting from 2020, participating nonprofits must “buy-in” or invest at least $5,000 to cover a variety of upfront tournament costs, and the money is refunded following the event. Nonprofits are also required to staff the event as volunteers.

The checks ordinarily cover the charities’ buy-in investment and then some, giving out $20.5 million – per MSHOF figures – to local nonprofits since the golf tournament began in 1990. It is not clear whether the $20.5 million tally includes reimbursement of the buy-in expenses.

This year, the charities have yet to receive a reimbursement of their investment.

Dan Nelson, who chairs the governing board for the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame, said paying charities back is the organization’s first priority.

“We’re working on that now, and we’re very, very close to having a solution,” he said. “We intend to make that distribution as soon as possible – hopefully by the end of the year or sooner.”

The problem: The money isn’t there, and it’s unclear when it will be.

“Until the money’s in the bank and we know exactly what’s owed – until we’re able to write the checks – we’re reluctant to give an exact date,” Nelson said.

Nelson said his intention as board chair is to be open about the situation.

“I’m going to try to be as transparent and above-board as I can,” he said.

Charities choose their entry level, Nelson said, and $5,000 is the minimum. The nonprofits are awarded a percentage of the tournament revenue based on their buy-in level, he said.

“The percentage is discretionary,” he said. “It depends on the success of the tournament.”

That’s part of what the organization is struggling with this year, Nelson said.

He added that charities earn money based on their participation in programming, like pro-am teams, an auction or sales of raffle tickets.

“There are a lot of ways to engage,” he said.

Nonprofits are also required to staff the event as volunteers. Nelson said they walk the holes, carry signs, help with parking or even drive buses.

“It’s a feel-good thing,” he said, noting charity representatives are helping both their own nonprofit and others. “What benefits one benefits all.” 

Declining revenue
Nelson said the problem the organization faced was twofold: not enough revenue and too many expenses.

“People kind of started pulling back on their charitable giving,” he said. “My personal opinion is that’s a hangover from the pandemic. Then in the last 18 months or so, we went through a period of pretty significant inflation we hadn’t experienced for a long time.”

As businesses felt the pinch, they became cautious about giving, Nelson said.

“People in managing their own businesses have to take a hard look at managing their own obligations,” he said. “Charitable giving is at the top of the list of where they start pulling back. That’s just my personal observation.”

He said costs don’t go down, so the tournament faced the same expenses. Coupled with declining revenue, the result was the inability of the organization to immediately meet its obligations.

While there were 49 participating charities in 2024, the previous year included 53 charities, potentially bringing in $20,000 more in buy-in fees. The 2023 monetary total raised for charities was calculated at about $1 million.

Nelson said there is still money to collect from the tournament.

“We’re working on that,” he said. “Some of the problem was some of the invoicing and things didn’t get done in a timely way. There’s money to be collected there.”

He noted that some sponsors have offered to help cover the shortfall.

“We’ll continue to do what we’ve always done, and that’s fundraising, fundraising, fundraising,” he said.

The Missouri Sports Hall of Fame museum has been closed for renovations for a year and a half. Nelson said those renovations have taken longer than anticipated, in part because of roof damage that was discovered.

Now, he said, those renovations have been put on the back burner as the organization strives to meet its obligations to charities.

The Hall of Fame, located at 3861 E. Stan Musial Drive in Springfield, opened in 1994 with financial backing by businessperson John Q. Hammons, according to its website. The website adds that the 32,000-square-foot building has more than 4,000 items of sports memorabilia and exhibits.

Leadership change
Four days after the cancellation of the Celebration of Sharing, on Nov. 22, the MSHOF board voted to accept the resignation of its executive director and CEO, Byron Shive, effective at the end of the year, according to past SBJ reporting.

At the same meeting, the board voted to bring back longtime MSHOF head Jerald Andrews as part-time interim CEO through a consultancy agreement. Andrews will help in the search for a full-time replacement for Shive, past reporting states.

Shive is Andrews’ son-in-law.

Andrews headed up the MSHOF for 27 years before retiring in 2022, and Nelson said the board believes in his leadership.

“No one knows the organization better than he does,” he said. “Frankly, having him come back in with his institutional knowledge has been a real godsend. He is a man of high character and integrity.”

Added Nelson, “He’s not going to cover anything up, whether it’s his son-in-law or whatever.”

Nelson said Andrews is reporting directly to the board and meeting one-on-one with him on a regular basis. Additionally, the board has brought in outside accounting assistance and independent oversight, Nelson said.

“We haven’t found any issues of wrongdoing, which was a relief,” he said, stressing again that the issue is a big gap between revenue and expenses.

“We’re finding ways to close that gap. Everyone has a positive attitude and is working in the same direction,” he said. “The charities have been tremendously understanding and patient with us, and we’re so grateful for the community’s support.”

When there is a problem, Nelson said, you find out how to fix it – you don’t run away.

“That’s what we’re doing,” he said.

He added that the MSHOF is a charity organization, just like the tournament’s charity partners. Having given away millions over the years, he said, he hopes the organization has built up some goodwill.

Financial picture
The MSHOF’s most recent Form 990 filing with the Internal Revenue Service shows revenue of $1.7 million in 2022 and $1.4 million the previous year. Net assets or fund balances were $2 million in 2022 and $1.9 million the previous year.

In 2022, Andrews earned a salary of $351,475 as executive director of the organization, and Shive, serving as president, earned $183,610. Executive Vice President Marty Willadsen is listed as having received $48,903.

SBJ reached out to many of the charities that benefit from PCCC funds, but all declined to be interviewed. Some leaders and former leaders of organizations reached out off the record to share some concerns they had in participating in the tournament or in opting out of it. Discomfort with the buy-in model for tournament participation and high salaries of PCCC leaders were cited.

In its assessment of the MSHOF’s IRS Form 990, the nonprofit rating organization Charity Navigator awarded the MSHOF two out of four stars, a 73% rating, with the notation that the organization “needs improvement.” The MSHOF had points deducted in the Charity Navigator rating system for not providing financial statements; an organization with revenue between $1 million and $2 million is expected to complete an audit and have an audit oversight committee, the rating criterion states.

Additionally, the MSHOF had points deducted for not having a whistleblower policy or a document retention and destruction policy. Points also were deducted for not posting its tax form on its website.

Nelson said again that it is the board’s goal to be transparent through the process, as it wants to continue to do good work in the community.

“I know people are nervous, and my message would be we are committed; we are going to do everything in our power to meet our obligations,” he said.

He added that he is very encouraged right now.

“How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time,” he said. “We’re getting ready to take a big bite out of the elephant. Hopefully, we’ll have good news to share with you soon.”