Julie Hirshey on Eagles Care and Philanthropy in Sports

Twitter: @EaglesCommunity

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Julie Hirshey serves as the Philadelphia Eagle’s director of community relations. Among other projects, she helps oversee the Eagles Care initiative. Hirshey also serves as an officer of Eagles Charitable Foundation, the team’s nonprofit wing, providing greater access to vision care and autism research and services to kids in the Philadelphia region.

Born from the team’s core values of partnerships and teamwork, the Eagles Care initiative began in 2013 focusing on nonprofit capacity building.  Through the program, the team partners with nonprofits to provide mostly non‐traditional assets which strengthen and support their growth.  Partners receive a year of full, unrestricted support across the board via education, mentoring and resource allocation designed to increase the Eagles’ and nonprofit’s impact. 

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE SHOW:

In this interview, we discuss:

  1. Why the capacity building model for grassroots organizations is so successful. (2:00)
  2. The "Goldilocks Effect" of finding the sweet sport of partner organizations.  (4:30)
  3. The story behind the pink hats which then led to breast cancer awareness month. (13:30) 
  4. How they continue to interact with all 22 partner organizations through Eagles Care.  (19:00)
  5. The myth of overhead and the importance of general operating support. (28:00)
  6. The spotlight they create by representing an NFL program, and involving NFL players in the community. (29:30)

THOUGHT OF THE DAY:

"We try to showcase to our fans and our city the nonprofits that we believe are wonderful, and use the spotlight we are afforded to shine the greatest good." -Julie Hirshey

LINKS AND RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THE SHOW:

  1. Eagles Announce Community Partners For 2017 Season  Article here
  2. Eagles Care Partnership Request Submission Form
  3. How The Philadelphia Eagles Tackle Local Philanthropy (Inside Philanthropy)
  4. Why The Philadelphia Eagles Revamped Their Philanthropy Playbook (Article)
  5. Example of an Eagles Care partner
  6. Book recommendation: 'Uncharitable' by Dan Pallotta (Amazon Link)

THANKS SO MUCH FOR LISTENING!

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