Buffs helping Buffs In the new era of college athletics
Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) has changed the game for student-athletes all across the United States. Since the NCAA’s ruling in 2021 athletes are now permitted to profit from their name, image, and likeness. The Buffs4Life NIL Collective combines the mission of the Buffs4Life foundation with the opportunities of a “collective” in order to help the CU student athletes benefit from the new ruling. Your donation directly supports CU student-athletes and supports the Buffs4Life Foundation!
HOW IT WORKS
NIL is the most direct way to support CU student-athletes. You can donate to the general fund, which supports all current Buffs, to a specific team, a group of student-athletes (i.e., by position, by hometown, by major of study) or an individual student-athlete. On our donation page, the general fund is the default – make sure to specify where you want your money to go, if that’s the case!
15% of all donations to the Collective go to the Foundation to support the ongoing operation & success of Buffs4Life.
To be in compliance with NCAA rules, student-athletes have to earn the NIL money they receive. Once a donation comes into the Collective, we will task the student-athletes with projects that align with the Foundation’s mission of promoting mental health awareness & suicide prevention. Once the student-athlete completes their assignment(s), B4LNILC will distribute the funds through the Buffs NIL Exchange. This process automatically generates a Transaction Report on behalf of the student-athlete, satisfying the state law disclosure requirement. As a 501(c)(3), your donations to the Buffs4Life NIL Collective are tax deductible.
Buffs4Life – Making it all possible
The Buffs4Life Foundation, a 501(c)(3) organization, is a support system that provides financial assistance, mental health resources, and community to former CU Boulder student-athletes in need. We have created The Buffs4Life NIL Collective to extend this support to current student-athletes, to strengthen the bond between generations of Buffs, and to continue to elevate mental health awareness.
A tax-deductible financial contribution* to the Buffs4Life NIL Collective can be made to the general fund that supports all CU student-athletes or to a specific team, group of student-athletes, or an individual student-athlete. 15% of every donation goes to the Buffs4Life Foundation while the rest goes directly towards compensating student-athletes for their name, image and likeness.
*Buffs4Life is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization (tax ID# 20-8580617) and your donation to the Buffs4Life is tax deductible and is supported by many companies’ matching gift programs. Please consult your tax advisor as to the deductibility of your gift to the Buffs4Life as individual tax situations very significantly.
The NCAA and NIL
“Name, Image and Likeness” or “NIL” is a common phrase used to refer to an individual’s rights of publicity – the ability to control and benefit financially from one’s own unique identity.
As of July 1, 2021, NCAA student-athletes are permitted to earn compensation from using their NIL, or allowing a noninstitutional third party to do so, without harming their intercollegiate eligibility or athletics scholarship.
A permissible NIL activity is a quid pro quo agreement in which value is exchanged between the student-athlete and a noninstitutional third party. The student-athlete earns the compensation by performing a service or otherwise providing value to a third party. It is up to the third party to determine the value of the transaction.
Within the world of NCAA NIL, a “collective” is simply an assemblage of people pooling their money and resources to engage in NIL activities as a group. Financial contributions made to the Buffs4Life NIL Collective will pay student-athletes to engage in tasks and projects that contribute to the mission of Buffs4Life – like making appearances at events and promoting mental health initiatives on social media