Ashton Kutcher's failed promise to Iowans (Native Fund)

[Bret44]

Pretty interesting article on a pretty large disaster. I can't believe they paid Kyle McCann 600K to run the Native Fund.

https://www.thegazette.com/subject/...13?template=amphtml&__twitter_impression=true

 

[Die4Cy]

I never understood how the math of bringing the most expensive performing acts in the country to Iowa for a "charity" show was actually supposed to work. But there were several running that scam recently.

 

[CloneFan4]

Strip them of their non profit status. Unbelievable

 

[CYEATHAWK]

Pretty interesting article on a pretty large disaster. I can't believe they paid Kyle McCann 600K to run the Native Fund.

https://www.thegazette.com/subject/...13?template=amphtml&__twitter_impression=true

They knew their crowd, targeted them and made bank. That's called a scam. Quite a few "non-profits" are. They use the term because the word "profit" in the political world has been stigmatized. This way they can play off of that to pull at people's heart strings. "We aren't trying to make money.............it's for the children" .......or whatever at the time by which people are outraged or saddened. It's BS.

 

[CyCrazy]

Shocking, said no one.

 

[Bret44]

My favorite quote:

The Back Porch Revival concert at Kinnick raised almost $4 million, he said. IRS records, however, show the total raised by the nonprofit in 2016 was $2.9 million while expenses totaled more than $3.3 million — with $1 million of that paid to Blake Shelton.



The Metallica concert in 2017 also lost money.



But Clark pointed out that “those events brought Iowa together, and doesn’t that count for something?”

What the **** Dallas.

 

[ForbinsAscynt]

Who the hell would pay Blake Shelton a million for a concert? Metallica maybe, I didn’t go but I heard it was a good time.

also where does Clark live? I’ve seen him at 2 ISU games the last 2 years and neither were against Iowa.

 

[KCClone1]

You mean an actor and a couple football players couldn’t come in and run an organization properly? If their intentions were honest I appreciate the idea, but you need to be 100% invested in something like this. I doubt they were.

 

[Gonzo]

I think eastern Iowa should just stop trying to do this kind of thing. They obviously are clueless.

That said, and as gross as it is that so much of the revenues made went to executive compensation, the effort has paid out over $320,000 to UIHC. Not the goal, but it's not nothing.

And comparing this to the newbo evolve cluster **** doesn't make a lot of sense to me. That thing cost the city and taxpayers $2.3 million.

 

[VegasCy]

I wish the reporter would have asked the obvious follow up. You say the concert raised $4 million, but IRS records show $2.9 million. So are you lying to me or the IRS?

 

[BCClone]

Concerts lost 400k. Paid his buddy 600k and have 200k in the bank still. There is a 1.1 million discrepancy between Clark’s accounts and what IRS was told. Let’s see, to be able to pay anything above concert expenses you needed to break even, there’s 400k. You paid your buddy 600k to run this since. You say you have 200k in the bank. Hhhmmm, 600 +400 +200 does equal 1.2 million. Sounds like the IRS needs to stop by and get the boys to pony up some money.

 

[Rabbuk]

I worked in non profits in Iowa when this was being announced and no one in the room I worked in thought this was going to work. He had no one in the room with any knowledge on how to run one and it showed. Everything he wanted to do was Noble but all the causes were huge and unrelated to one another which makes it tough. I also kind of didn't hate the benefit concert idea but it should have been at a different venue where they had a shot at making money and also just given the proceeds to existing charities

 

[Gunnerclone]

Omg hilarious. They should all wave at Kyle McCann and Dallas Clark at the Iowa home games next season.

 

[Gonzo]

I worked in non profits in Iowa when this was being announced and no one in the room I worked in thought this was going to work. He had no one in the room with any knowledge on how to run one and it showed. Everything he wanted to do was Noble but all the causes were huge and unrelated to one another which makes it tough. I also kind of didn't hate the benefit concert idea but it should have been at a different venue where they had a shot at making money and also just given the proceeds to existing charities

Agree. Her little reveal at the end about how Clark "begged" her to focus on their intentions was pretty bush league too. He was good enough to grant her an interview when he didn't have to, and I'll bet she was kind and gracious during their conversation. Adding a jab like that comes off as petty and sophomoric.

 

[Rabbuk]

Agree. Her little reveal at the end about how Clark "begged" her to focus on their intentions was pretty bush league too. He was good enough to grant her an interview when he didn't have to, and I'll bet she was kind and gracious during their conversation. Adding a jab like that comes off as petty and sophomoric.

No I don't agree with this post. She was more kind than she should have been. It was hubris on their part to think this would work.

 

[Gonzo]

No I don't agree with this post. She was more kind than she should have been. It was hubris on their part to think this would work.

Not saying it shouldn't have been brought up. I'm saying the way she did it was bush. She could have easily made the point by saying something like "throughout our conversation Clark reiterated that their intentions were good and shouldn't be lost in all this, however..." or something like that. The way she did it, saying he "begged" her, just makes it sound like it was written by some gossippy tweenager.

 

[Rabbuk]

Not saying it shouldn't have been brought up. I'm saying the way she did it was bush. She could have easily made the point by saying something like "throughout our conversation Clark reiterated that their intentions were good and shouldn't be lost in all this, however..." or something like that. The way she did it, saying he "begged" her, just makes it sound like it was written by some gossippy tweenager.

I mean I think he did beg her to try to spin it in some way to not portray it as a dumpster fire. This story really could have been this concert made 4 million in gross and like a 10th of that ever got donated and one third of that went to a dude who was Clarks friend

 

[BCClone]

Agree. Her little reveal at the end about how Clark "begged" her to focus on their intentions was pretty bush league too. He was good enough to grant her an interview when he didn't have to, and I'll bet she was kind and gracious during their conversation. Adding a jab like that comes off as petty and sophomoric.

I spent many years running the vocational side of ICF/MR business. After a few months you know that being evaluated on your intentions are meaningless unless you can financially support your mission. You don’t overpay buddies to run something. The salaries she mentioned are pretty spot on. If Dallas actually said we brought Iowans together so that should count, he is scraping the bottom of the barrel to try to deflect the crap show he is involved in. Smart thing would have been to went into the interview with some basic facts and talking points and not deviate, the smartest move would have been not to do the interview. He created a bigger mess when his ego wouldn’t allow him to say he lost money.

 

[CloneFan4]

Agree. Her little reveal at the end about how Clark "begged" her to focus on their intentions was pretty bush league too. He was good enough to grant her an interview when he didn't have to, and I'll bet she was kind and gracious during their conversation. Adding a jab like that comes off as petty and sophomoric.

This is something to be outraged about. And she did a fantastic job of conveying that to the reader. Could use more investigative journalists like her

 

[aforstate]

also where does Clark live? I’ve seen him at 2 ISU games the last 2 years and neither were against Iowa.

He’s up in the Humboldt area near where he grew up. A lot of his people up there are ISU fans, alumni, and a couple former players, so I assume that’s why he’s at the games.