Tiger Woods, Michael Phelps, Mia Hamm, and seemingly every other big athlete out there has their own charitable foundation. There are many reasons why an athlete might open his own foundation, which are really no different than the reasons a normal person would have for starting a foundation. Starting a foundation allows you to determine its mission – what causes it plans to address and how it will go about doing that. Mia Hamm’s foundation focuses on two causes very close to her, young women in sports and transplant patients – her brother Garrow died from complications from a transplant. A lot of athletes’ foundations have something to do with the sport in which they excel or with another cause otherwise meaningful to them.

Also, having a foundation is good PR. Running a foundation that does charitable work makes you look like a good person and therefore, more marketable for a larger number of companies. This can be good for endorsement deals and generally adding to your fame. That isn’t to say that athletes are bad for being famous and starting foundations at all – their fame can bring lots of attention to issues that might otherwise be overlooked. Although not an athlete, Farrah Fawcett’s advocacy and unfortunate death brought lots of attention to a little-discussed form of cancer.

Some think it would be better to give to a pre-existing foundation than starting your own. Michael Jordan closed down the Michael Jordan Foundation because he wanted to focus on the James Jordan Foundation, started in honor of his father. He noted that they did similar things and he wanted to be able to concentrate his energy and money in one place to enhance his impact.

Starting a foundation allows athletes and other people with money and influence to direct their giving precisely as they choose. They should be commended for lending their name and their money to causes that need support, and so should you for giving to good causes.