In 2000, Jim Harbaugh was busted for running an unlicensed children's charity that diverted funds to U-M Athletics, golf outings and Harbaugh's personal friends. The Jim Harbaugh Foundation was intended to benefit children "who are underprivileged, financially disadvantaged and/or neglected," according to its mission statement. A Detroit News exposé revealed most of the money Harbaugh's charity gave out had little to do with needy children. It included: • $60,000 to St. Francis of Assisi, where Harbaugh went to elementary school and whose parish his family still attended. The school is located in an affluent Ann Arbor neighborhood. • $32,000 to the U-M athletic department. • $31,500 to a for-profit company run by Harbaugh's childhood friend that charged kids up to $400 to play basketball. • $1,000 to the U-M Alumni Club. (figures adjusted for inflation) The Jim Harbaugh Foundation gave just 21 cents to charity for every dollar donated, far below minimum national standards. Well-run groups give at least 60 cents per dollar, per the National Charities Information Bureau. Why was a charity for underprivileged children funneling donations to U-M Athletics and Harbaugh's personal friends? Harbaugh, still an active NFL player at the time, ignored The Detroit News' interview requests. After the story ran, he defended the foundation’s endowment to the Ann Arbor News: "We all have to plant trees that we're never going to sit under." Peter Savarino, vice president of the two-man foundation, said he couldn't recall what the U-M Athletics donation was for. He also claimed he was told, presumably by Harbaugh, that the basketball league was a nonprofit charity. Not everyone in Ann Arbor was buying the foundation's explanations. "This isn't an organization to help people," Barbara Wright said. "If you dig into where all the money goes, you'll find it's all to his friends." Wright was secretary of the Ann Arbor Junior Football League. Friends of Harbaugh had started a rival league, causing a controversy so bitter that lawsuits were filed. Harbaugh offered to settle the dispute with money from his foundation, according to Wright. "He said, 'We're willing to offer you $15,000 to $18,000 [$29,000 to $35,000 today] to drop this lawsuit,'" Wright said. "My mouth dropped." ••••••••• The foundation was stingy with kids. It was not stingy with golf. The Jim Harbaugh Foundation spent 47% of donor funds on a celebrity golf outing in Ann Arbor. It held the event, with an expired license, on a U-M golf course. (Charles Woodson, whose name was on the event alongside Harbaugh's, was arrested by Ann Arbor police for allegedly driving drunk while in town for it.) "It's a crime to solicit donations without a license in Michigan," said Marion Gorton of the Attorney General's Office. "That was just an oversight," Savarino said of the licensing lapse. Quite the oversight. Records showed the foundation also was unlicensed from 1994-98. By definition, Jim Harbaugh's charity was operating criminally for the majority of its existence. Illinois dissolved the Jim Harbaugh Foundation in 2004. It kept operating in Michigan until 2018.

You win. For months, people have asked how they can help cover my FOIA costs with the University of Michigan. I kept saying no. I'm saying yes now. 52 requests and counting. Every UM invoice and every proof of payment goes public. Join the paper chase. gofund.me/6950ad930