UPDATE 1-Armstrong's foundation sees donation spike but faces challenges

(Adds challenges foundation may face, background)

AUSTIN, Texas, Aug 24 (Reuters) - The Lance Armstrong

Foundation said on Friday that donations rose sharply as fans of

the cancer nonprofit pledged support, but the organization faces

long-term questions about its future now that its cycling

champion founder was stripped of a record seven Tour de France

titles.

At the foundation's light-filled headquarters in the Texas

capital, where Armstrong lives, a receptionist took a call from

a well-wisher, a scene that Chief Executive Doug Ulman said was

repeated throughout the day in an outpouring of calls, emails

and social media messages, many from cancer survivors touched by

the foundation's work.

"It's people offering to help in any way they can, people

committing to additional donations, people saying, 'I'm going to

go buy a Livestrong shirt to show my support,'" Ulman said. "So

the mood is actually pretty positive."

Armstrong was stripped of his Tour titles and handed a

lifetime ban by the United States Anti-Doping Agency after he

said on Thursday that he would not challenge USADA's charges

that he had doped throughout his career. He continued to deny

that he ever used performance-enhancing drugs.

Ulman said the supporters of the foundation "respect Lance's

decision and I think they just want to move on."

The 100-employee foundation said it received 400 donations

totaling $75,000 on Friday, an increase of 20 times from the

amount donated the day before. Ulman said the organization,

which raised $51 million in 2011, "is incredibly sound

financially."

But the fact that the foundation bears Armstrong's name puts

the organization in a tough spot, said John Daly, a professor of

communication at the University of Texas at Austin.

"It's like calling it the Enron Foundation - there's a

challenge there," Daly said, referring to the energy company

that filed for bankruptcy in 2001. "People who have given to it

or know what it does probably won't be bothered. But it's going

to be hard to write a donation letter right now."

In two other recent cases, charitable foundations for

at-risk children and breast cancer were hurt by high-profile

scandals.

The Second Mile charity founded by former Penn State

football coach Jerry Sandusky had to be closed earlier this year

after Sandusky was accused and then convicted of serial sex

abuse of boys. At Susan G. Komen for the Cure, there were

several departures after an abortion-related political dispute

over the breast cancer organization's relationship with health

services provider Planned Parenthood.

The Armstrong foundation can survive by involving

high-profile people other than Armstrong and by doing good work,

said Penelope Cagney, an Arizona-based consultant to nonprofits.

At the foundation, a spruced-up former paper warehouse in

East Austin where replicas of Armstrong's seven Tour jerseys

hang on a wall, the large yellow Livestrong sign just inside the

front door recalls the foundation's well-known yellow

wristbands.

Inside a separate entrance, Austin-area residents who have

cancer or have a loved one who does can walk in for free

services including emotional support and assessment of financial

options. The foundation provides similar services by phone to

callers from across the country.

Armstrong, 40, founded the organization in 1997, after he

was diagnosed with testicular cancer and before he ever won the

Tour de France. Since then, it has raised nearly $500 million

and has evolved from a focus on testicular cancer research to

addressing the needs of survivors of all cancers. It has a

number of international programs.

Armstrong now is the foundation's top donor and is serving a

term as chairman of the board.

"In my mind and in our minds, he's still a champion for

sure," Ulman said.

For many in Austin, Armstrong is a local hero.

Marcelo Flores, 20, a University of Texas student who lost a

grandfather and an uncle to cancer, recently completed a bike

ride from Texas to Alaska as part of a Livestrong-sponsored

group that raises money to help people with cancer.

"I still look up to him for what he's done and what he's

chosen to take on after battling the disease: raising awareness,

trying to help others," Flores said of Armstrong.

(Reporting by Corrie MacLaggan; Editing by Greg McCune, Peter

Cooney and Lisa Shumaker)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/1-armstrongs-foundation-sees-donation-spike-faces-challenges-000038741--spt.html

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