Athletic Foundation

[EJ]

I was browsing the A&M website for campus maps, visitor info, etc. when I came across the 12thman foundation at http://www.12thmanfoundation.com/

Pretty impressive. I wish we would form an athletic foundation to raise money ONLY for our athletic program.

Also, click on VIDEO AND DVD PROGRAM. I would love to have a way to get copies of all the video from each of the games. They even have it available on DVD!

[PawDawg]

E.J.,
I've been saying this for a couple of years. We will have to set up an outside foundation at some point. I think it will have to start out small, but it will HAVE to be started. There are several reasons why, but the main one that really doesn't even come close to applying to us right now is this. Just say that we were really killing it in all areas of the athletic department. T.V. revenue, NCAA tourney revenue, donations out the yahyah............

The way I understand it is that any excess at the end of the year goes back into the general fund. The athletic department is forced to start from the budget figure the next year. This is all great until a school has a couple of bad years in a row. We all know what happens then. The main advantage to the 12th man or TAF is that they hold reserves for lean years, but the money ends up going into the same kitty in the long run anyway.

My idea for starting up such a foundation would be to work with the current CHAMPS as to not hurt the current revenues. I would request that they reduce current CHAMPS membership to a mimimum of $25 - $50 and a pre-requisite of the new foundation would be to be a CHAMPS member and hold at least one season ticket in football and/or basketball, PLUS an annual donation to the new foundation of say $100 paid out over a 12 month period. All this may sound like a "cluster", but what it does is re-channel the money so that if and when we start getting those donations we desire so much, the new foundation has and maintains control of the money. It also allows what I believe are hundreds if not thousands of potential donors to pay a small monthy amount instead of being hit for several hundred dollars within a three month period.

It also goes without saying that the new foundation would hire two, three, maybe even four FULL TIME fund raisers.

[markay714]

That's great that they give the new grads a one year free membership, then they get 50% off for the next two years. I know I lost touch for a few years after I graduated because I was saving to buy a house and establishing a household - didn't have as much elective spending money. That sounds like a great way to keep alumni loyal! Treat 'em like they paid until they can! Certainly a Tech grad will be ready to roll on the contributions after a year or two!

[hisaw]

Why can't the Athletic Department just move the whole CHAMPS thing to an outside foundation?

[BCSDAWG]

Athletic Foundation...we are years, if not decades, behind in doing this. There is no way for Louisiana Tech Athletic programs to achieve what we would all like to see without an Athlectic Foundation. Quite honestly, it will take years for this to reach the level it needs to be, but we MUST start. A few thoughts...

1. Establish a steering committee to explore the options, develop a plan and create a timetable. And do it soon!!

2. Don't forget to make it affordable for the little guy. Affordable levels plus reasonable payment plans.

3. Cooperate with or incorporate the CHAMPS program. Too many seperate programs cause confusion, competition and dilute the effectiveness of each program.

4. Establish "Districts", "Territories" or "Areas" with representatives from each that comprise the Board. These "Directors" would not necessarily have to be the biggest money givers. They need to be people that understand the bigger picture, i.e. Management, Marketing, Fund Raising, etc. Small giver or large, it doesn't matter, just people that have a vision and understand how to get there.

5. Avoid creating the impression that this is an exclusive organization. Wide spread appeal is ESSENTIAL for its success.

6. This steering committee should visit with other schools foundations during the planning stages to analize their programs. Study the others, take what works best, adapt it to our situation, don't reinvent the wheel.

7. Hire an experienced Executive Director and some experienced Fund Raisers - give them the game plan, outline the expectations and hold them accountable.

8. Demand Excellence

Maddog, I can't agree more with your comment about having a situation where many donors can "pay a small monthly amount". We need numbers. We need to grow a base that includes the small guy. There is nothing wrong with having large donors - we must have them. BUT we also MUST have the small guy to build the base and grow into a viable organization.

It's time this moved from talk to action.

[TechsasDawg]

OK, guys. The big question is, 'How do we start'? I'm all for it. Like Clemson, and a lot of the other schools, we must include the very young, at $10.00 per year or so, include some goodies that they get like Tech stickers and such, and take it through high-school and Tech student years, ending with the graduate plan mentioned above. I'll talk to Ronny and Jim this week when I get to Ruston, and keep you posted on what we can expect to accomplish, and how soon we can actually start.

TD
~~

[EJ]

I found this at The Idaho Statesman website...

BSU will ask boosters to bolster athletic budget
Chadd Cripe
The Idaho Statesman

The Boise State athletic department is designing a major fund-raising campaign to address the facility, staffing and budget concerns of its coaches.

Football coach Dan Hawkins, who has delayed signing a five-year contract extension, has been the most vocal member of the department in the call for more booster support.

Athletic director Gene Bleymaier said the process of compiling, prioritizing and approving the department´s wish list will last about three more months.

That could be too late to retain Hawkins, whose name is sure to pop up as football coaches are fired across the country this month and next. He is in the second year of a three-year contract.

“You never know,” Hawkins said of whether the department was moving quickly enough to prevent his departure.

Hawkins has said since he took the job Dec. 2, 2000, that he didn´t want to follow the lead of Houston Nutt (1997, Arkansas) and Dirk Koetter (1998-2000, Arizona State), coaches who used BSU as a stepping stone to major jobs.

But with the Broncos (8-1 overall, 5-0 WAC) riding a seven-game winning streak into Saturday afternoon´s home game against Rice, leading the WAC, closing in on the Top 25 and topping the nation in scoring, he figures now is the time to sound the alarm.

“I just want to be with some pace-setters,” Hawkins said. “I want to be with some race horses. I want to be with some big thinkers and some excited people. I want to see some big plans and some big thoughts and some people getting into the boat saying, ´I can support that.´ ”

Hawkins took his concerns to the public after the Broncos´ 67-21, nationally televised victory over Fresno State last month. He told boosters that BSU ranks in the lower half of the 10-team WAC in weight room size, staffing and budget; video staff and budget; training room size and budget; equipment room staff and budget; and academic staff.

Some people wonder why the Broncos need upgrades if they´re winning. Hawkins counters that consistent success with the current facilities would be unlikely, and he doesn´t agree with the “good enough” approach.

“If your standard is not excellence, I struggle with that,” he said, “because then you´re saying it´s OK to be mediocre. Well, nobody wants a mediocre basketball team, nobody wants a mediocre football team. So all right, let´s be consistent. If our goal is excellence and our goal is to be first class, let´s say that, let´s have a plan, and let´s go get it.”

The Broncos are trying to keep up in the facility-crazed world of college sports during a six-year stretch that has seen them jump from Division I-AA to I-A (1996) and from the Big West to the WAC (2001).

Bleymaier asked members of every staff to draft a list of the improvements they need, from manpower to budgets to facilities, in late August. The original idea was to keep the requests reasonable, but the coaches went a different route.

“I tried to tell them to be somewhat realistic — what do we need to be in the top third of the conference consistently, and what´s it going to take to win the WAC in every sport?” Bleymaier said.

What he got back were lists that would make a Southeastern Conference athletic director blush.


DETAILS

“I´d say it´s a long-range plan,” Bleymaier said.

Once the list is prioritized, it will go to the university-wide Intercollegiate Athletic Advisory Committee for review, and then to president Charles Ruch.

Then comes the tricky part — raising the money and paying the bills.

“Our budget doesn´t cover this stuff,” Bleymaier said.

That´s where the Bronco Athletic Association comes in. The booster group will raise funds for whichever projects receive priority.

The timing isn´t right with the economy, but it´s perfect in terms of football success, BAA executive director Bob Madden said.

“There´s some real strong interest,” he said.

BSU hasn´t decided whether to market particular projects, or to lump several together. Most likely, a capital project would stand alone while a single campaign might be devised for less visible, less expensive items.

“Certain projects have good sex appeal with donors,” Madden said.

Hawkins´ big three on his wish list are a renovation and staff increase for the department-wide weight room, summer-school scholarships and a video system that costs in the neighborhood of $100,000.

His players have similar wants. About 25 of them went to Bleymaier earlier this year to plead for a raise for strength coach Jeff Pitman, who was being wooed by other schools.

“We want to see Pit taken care of, and the weight room,” senior fullback Matt Strohfus said. “We feel that our foundation is built in that room.”

Summer-school scholarships also are an issue because nearly the entire BSU team stayed in town last summer. Fresno State and Louisiana Tech, two of BSU´s top rivals in the WAC, provide summer checks, Hawkins said.

“We lift and run four hours a day,” Strohfus said. “It´s almost impossible to support yourself in the summer.”

In the community, not all of the response to Hawkins´ pleas have been positive. The coach received an anonymous letter saying all he does is whine about money and, “If you don´t like it, leave.”

He might, and that´s what worries many Bronco fans. It´s tough to keep your coach a secret when his team is scoring 47.8 points per game and inching toward the Top 25 for the first time in school history. The Broncos rank 27th in the coaches´ poll and 30th in the media poll.

“Coach Hawk has told us numerous times that he´s staying here — he wants his kids to grow up here, so he´s going to stay here,” sophomore linebacker Andy Avalos said. “But the money situation is always the money situation. … Who knows what we could turn this into if they keep a good coach around here.”

That´s the way Hawkins likes to think — without limits.

He points to Oregon as a prime example. The Ducks went 24 years without an eight-win season, and now they´re Pac-10 powers who put billboards on buildings in Los Angeles, the Bay Area and New York to promote their players.

“Why can´t we think about having an indoor facility, putting 60,000-70,000 people in here, having the biggest weight room, having the most academic advisers?” Hawkins said. “Let´s be bold. Let´s be aggressive.”

The Broncos already are behind the curve with a football budget that ranks second-to-last among the WAC´s seven public schools. UTEP opened an $11 million home for its athletic department this year, and Fresno State has the video equipment Hawkins covets.

Even Idaho, the Broncos´ archrival and a member of the Sun Belt Conference, is moving forward. The Vandals are in the midst of a major fund-raising effort — the Vandal Victory Campaign — and have raised $2.5 million to build a new weight room as part of a new $9 million athletic center.

If that doesn´t motivate Bronco backers, nothing will.

“We´ve made a lot of leaps and bounds,” Strohfus said, “but we´re light years behind some programs across the nation.”

[Dirtydawg]

“If your standard is not excellence, I struggle with that,” he said, “because then you´re saying it´s OK to be mediocre. Well, nobody wants a mediocre basketball team, nobody wants a mediocre football team. So all right, let´s be consistent. If our goal is excellence and our goal is to be first class, let´s say that, let´s have a plan, and let´s go get it.”


Wow. What a statement. So simple, yet so true.