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Here is what President Watts says the ultimate issue with football & athletics going forward is:

Quote:•It is unrealistic that enough philanthropic support could be generated to sustain competitive football. We have studied this carefully, and current and past support and current interest were considered. There is simply too wide a gap between where we are and where we need to be.

◦To put this in perspective — philanthropic support for UAB Athletics was $2 million in the last fiscal year. At least $400,000 of that came from UAB entities.

◦We would need private donations that are eight to nine times greater than our current base of private support, and we would need at least that much every single year in perpetuity.

I think there is one good point to take away from the otherwise horrible disaster of a decision Dr. Watts made. It points out one key area that UAB athletics has struggled with: financial support.

We have several generous donors that foot the bill for a lot of what the athletic department needs. Furthermore, some of our biggest sponsors are UAB entities (School of Nursing, UAB Medicine, VIVA Health, etc.) and that has to change at some point.

So, what are some things that would make you donate more/spend more (and don't say "win more", "fire Ray Watts", or "bring back football"... these are all givens)...

Just some of my ideas:

-Crowdfunding. Set up a donors site similar to a crowdfunding site like http://www.gofundme.com where individual scholarships or capital projects could be placed for the general public to see. It would provide immediate gratification for donors as well as potentially draw in donations from casual supporters & other outside entities. UAB could see donations all year long, not just at ticket or donation renewal times.

-Online donation, with all available options. The simpler you make donating & the more options you offer, the more donations you will receive. That's a fact. I guarantee UAB has missed out on donations because people simply don't want to talk to the telemarketer that calls them every year. Plus, with a simple online donation portal, your internet savvy fanbase can easily solicit donations for you, free of charge.

-Pre-game meal packages. Tulsa offers pre-game meals for football and basketball games that are separate from their club/VIP rooms. Another option would be the option to purchase access to reserved seating at partner restaurants before games in a designated "Blazer Fan Section"... limited availability would make something like this sell fast & at a premium if restaurants were named prior to purchase.


Just some thoughts... you have any?

(01-20-2015 12:39 AM)UABslant Wrote:  Here is what President Watts says the ultimate issue with football & athletics going forward is:

Quote:•It is unrealistic that enough philanthropic support could be generated to sustain competitive football. We have studied this carefully, and current and past support and current interest were considered. There is simply too wide a gap between where we are and where we need to be.

◦To put this in perspective — philanthropic support for UAB Athletics was $2 million in the last fiscal year. At least $400,000 of that came from UAB entities.

◦We would need private donations that are eight to nine times greater than our current base of private support, and we would need at least that much every single year in perpetuity.

I think there is one good point to take away from the otherwise horrible disaster of a decision Dr. Watts made. It points out one key area that UAB athletics has struggled with: financial support.

We have several generous donors that foot the bill for a lot of what the athletic department needs. Furthermore, some of our biggest sponsors are UAB entities (School of Nursing, UAB Medicine, VIVA Health, etc.) and that has to change at some point.

So, what are some things that would make you donate more/spend more (and don't say "win more", "fire Ray Watts", or "bring back football"... these are all givens)...

Just some of my ideas:

-Crowdfunding. Set up a donors site similar to a crowdfunding site like http://www.gofundme.com where individual scholarships or capital projects could be placed for the general public to see. It would provide immediate gratification for donors as well as potentially draw in donations from casual supporters & other outside entities. UAB could see donations all year long, not just at ticket or donation renewal times.

-Online donation, with all available options. The simpler you make donating & the more options you offer, the more donations you will receive. That's a fact. I guarantee UAB has missed out on donations because people simply don't want to talk to the telemarketer that calls them every year. Plus, with a simple online donation portal, your internet savvy fanbase can easily solicit donations for you, free of charge.

-Pre-game meal packages. Tulsa offers pre-game meals for football and basketball games that are separate from their club/VIP rooms. Another option would be the option to purchase access to reserved seating at partner restaurants before games in a designated "Blazer Fan Section"... limited availability would make something like this sell fast & at a premium if restaurants were named prior to purchase.


Just some thoughts... you have any?

If only UAB had some sort of crowdfunding system themselves that we could crowdfund directly to...

https://crowdfund.uab.edu/

Also, I agree with you on many of these fronts. In our particular situation right now, I personally think there needs to be a system setup for the sole purpose of pledging money to season tickets. I've looked into doing this, but many pledge systems are designed to work with non-profits, and until the football foundation (or something else) gets non-profit status...it would be very difficult to maneuver.

If enough hell is raised, we could end this by the end of the weekend.
Bentley doesn't seem to notice us yet.

UAB doesn't yet have the benefit of an older, established fan base that has been rooting for the team for a long time. I look at a group of my fraternity brothers and I that have been die hards for over a decade but we are all early to mid-30s. While most of us are in a position to give annually and buy season tickets we aren't all yet at the point where it's $25,000+ a year in annual donations or a large one-time gift in the millions. I'd be willing to bet that if you did a breakdown of individual giving at other programs that a large bulk of it comes from people in their 40s and older.

This isn't a case of UAB not having successful alumni and fans or those that won't be in a position one day. It's just a timing issue.

I will also add that people will be more willing to give and give more if they knew that we were in control of our programs and not some pathetic old guys down the road who have an axe to grind or just don't want others to have nice things.

The biggest issues are those of organization and process. Up until this point we've had very limited opportunity for people to specifically give to one sport or another. With football, there has always been a boot on the neck of the program that has stifled giving. If that boot is lifted and and cohesive structure is put in place for giving the fact is we have no idea how much more will be given. Watts is being intellectually dishonest in addition to just being a lousy leader

I think that's an excellent point that is often overlooked St Louis. The university itself is relatively young, and the athletic programs are even younger. It takes time to establish a fan base, and when you are going 2-10 through 4-8 yearly it makes it even harder to establish. We were finally gaining some momentum, and it was destroyed for no reason.

Why not expand something like the "B-Ticket" program to the general public. It was $120 for 50 or $240 for 100 general admissions to any sports event. It was only marketed to UAB employees. At higher levels, it could include more benefits. I would be willing to pay as much as $300 a year for something like that again.

(01-20-2015 08:09 AM)the_blazerman Wrote:  If enough hell is raised, we could end this by the end of the weekend.
Bentley doesn't seem to notice us yet.

We all see the need for football to return. But what do we want it to look like going forward? We will always have issues with athletic independence as long as the bulk of our funding is coming from the university, regardless of who is in charge.

Donations will increase
1) Once folks feel like UAB is in control of its athletic program(remove the UAT boot);
2) Once concrete plans for the direction of the program are in place(there is a future that can't be killed by a bad decision);
3) Once some major donors, public and private, step up, smaller donors will also(would show confidence in program and people like to see others put themselves on the line first);
4) Something tangible (OCS?) becomes a real possibility(many ways to get donations during stadium build);
5) Better marketing and promotion(aside from last year marketing has sucked!);

I agree that we need to use this as leverage to correct the bigger issue.

However should this committee thing fall through as well as any legislative action, I think we could raise enough of an issue to get the programs restored within a few days.

I'm with you Western, I am constantly running into people who simply have no idea when games are... out of sight, out of mind. We don't have the benefit of a daily print paper going out to hundreds of thousands of households to promote our schedules anymore.

(01-20-2015 11:09 AM)UABslant Wrote:  I'm with you Western, I am constantly running into people who simply have no idea when games are... out of sight, out of mind. We don't have the benefit of a daily print paper going out to hundreds of thousands of households to promote our schedules anymore.

Not to mention we spent around 2,500 dollars a year on promotions/advertising for football according to the numbers al.com obtained from UAB.

Heck, I think some of you guys on here did a better job promoting the Marshall game last season.

I appreciate their efforts but the football foundation (FF)needs to use this time to get organized. Some of my ideas may already be implimented.

The steps that should be taken include;

Complete the tax exempt status application (takes less than half a day) or if completed announce it. (applied for donations work).

Get the real big donors added to the BOD and announce them to the public. FF proposed a twenty to thirty year funding commitment for a project. This is really needed for creditability in financial circles and bonding.

Get a minimal staff - can be part time or even shared staff with another group. Can be filled out with volunteers

Hire a professional fund raising person - can work for percentage raised. They can get "binding" pledges in place. Could see if any of the governments will commit to future grants($$$).

Actually put a few million in a trust account for the public to see. On the this board I have seen claims of up to fifteen million raised. The FF public head has said one to four million reported but put the cash out for the public to see. MONEY TALKS

This next one will make some of you mad. But make peace with the BBA and other big business. That was the original purpose of the FF and without their support - it will never work in the long run.

I would agree with everything except for the last statement.

They should though get some public backing from the city & county on proposed improvements for the program including a IPF & OCS.

(01-20-2015 11:48 AM)uabbean Wrote:  This next one will make some of you mad. But make peace with the BBA and other big business. That was the original purpose of the FF and without their support - it will never work in the long run.

How do you propose doing that? I wasn't familiar with the BBA until they pissed in our face.

We must wipe off the piss and instead focus on the future.

(BLUE FONT, BLUE FONT)

Here is what President Watts says the ultimate issue with football & athletics going forward is:

Quote:•It is unrealistic that enough philanthropic support could be generated to sustain competitive football. We have studied this carefully, and current and past support and current interest were considered. There is simply too wide a gap between where we are and where we need to be.

◦To put this in perspective — philanthropic support for UAB Athletics was $2 million in the last fiscal year. At least $400,000 of that came from UAB entities.

◦We would need private donations that are eight to nine times greater than our current base of private support, and we would need at least that much every single year in perpetuity. "

He's right that we need more donations, but he sets an impossible standard to meet on purpose. He thinks we need philanthropic support better than all but about 30 schools in the country just to maintain our CUSA football program??? Really? That's a joke. If our private donations were 8x higher than they are now we'd have over 4 or 5x the donations of the most donated-to schools in CUSA. He's really trying to say our program can't work without that?

The guy is just setting impossible standards so he has no reason to reinstate football. Oldest trick in the book.

The BBA could express support for UAB football as a start. If they don't do this, then F'em. I don't expect anything like that unless and until FB in reinstated anyway...

(01-20-2015 12:25 PM)Shrack Wrote:  Here is what President Watts says the ultimate issue with football & athletics going forward is:

Quote:•It is unrealistic that enough philanthropic support could be generated to sustain competitive football. We have studied this carefully, and current and past support and current interest were considered. There is simply too wide a gap between where we are and where we need to be.

◦To put this in perspective — philanthropic support for UAB Athletics was $2 million in the last fiscal year. At least $400,000 of that came from UAB entities.

◦We would need private donations that are eight to nine times greater than our current base of private support, and we would need at least that much every single year in perpetuity. "

He's right that we need more donations, but he sets an impossible standard to meet on purpose. He thinks we need philanthropic support better than all but about 30 schools in the country just to maintain our CUSA football program??? Really? That's a joke. If our private donations were 8x higher than they are now we'd have over 4 or 5x the donations of the most donated-to schools in CUSA. He's really trying to say our program can't work without that?

The guy is just setting impossible standards so he has no reason to reinstate football. Oldest trick in the book.

I'm in complete agreement with you. It's an almost impossible standard made even tougher to reach because of the inability to grow the potentially biggest money-maker in the athletic program.

But we still have to try our best to fund our program correctly. If we are sitting back waiting on a stadium to throw our money at, we are choking the department in the process. What I see is that there are BOT members that do not want UAB to use ANY money from the school to grow the athletic department... they don't care whether our competition does it, they only care how Bama does it and hold us to the same standard. It's one of the many reasons we need our own BOT, or at least representation on the board that understands what our needs truly are.

We should not be forced to pay cash for everything. Needing 8-9x as much if we are paying cash for everything. The facilities should should be payed in partial with bonds.