I agree that it is misleading to say our donations went up 45%.

Our unrestricted donations only went up from $1.99M to $2.10M. Not an accomplish, especially considering the goal was $2.25M (and we know JB doesn't set high goals ). It is possible the unrestricted donations would have gone up more IF people were not giving to the convo. However, I think that is unlikely as most of the convo donations were in addition to supporters regular increases to the Duke Club. Closing a $7M scholarship gap is going to take a LONG time if we only see 5% increases each year.

Let's not forget they pushed the convo harder in 2015 than 2014, and only went after the largest checks in 2014. By increasing the pool of possible donors you would expect to see an increase. Going from $2.8M to $4M is a big jump but it isn't sustainable due to those factors. Additionally when you are trying to raise $12M specifically for a convo and $3M right away, $1.2M in one year is not a promising sign. Hopefully JMU will see a snowball effect as some of the larger pockets start opening up.

I met with a rep earlier this year and they said they got a huge bump from Gameday. Clearly stated that had Gameday not featured JMU, the Duke Club would have raised less money in 2015 than 2014.

The doom and gloom isn't as bad as some on here make it out to be but it isn't clear skies and sunny either.

(02-04-2016 01:22 PM)DoubleDogDare Wrote:  I agree that it is misleading to say our donations went up 45%.

Our unrestricted donations only went up from $1.99M to $2.10M. Not an accomplish, especially considering the goal was $2.25M (and we know JB doesn't set high goals ). It is possible the unrestricted donations would have gone up more IF people were not giving to the convo. However, I think that is unlikely as most of the convo donations were in addition to supporters regular increases to the Duke Club. Closing a $7M scholarship gap is going to take a LONG time if we only see 5% increases each year.

Let's not forget they pushed the convo harder in 2015 than 2014, and only went after the largest checks in 2014. By increasing the pool of possible donors you would expect to see an increase. Going from $2.8M to $4M is a big jump but it isn't sustainable due to those factors. Additionally when you are trying to raise $12M specifically for a convo and $3M right away, $1.2M in one year is not a promising sign. Hopefully JMU will see a snowball effect as some of the larger pockets start opening up.

I met with a rep earlier this year and they said they got a huge bump from Gameday. Clearly stated that had Gameday not featured JMU, the Duke Club would have raised less money in 2015 than 2014.

The doom and gloom isn't as bad as some on here make it out to be but it isn't clear skies and sunny either.

Mostly Cloudy and 52 degrees....

(02-04-2016 01:22 PM)DoubleDogDare Wrote:  Closing a $7M scholarship gap is going to take a LONG time if we only see 5% increases each year.

Yeah, especially since the cost of tuition and other scholarship expenses go up by more than 5% each year.

(02-04-2016 02:08 PM)JMU_71 Wrote:  

(02-04-2016 01:22 PM)DoubleDogDare Wrote:  Closing a $7M scholarship gap is going to take a LONG time if we only see 5% increases each year.

Yeah, especially since the cost of tuition and other scholarship expenses go up by more than 5% each year.

On that note, it was mentioned that TXST pulled a scholarship this past year because they had hit the allowable number of out of state athletes. Does JMU Athletics have a similar requirement?

(02-04-2016 01:16 PM)jmuwyhamhgawd Wrote:  Oh no question that the Convo is the reason for the increase. But the numbers make it pretty clear that those donations are coming in in addition to normal gifts, rather than in place of. And certainly, it could potentially go even higher if we were to move to FBS. It still just illustrates how off-base the posters are who seem to think the university is crashing and burning and losing support by the thousands.

Don't think I see too many crash and burn theories, but what' behind the $ increase is what really matters.

How many NEW donors did we add this year in the unrestricted gift category that were NOT donating specifically to the convo. That's the number we need to focus on for the future growth, not bleeding more out of the current donor base...i'm sure its out there - what's the number / % ?

Haha you guys are too much. "If it wasn't for our athletic program doing all of these great things, than our athletic program wouldn't be doing great things!" Face it, guys, the athletic department is alive and well.

(02-04-2016 09:07 PM)jmuwyhamhgawd Wrote:  Haha you guys are too much. "If it wasn't for our athletic program doing all of these great things, than our athletic program wouldn't be doing great things!" Face it, guys, the athletic department is alive and well.

A 5% increase (vs goal of >13%) and missing your dollar amount goal is not "doing great things" in my book. Record breaking year, congrats that cool, they still haven't hit their stated goal of $2.15M that they set in 2013. As someone mentioned with the rising cost of these scholarships, I wonder if we have gotten any closer to closing the scholarship gap than we were 3 years ago. If that is your goal, your mission that you paid Mr. Carr to figure out for you, then they are not alive and well, they are struggling.

UVA just announced a 2 for 1 with ODU starting in 2018. What could have been....

In before the we got left behind posts

(02-08-2016 02:30 PM)JMUDuke25 Wrote:  In before the we got left behind posts

We didn't get left behind. We chose to stay put. This is on no one but ourselves. It's now best for us if ODU and Appy have tremendous success, and I'm not simply speaking on wins and losses. Our admin needs to see them putting lots of butts in the seats. They need to see them often on TV. They need to see UVA and Tech come into Norfolk and get beat. They need to see Wake and Miami go to Boone and get beat. This needs to happen in front of 35K screaming fans.

(02-08-2016 02:51 PM)BleedingPurple Wrote:  

(02-08-2016 02:30 PM)JMUDuke25 Wrote:  In before the we got left behind posts

We didn't get left behind. We chose to stay put. This is on no one but ourselves. It's now best for us if ODU and Appy have tremendous success, and I'm not simply speaking on wins and losses. Our admin needs to see them putting lots of butts in the seats. They need to see them often on TV. They need to see UVA and Tech come into Norfolk and get beat. They need to see Wake and Miami go to Boone and get beat. This needs to happen in front of 35K screaming fans.

Meh. They've seen us go to Blacksburg and win. They've seen us go win a national title. They've seen us host gameday and impress the hell out of everyone. They have plenty of ammo from that standpoint. If it's about money then someone with Showker money needs to make it happen.

(02-08-2016 02:25 PM)JMU Wrote:  UVA just announced a 2 for 1 with ODU starting in 2018. What could have been....

Perhaps...I do have my doubts UVA or VT would come to Harrisonburg right away though. Part of the appeal of playing at ODU is playing IN Norfolk, in what is a recruiting hot bed (as I'm sure you and everybody here knows). I certainly think we would be able to draw in some of the lower tier regional P5 schools if we were FBS, but I seriously doubt VT or UVA would come to Harrisonburg unless JMU was a consistent winner at the FBS level.

At this point, it seems pretty clear that JMU has no intention of going FBS for the foreseeable future. The VA General Assembly gave the JMU administration almost two years to get our sh*t together regarding FBS and it appears that there are no plans for JMU to even begin transitioning by June 30th. At that point, it'll be highly unlikely that the Dukes will ever be playing FBS level football.

(02-08-2016 02:25 PM)JMU Wrote:  UVA just announced a 2 for 1 with ODU starting in 2018. What could have been....

Of course VT and UVA want to play ODU... ODU has never beaten either team.