(06-21-2017 06:07 PM)soccerguy315 Wrote:  But if I give to X, I want the budget of X to increase by the amount I give. Not have them move money in the amount of my gift elsewhere.

I also give to the Pep Band... now I wonder if that money is going elsewhere also. If my money is not adding money to their budget, then it is worthless :(

We have a winner! What is being done may not meet the definition of bait and switch, but it has a similar feel to it. I have served on the boards of a couple of non-profit organizations who take directed giving donations and we treat them differently than the feel I'm getting here. Please correct me if I misunderstood the accounting.

Where is the certain proof, not just speculation, that monies donated to a particular sport are being
reassigned to other sports? I made a large contribution to football and I know for a fact it all went to football as I stipulated in the donation.

(06-22-2017 05:27 AM)BigTribe3 Wrote:  Where is the certain proof, not just speculation, that monies donated to a particular sport are being
reassigned to other sports? I made a large contribution to football and I know for a fact it all went to football as I stipulated in the donation.

I am not sure that that is the concern. I think the concern is that if budget for football is supposed to be $X and you donate $1,000 to football, football will get your $1,000 but $1,000 from a general fund that otherwise would have gone to football goes to another sport so football does not benefit from your donation.

I don't know if it has changed recently (and, if it has not, then it needs to be the FOCUS of change...by Someone), but that is EXACTLY how it was explained to me a few years ago. BT's $1000 went to football, but there is no guarantee that the General Funds $1000 went there as well.

This is the way the majority of nonprofits/charities do things, as well. Since dollars are fungible, they can put "your" dollar toward your designated cause, and this just frees them up to spend a different dollar somewhere else.

Agreed. This is not unusual at all. If you want your dollars to go to a specific cause, you need to designate them. General fund donations to W&M go wherever the leadership wants them to go. I personally have no problem with that. While football and basketball are my favorite two sports to follow, I do not mind seeing funds go to support our soccer, cross country, swimming and other teams. Clearly there has been an emphasis to get much greater giving and it has been successful. Numerous people have donation huge amounts of money for the College. As long as those donations further the experience for the students and the opportunities for the students, I am ok with it.

The alumni who like and support the Men's basketball team are just frustrated(as am I) at the offseason we have had. We have 9 openings between now and 2018. I certainly understand the angst, and also appreciate the concept that Men's Basketball could give the College a significant boost in positive exposure with some increased support. I will continue to support the school in as many ways as I can, but the majority of my current resources are going to W&M for tuition for my child. Tuition is 500% higher than it was when I attended 25 years ago. Nevertheless, we are excited to have our child attending and know it will be a life changing experience for her as it was for us.

But the alumni support for the college is amazing and I expect it will continue. Got Ribe, Ms. Got Ribe, and others have done a great job along with some committed staff to raise awareness and increase the potential for something better. For basketball, the core of players and coaches and fan support far exceeds anything we had 30 years ago when I began attending.

(06-22-2017 05:27 AM)BigTribe3 Wrote:  Where is the certain proof, not just speculation, that monies donated to a particular sport are being
reassigned to other sports? I made a large contribution to football and I know for a fact it all went to football as I stipulated in the donation.

Stop it.

You're a regular contributor here, and have been for years.

It's been explained in the past the "bait and switch" that occurs from people who have knowledge of how the Department works.

Donations to a sport go to that sport, but the result is that general funds initially designated for that sport go elsewhere.

You've either not read what was posted, forgotten what was posted, or are deliberately ignoring what was posted / flying wing cover for the Department.

None of the above three scenarios speaks well of you.

Cut it out.

Dumb questions: Where is all this "general fund" money coming from? Wouldn't the solution be to drain that fund and just have sport specific donations?

So if this is "normal" practice, what about this:

The athletic budget for 20 sports is $100,000 evenly split, so $5k per sport.

Now, BigTribe donates his $1k to football. If football spending stays at $5k and the $1k is shifted to the general fund, then BigTribe's donation actually made football get a smaller percentage of the sports budget (as the other 19 sports split $96k when previously they were splitting $95k).

So your sport specific donations could be driving DOWN the share of support that the chosen sport receives. Comparatively (not raw numbers), you are hurting the sport by donating money.

Is that how it is supposed to work? This is asinine.

Anyone in DC area going to this luncheon on Wednesday?

https://wmalumni.com/content/tcwm/alumni...-huge.html

(02-19-2018 03:37 PM)Tribe1693 Wrote:  Anyone in DC area going to this luncheon on Wednesday?

https://wmalumni.com/content/tcwm/alumni...-huge.html

I would have if I had known about it earlier