(11-08-2013 01:38 PM)All Dukes_All Day Wrote:  

(11-08-2013 01:30 PM)Potomac Wrote:  Stanford is the 5th best school in the country and bcs level. This is an apples to banana comparison.

I think it's more like an apples to lasagna comparison.

Don't you mean apples to 'cotti!

(11-08-2013 04:51 PM)BSKB 24 Wrote:  

(11-08-2013 01:38 PM)All Dukes_All Day Wrote:  

(11-08-2013 01:30 PM)Potomac Wrote:  Stanford is the 5th best school in the country and bcs level. This is an apples to banana comparison.

I think it's more like an apples to lasagna comparison.

Don't you mean apples to 'cotti!

+1

(11-08-2013 04:24 PM)jmu-fan-1981 Wrote:  

(11-08-2013 03:57 PM)DolleyMadison Wrote:  On that list we are ahead of Florida, UConn, Wisconsin, NC State, Texas Tech, Penn State, Rutgers, Auburn...the list goes on.

How come those programs can raise what seems like infinitely more money than JMU???

Stanford is on the extreme end of the spectrum. But saying we don't have the kind of big time money other schools have is simply not true. We just don't have anyone giving it.

I know this has been said over and over until the horse is just a bloody pulp but our alumni base is very young and mostly women. It just is not going to happen for us outside of the generous benefactors like Showker and Forbes. But every bit counts if everyone gives something... anything... bueller?

We are over 100 years old...we have been coed over half of that...there are schools much younger with weaker academic programs raising more money. Again, it's the same excuses over and over about why we CAN'T. I want to hear why we CAN.

I am not expecting the $$$ raised by BCS schools but, let's not kid ourselves. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of JMU alumni that have the ability to give big checks. But, you got to give them a reason to give.

(11-08-2013 05:04 PM)DolleyMadison Wrote:  

(11-08-2013 04:24 PM)jmu-fan-1981 Wrote:  

(11-08-2013 03:57 PM)DolleyMadison Wrote:  On that list we are ahead of Florida, UConn, Wisconsin, NC State, Texas Tech, Penn State, Rutgers, Auburn...the list goes on.

How come those programs can raise what seems like infinitely more money than JMU???

Stanford is on the extreme end of the spectrum. But saying we don't have the kind of big time money other schools have is simply not true. We just don't have anyone giving it.

I know this has been said over and over until the horse is just a bloody pulp but our alumni base is very young and mostly women. It just is not going to happen for us outside of the generous benefactors like Showker and Forbes. But every bit counts if everyone gives something... anything... bueller?

We are over 100 years old...we have been coed over half of that...there are schools much younger with weaker academic programs raising more money. Again, it's the same excuses over and over about why we CAN'T. I want to hear why we CAN.

I am not expecting the $$$ raised by BCS schools but, let's not kid ourselves. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of JMU alumni that have the ability to give big checks. But, you got to give them a reason to give.

preach!

(11-08-2013 02:53 PM)DolleyMadison Wrote:  The whole "other schools have rich alumni and we don't" thing gets old. We have the same rich alumni that other schools have. Take the 10's of thousands of 20-something alumni that we have and I guarantee you find a handful that COULD write a $500,000 check if they wanted to. The question we should be asking is not if we have those type of donors, but why aren't they giving.

You're joking, right?

(11-08-2013 06:05 PM)CharlestonDuke Wrote:  

(11-08-2013 02:53 PM)DolleyMadison Wrote:  The whole "other schools have rich alumni and we don't" thing gets old. We have the same rich alumni that other schools have. Take the 10's of thousands of 20-something alumni that we have and I guarantee you find a handful that COULD write a $500,000 check if they wanted to. The question we should be asking is not if we have those type of donors, but why aren't they giving.

You're joking, right?

Yeah, I appreciate her enthusiasm, but what 20 year olds that haven't gone to Ivy leagues and inherited their parents money have 500k to comfortably spare?

(11-08-2013 05:04 PM)DolleyMadison Wrote:  

(11-08-2013 04:24 PM)jmu-fan-1981 Wrote:  

(11-08-2013 03:57 PM)DolleyMadison Wrote:  On that list we are ahead of Florida, UConn, Wisconsin, NC State, Texas Tech, Penn State, Rutgers, Auburn...the list goes on.

How come those programs can raise what seems like infinitely more money than JMU???

Stanford is on the extreme end of the spectrum. But saying we don't have the kind of big time money other schools have is simply not true. We just don't have anyone giving it.

I know this has been said over and over until the horse is just a bloody pulp but our alumni base is very young and mostly women. It just is not going to happen for us outside of the generous benefactors like Showker and Forbes. But every bit counts if everyone gives something... anything... bueller?

We are over 100 years old...we have been coed over half of that...there are schools much younger with weaker academic programs raising more money. Again, it's the same excuses over and over about why we CAN'T. I want to hear why we CAN.

I am not expecting the $$$ raised by BCS schools but, let's not kid ourselves. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of JMU alumni that have the ability to give big checks. But, you got to give them a reason to give.

"There are those who look at things the way they are, and ask why... I dream of things that never were, and ask why not?"
-Robert F Kennedy

The reason for my post was to show that athletics can be funded by private donations and that we can have good academics and good football. We don't have the donor database that Stanford does but we have a very good database of graduates from 1977-2007 that have not yet been asked to really step up to give back to JMU. We don't have a culture of philanthropy. We don't do a good job explaining what the return on investment is for funding various projects. I made my views know on this subject and others to Nick Langridge and others within the senior leadership team.

We are not an alumni base yet that will give $1,000,000 plus gifts but we have plenty of alums that can give between $25,000-$50,000 gifts over a 5 year period. Our sweet spot for fund raising is in this range IMHO. If I were in charge, I would focus on 25,000 of the grads from 1977-2007 and I would ask those people to give $35,000 over 7 years (the length of the next campaign). That gives JMU $875,000,000. We then need to move the $25,000 donors to $50,000 donors in the next campaign. I believe we have 25,000 alums that afford to pay $5,000 a year during this time period. If JMU does not want to be as aggressive as I think they should be, then use the same 25,000 donors and get them to give $3,000 over 7 years ($21,000). This would give JMU $525,000,000 in this next campaign.

Let's get moving and really dream big.

(11-08-2013 06:14 PM)Potomac Wrote:  

(11-08-2013 06:05 PM)CharlestonDuke Wrote:  

(11-08-2013 02:53 PM)DolleyMadison Wrote:  The whole "other schools have rich alumni and we don't" thing gets old. We have the same rich alumni that other schools have. Take the 10's of thousands of 20-something alumni that we have and I guarantee you find a handful that COULD write a $500,000 check if they wanted to. The question we should be asking is not if we have those type of donors, but why aren't they giving.

You're joking, right?

Yeah, I appreciate her enthusiasm, but what 20 year olds that haven't gone to Ivy leagues and inherited their parents money have 500k to comfortably spare?

I actually agree with Dolley. In my mind, "a handful" equates to single digit numbers. We have some students with wealthy parents, and some of them have trusts. During my time at JMU, I was personally friends with one student who probably could have given $500,000. I have to assume that there are at least a few others like him out there.

The problem is, even if we find five recent grads that are each willing to give a half million dollars one time, we're still only looking at a total of $2.5 million. Like HotHamandCheese mentioned, I also think that we need to focus on the $25,000 - $50,000 gift range.

(11-10-2013 03:50 PM)rufus Wrote:  

(11-08-2013 06:14 PM)Potomac Wrote:  

(11-08-2013 06:05 PM)CharlestonDuke Wrote:  

(11-08-2013 02:53 PM)DolleyMadison Wrote:  The whole "other schools have rich alumni and we don't" thing gets old. We have the same rich alumni that other schools have. Take the 10's of thousands of 20-something alumni that we have and I guarantee you find a handful that COULD write a $500,000 check if they wanted to. The question we should be asking is not if we have those type of donors, but why aren't they giving.

You're joking, right?

Yeah, I appreciate her enthusiasm, but what 20 year olds that haven't gone to Ivy leagues and inherited their parents money have 500k to comfortably spare?

I actually agree with Dolley. In my mind, "a handful" equates to single digit numbers. We have some students with wealthy parents, and some of them have trusts. During my time at JMU, I was personally friends with one student who probably could have given $500,000. I have to assume that there are at least a few others like him out there.

The problem is, even if we find five recent grads that are each willing to give a half million dollars one time, we're still only looking at a total of $2.5 million. Like HotHamandCheese mentioned, I also think that we need to focus on the $25,000 - $50,000 gift range.

I'm sure most of you know someone who supports VT or UVA football... guess what - those guys/ girls with season tickets and parking passes are likely $ 20,000 - $ 25,000 donors over 7 or 8 years...and these folks ( and i know plenty of them) make their $ 2,000 to $ 3,000 donation then spend another $2,000 or so on tickets and parking passes... Why ?? because they have a product they CARE about. Until we see a product we CARE about ( FBS, potential significant OOC GAMES, ETC...) ITS IMPOSSIBLE to expect folks to make a serious dent in their budget for St. Frances, UNH, and even WM and UR.
My VT and UVA friends make sacrfices to give at the level they do ( non are " rich" ) because they have bought into the system and believe in the product.
This is the metamorphosis that WILL take place once we start playing an FBS schedule and our fan base expands ...Its perceived quality that matters and FBS perception is higher quality than FCS .
VT has thousands of donors in the scenario above who are the ones responsible for making the sacrifices annually to sustain the program becasue they love the program , product and are loyal.
We WILL be able to emulate VT in this manner, we just need to provide the thousands of alumni and other potential donors with a reason to buy - in.
The face value of the current FCS investment is dwindling, and our fan base is thirsty for something more than FCS offers. Our alumni and supporters are achievers, doers, and becoming movers and shakers. FCS fits JMU and our alumni / fans like a square peg in a round hole.
Its time to give the people a football program that parrallels and aligns with their outlook and goals in life - one that Competes at the highest level.