According to the email I received there is a webinar tomorrow evening to go over changes to the Duke Club giving structure for 2019.

Anyone have any info on this?

I think there is going to be a new fund where donations won't be tax deductible but will count towards benefits and another fund where donations are tax deductible but don't provide any benefits.

Proud to say made my first recent grad Duke club membership today. Got a nice call from the alumni association and made the move.

Good deal. Go Dukes.

(11-06-2018 09:30 PM)Anders Wrote:  Proud to say made my first recent grad Duke club membership today. Got a nice call from the alumni association and made the move.

Way to go, Anders! Welcome to the Duke Club! Thank you for getting involved early! Go Dukes!

(11-06-2018 07:36 PM)Bill Wrote:  I think there is going to be a new fund where donations won't be tax deductible but will count towards benefits and another fund where donations are tax deductible but don't provide any benefits.

Kind of a big shift coming if you are familiar with the Duke Club giving chart of many years, although I think it's simpler to understand if you're new to the system. If you've given to the DC before according to the giving chart/matrix, it'll confuse you for a moment (In before everyone complains about it). The tax law making your Duke Club donation non-deductible because you receive "benefits" (Priority/club/suite seat access, hospitality, etc) for your "donation" was a big reason behind the changes, and has impacted hundreds of institutions across the country.

I reached out to Bourne last year about some issues I saw with the priority point system (specifically for younger grads). One of my "complaints" (used loosely as I fully admit that no system will ever be perfect for every donor) were addressed with changing DC25 to the Young Alumni Program. I wish it went longer than 4 years, the COB gives credit for grads for the first 10 years, but it helps fix some of the old flaws.

I hope some of the other areas were addressed but I imagine most of the webinar will focus on the tax changes. I made a donation last month and there was some additional info on the site about what I could deduct and such.

If you got the link to the webinar, I encourage you to attend it. I looked on the websites and didn't see anything posted anywhere about it, so I think this may have gone out to existing Duke Club Members first, and I think the link is unique so I didn't post mine. Moral of the story - the members of this forum are some of the most engaged fans and Duke Club supporters, and we need to understand it so we can help explain it to each other.

Webinar is 5pm tonight.

I also poked around and couldn't find any early leaks of intel on jmusports or jmudukeclub. I noticed I have 0 priority points right now so I'm guessing the calculation is changing and the current system is in limbo, awaiting the new system to go live.

(11-07-2018 09:13 AM)DoubleDogDare Wrote:  I also poked around and couldn't find any early leaks of intel on jmusports or jmudukeclub. I noticed I have 0 priority points right now so I'm guessing the calculation is changing and the current system is in limbo, awaiting the new system to go live.

Priority points still very much in play. I'll look and see what mine says later. I don't think there's major changes to the points calculation - maybe a couple.

this all has to do with the tax law changes.

every school is going to have to change the way they do donations in order to try and keep some tax incentive for people to continue to donate

I'm curious how this will work. It sounds like you can't get priority points if you want it to be tax deductible.

Hopefully they have a solution, but it seems like it blows up the athletics giving model.

I have a lot of questions.

Also, does anyone know? Is this effective currently or next year?

https://www.forbes.com/sites/chrissmith/...-millions/

Quote:The new tax law will essentially remove that 80% deduction entirely; any contributions that are linked to the right to purchase season tickets will no longer be considered charitable donations. It's a very common practice for athletic departments to require donations before alumni are able to purchase season tickets. To get an idea of just how significant the total impact could be, the House Ways and Means Committee projects the adjustment will net the government $200 million per year.

(11-07-2018 10:52 AM)Duke Dawg Wrote:  https://www.forbes.com/sites/chrissmith/...-millions/

Quote:The new tax law will essentially remove that 80% deduction entirely; any contributions that are linked to the right to purchase season tickets will no longer be considered charitable donations. It's a very common practice for athletic departments to require donations before alumni are able to purchase season tickets. To get an idea of just how significant the total impact could be, the House Ways and Means Committee projects the adjustment will net the government $200 million per year.

Reading through the logic, it appears priority points can not be achieved from a tax deductible donation.

(11-07-2018 10:46 AM)Dukester Wrote:  I'm curious how this will work. It sounds like you can't get priority points if you want it to be tax deductible.

Hopefully they have a solution, but it seems like it blows up the athletics giving model.

I have a lot of questions.

Also, does anyone know? Is this effective currently or next year?

NEXT year. So Jan 2019 and next football/basketball season.

(11-07-2018 11:01 AM)Deez Nuts Wrote:  

(11-07-2018 10:46 AM)Dukester Wrote:  I'm curious how this will work. It sounds like you can't get priority points if you want it to be tax deductible.

Hopefully they have a solution, but it seems like it blows up the athletics giving model.

I have a lot of questions.

Also, does anyone know? Is this effective currently or next year?

NEXT year. So Jan 2019 and next football/basketball season.

Well that is true for the purposes of JMU in their calculation, but for the purposes of your taxes 2018 is the first year where you cannot deduct the sports donations if you’re getting benefits. Definitely consult a tax advisor in regards to this however.

(11-07-2018 09:08 AM)Deez Nuts Wrote:  If you got the link to the webinar, I encourage you to attend it. I looked on the websites and didn't see anything posted anywhere about it, so I think this may have gone out to existing Duke Club Members first, and I think the link is unique so I didn't post mine. Moral of the story - the members of this forum are some of the most engaged fans and Duke Club supporters, and we need to understand it so we can help explain it to each other.

Webinar is 5pm tonight.

Hopefully a tape of this will be saved on site.

That will be a difficult time for me to watch, as I'm sure it will be the case for others.....

This is from the email -


We will use this hour to explain upcoming Duke Club and Ticketing
structure changes coming in 2019 as a result of the current tax legislation and for the future growth of JMU athletics. You will have an opportunity to provide feedback during and after the webinar is completed as we finalized details for 2019.

The passing of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act no longer allows tax deductions for donations that provide access to tickets for home athletic events. The new changes will provide options to support JMU Athletics and still receive tax deductions.

Looks like athletic fundraising arms across the country will take a step back. Not surprised though. There were still companies out there who matched employee contributions to university booster clubs. I'm certain that was never their intent. It was good while it lasted.

Maybe I'm missing something, but if more people donate to schools it's less funds governments have to pay for college athletics. That 80% is pretty legit in my opinion.

I would have to think the vast majority of colleges and universities get most of their athletic funding from the a) government and then b) student fees.

So JMU Athletics is cutting out the ticket benefits (what seats and how many seats you can receive) at various Duke Club giving levels, and buying your seat access separately (for football: priority, chairback, club). You buy those separately for football (and in the future, Basketball when the Union Bank & Trust Center opens). That makes your Duke Club gift tax deductible again.