mbenecke wrote:Yes, that stuff matters to my generation. Maybe it shouldn't, but it absolutely does. And if you're falling behind in the facilities race, you're falling behind on the field.
I call BS to anyone who suggests this is generational. People have been competing with the Jones Family since the start of time when caves were being pimped out. And those who visit notice and the caveman with the best cave got the best cave-woman. It's the nature of humans.
BGSU football must compete and that means upgrade. The question is who pays. Please don't charge the common student for such projects. Donors must be groomed again - sorry.
I proudly chose to be a Falcon and a Falcon I will remain until the end.
Well, that's good to know. I wasn't suggesting (or at least, I wasn't intending to) that it was only this generation. But I know it is absolutely something relevant to the current generation, and it will be to future generations. I can only speak on what I have seen personally, and as a 21 year old kid, I haven't seen what it was like before the Sebo rebuild.
FalconTurf wrote: BGSU football must compete and that means upgrade. The question is who pays. Please don't charge the common student for such projects. Donors must be groomed again - sorry.
Agreed that the donors need to be groomed again, and new ones need to be found. The fundraising team at BG athletics is unbelievably tiny compared to the schools I have worked for. Granted, I've worked at ACC, SEC, and a couple of very prestigious academic schools, but the smallest of those schools had a development department of about 20 people, and I believe it's just 5 or 6 at BG. I know it's not the wealthiest of the alumni bases in the country, but there is certainly a large number of prospects untouched. I know former football players who have done really well for themselves and have never been contacted for money outside of the student call center.
BG '10
Attended more games than any responsible student should have.
It feels like the focus has moved more toward the big fish and away from the smaller donors. IMO that does a couple of things. First, If I have a million to give a lot of time and energy is spent courting me for what could be a one hit donation. Those are great "lead donor" opportunities, but often times more funding is needed. Second, spending so much time on the large potential donors leaves less time to make contact with smaller donors. That is a mistake. The more donors involved the deeper the well. I may only be able to afford $500 a year but if a relationship is developed could donate more later through estate planning. Many small donors are now former donors because the department could care less if they fell off the face of the planet.
We are athletics focused here, but it is an example of the larger issue. BGSU does a piss poor job of engaging its alumni and fans in general. Again, athletics has many examples. How many corporate suites do we sell for football compared to other schools our size? We build a new basketball arena and not one damn corporate suite was included. The same thing goes with the Ice arena. It does not take much effort to make a fan feel valued. Fans that feel valued will stick with teams through rough patches and continue to provide funding through ticket sales. Fans that don't feel valued will leave and may never come back.
At some point BGSU has got start digging out of this hole.
"If all do not join now to save the good old ship of the Union this voyage nobody will have a chance to pilot her on another voyage."
A. Lincoln
The BGSU Men's Chorus
America's Finest Singing Machine
BGSU Brothers Sing On
It's the Journey... wrote:It feels like the focus has moved more toward the big fish and away from the smaller donors. IMO that does a couple of things. First, If I have a million to give a lot of time and energy is spent courting me for what could be a one hit donation. Those are great "lead donor" opportunities, but often times more funding is needed. Second, spending so much time on the large potential donors leaves less time to make contact with smaller donors. That is a mistake. The more donors involved the deeper the well. I may only be able to afford $500 a year but if a relationship is developed could donate more later through estate planning. Many small donors are now former donors because the department could care less if they fell off the face of the planet.
We are athletics focused here, but it is an example of the larger issue. BGSU does a piss poor job of engaging its alumni and fans in general. Again, athletics has many examples. How many corporate suites do we sell for football compared to other schools our size? We build a new basketball arena and not one damn corporate suite was included. The same thing goes with the Ice arena. It does not take much effort to make a fan feel valued. Fans that feel valued will stick with teams through rough patches and continue to provide funding through ticket sales. Fans that don't feel valued will leave and may never come back.
At some point BGSU has got start digging out of this hole.
Yeah, the move away from smaller donors to bigger donors is an industry trend, not just a BG thing. All of the consulting firms push for it because, on average, it brings in more dollars with fewer resources (it costs a lot more than you'd guess to get a $100 donation). It works well at the larger, big conference institutions because they have a large pipeline of big donors that stays pretty consistently filled. The "small" schools like BG, Akron, Kent need to find a happy medium so it's based more on long-term cultivation starting at young alumni.
BG '10
Attended more games than any responsible student should have.
mbenecke wrote:Well, that's good to know. I wasn't suggesting (or at least, I wasn't intending to) that it was only this generation. But I know it is absolutely something relevant to the current generation, and it will be to future generations. I can only speak on what I have seen personally, and as a 21 year old kid, I haven't seen what it was like before the Sebo rebuild.
Facilities matter in college football, period.
I wasn't trying to call you out. I was suggesting that this idea of keeping up with the Jones family is nothing new and is not exclusive to youth. Whether it's a shopping center, university classroom building, fitness center or their own home, people gravitate to new. The pictures of the BG facilities vs the other facilities shows an extreme gap. It's obvious something needs to be done.
I proudly chose to be a Falcon and a Falcon I will remain until the end.
The comments about donor appreciation resonates with me. Two guys that I've interacted with in the department in the last 10 years were Kingston and a ticket manager by the name Appleby (I believe). Appleby went out of his way to talk to me and enjoyed the interaction. Kingston may have done a poor job in many aspects but at least he recognized my face and acknowledged me. When I approach the ticket office I usually feel welcomed but I've gone a couple seasons since I've interacted with any full-time athletic department employee away from the ticket window.
$300/year and tickets to men's basketball and football are small potatoes but then a small time gas man working a radio gig eventually provided the lead donation to build BGSU an arena.
I proudly chose to be a Falcon and a Falcon I will remain until the end.
It's the Journey... wrote:It feels like the focus has moved more toward the big fish and away from the smaller donors. IMO that does a couple of things. First, If I have a million to give a lot of time and energy is spent courting me for what could be a one hit donation. Those are great "lead donor" opportunities, but often times more funding is needed. Second, spending so much time on the large potential donors leaves less time to make contact with smaller donors. That is a mistake. The more donors involved the deeper the well. I may only be able to afford $500 a year but if a relationship is developed could donate more later through estate planning. Many small donors are now former donors because the department could care less if they fell off the face of the planet.
We are athletics focused here, but it is an example of the larger issue. BGSU does a piss poor job of engaging its alumni and fans in general. Again, athletics has many examples. How many corporate suites do we sell for football compared to other schools our size? We build a new basketball arena and not one damn corporate suite was included. The same thing goes with the Ice arena. It does not take much effort to make a fan feel valued. Fans that feel valued will stick with teams through rough patches and continue to provide funding through ticket sales. Fans that don't feel valued will leave and may never come back.
At some point BGSU has got start digging out of this hole.
BG is going back to Atlanta to play Georgia Tech in 2023. The game scheduled against Louisiana Tech for that date has been pushed back to 2029. Also, the game at Marshall has moved from 2025 to 2027. I think all those years are correct from what I read, I'm going off of memory.
BGSU33 wrote:BG is going back to Atlanta to play Georgia Tech in 2023. The game scheduled against Louisiana Tech for that date has been pushed back to 2029. Also, the game at Marshall has moved from 2025 to 2027. I think all those years are correct from what I read, I'm going off of memory.
I like this move. Georgia Tech is a P5 ($) game, but they aren't an overbearing opponent. I expect it to be a bit closer this time around (heck, maybe we'll be good enough to beat them in 2023, who knows?). Don't love having to see the Triple Option again (or ever) but I'll live with this over other potential P5 opponents.
We have Marshall here first in 2022, which is still on, so I can live with pushing that return trip a few years for something like this.
