DavidsonCats.com

Stevelee I recognize the fact you can give to a particular sport and maybe it is a matter of perspective. I think a "campaign" for athletics by the college would be a totally different animal with the whole college behind the effort. I would like to see such a campaign that would solicit corporations and foundations the same as individuals.
If 1 or 2 years out of DC's existence were devoted to raising money specifically for just athletics, would that plan doom DC's pursuit of academics? I see our athletes devote many hours per week on their sports and still devote a greater amount of time to academics so I believe they deserve equal support in both areas. It is admirable to be both an athlete and scholar at DC.
These are just my opinions because of what sport, and academics, has meant to my life. I also am my father's son and sports and Davidson have been with me since birth.

Do foundations give to sports teams?

Do other schools have campaigns like that?

What about corporate sponsorships other than arena naming rights and shoe and gear providers?

Would Nike et. al. be OK with NASCAR-style patches all over uniforms?

Stevelee your questions make the assumption that we have tried certain avenues and that there exists a black or white response. Are there foundations? yes. Have we tried to solicit any? Don't know. Do we not try because we do not know the answer? Not in my blood to not try.
Do other schools have this type campaign? Don't care. We always talk about DC being unique. If I never tried different presentations or approaches in court, I doubt I would still be practicing law. We should be the ones creating the box so we can set our own limits.
Corporate sponsors can make contributions for a lot of things. I feel confidant that all our sports teams would be happy to be outfitted in Nike, Underarmour or one of the other brands. Outfitting all our teams would be a tremendous load off the operational budget of these teams. There also are corporations that give to general athletic funds. Have we approached any of them from a campaign drive position? I don't know but I don't believe so.
All I am saying is why not try something that to my knowledge we have not done. History tells me that all this is a pipe dream, but it is my pipe dream for DC athletics.

My questions mainly assume that I don't know the answers. I don't necessarily conclude that no one knows the answers or that no one has ever explored the questions.

I just ate about the best French onion soup I've ever had, so my mind is more on savoring that, and now the rockfish has arrived.

Now you have the right idea! All this chatter is way too weighty for a beautiful weekend

SandyCarnegie wrote:Stevelee your questions make the assumption that we have tried certain avenues and that there exists a black or white response. Are there foundations? yes. Have we tried to solicit any? Don't know. Do we not try because we do not know the answer? Not in my blood to not try.
Do other schools have this type campaign? Don't care. We always talk about DC being unique. If I never tried different presentations or approaches in court, I doubt I would still be practicing law. We should be the ones creating the box so we can set our own limits.
Corporate sponsors can make contributions for a lot of things. I feel confidant that all our sports teams would be happy to be outfitted in Nike, Underarmour or one of the other brands. Outfitting all our teams would be a tremendous load off the operational budget of these teams. There also are corporations that give to general athletic funds. Have we approached any of them from a campaign drive position? I don't know but I don't believe so.
All I am saying is why not try something that to my knowledge we have not done. History tells me that all this is a pipe dream, but it is my pipe dream for DC athletics.

Have you all called Gavin to talk to him about this?

I had a few contacts with Gavin several months ago and still waiting for a promised response.
I think I am too much a thorn in the admin's side.

2 more months have passed. Any good news?

From Gavin:

Our incredible donors allowed the DAF to exceed its $2.2 million goal for current-use funds, finishing with $2,271,210. In addition, the DAF established a new record of $1,414,413 in sport-specific fundraising for the college’s 21 varsity programs. This represents a 36 percent increase over the previous record of $1,040,702, set in June of 2014.

Additionally, I would like to offer a huge congratulations on raising more than the $5 million goal for new athletic scholarship commitments. We finished with $5,018,346, with the final $218,346 coming in on the last day of the fiscal year. “June Magic” at its best.

When tallying up our various capital projects and other gifts, we’re pleased to report that the DAF raised a grand total of $8,439,374.

That sounds like enough new scholarship money to endow 4 or 5 scholarships. Good news.

Do we know how many scholarships we currently have in each sport?

No definitive numbers but just what I've been told. CollegeCoach can probably expound.

I think we have less now per sport (excluding the basketballs and of course football) than we did 3-4 years ago. So, my guess is about three, give or take a fraction or two, per sport.

Pretty much impossible to win with that few schollys.

This is interesting. If someone gave $100,000 to endow a scholarship in the late '70s when tuition and board were about $5,000, there should be an endowed scholarship now.

That $100,000 should have increased to about $1,800,000 with the growth in the stock market.

Maybe a trustee will see this discussion and ask someone on the inside whether what Bill said is true. If so, how did that happen?

citycat wrote:This is interesting. If someone gave $100,000 to endow a scholarship in the late '70s when tuition and board were about $5,000, there should be an endowed scholarship now.

That $100,000 should have increased to about $1,800,000 with the growth in the stock market.

Maybe a trustee will see this discussion and ask someone on the inside whether what Bill said is true. If so, how did that happen?

Bill's numbers are pretty close. Not many scholarships were ever endowed, so not many benefited from CityCat's example.

citycat wrote:This is interesting. If someone gave $100,000 to endow a scholarship in the late '70s when tuition and board were about $5,000, there should be an endowed scholarship now.

That $100,000 should have increased to about $1,800,000 with the growth in the stock market.

Obviously someone should travel back in time and make some big endowment contributions.

Something I saw recently told me that they are (or at least were not long ago) using $1.5M as the rule of thumb for funding a scholarship. Maybe they still let you name one for an initial $1M as they did with the Maloy scholarship. I know they continued to raise funding for it after they had enough to name it, because I recall sending in another check.