The Physical Manifestation of a Gift in Action: Roger Bacon High School.

I recently coordinated a visit to Roger Bacon High School so that my graduate school cohort students could get a first-hand experience of how impactful donations & gifts can be at the interscholastic level.  We had the opportunity to talk and interact with the school President Tom Burke, Director of Athletics Steve Rossi, Principal Steve Schad and Assistant Director of Athletics Brandon Spaeth.  According to President Burke; the current $200,000 renovation to the lobby & gymnasium areas of the Fogarty Center as well as the $800,000 Roger Bacon Fitness Center hinged on the reliance upon major gifts and convincing potential donors that it was a good investment.  A significant portion of the athletic facility tour was how they incorporated a donor recognition wall to honor those who helped make these capital projects happen.  While this is not a new and/or innovative idea; it does demonstrate the power & importance of the concept of proper “stewardship”.

Overall, when it comes to major gift prospecting for capital projects, providing dedicated “space” to honor those key donors/stakeholders who provided gifts cannot be underestimated.  It was evident that the Roger Bacon administration truly listened to their donors; and it was also clear that the physical manifestation of a “gift in action” was something that motivated them. As a result, the administration genuinely delivered on that promise of those provisions.  In the end analysis, this type of stewardship & involvement should go a long way as it will be much easier for Tom Burke and Steve Rossi to approach these donors/stakeholders for a second gift in future encounters when another athletic facility capital project is needed at Roger Bacon High School.  Seeing this first hand was truly an educational experience for my students and is a prime example of Stewardship best practices.

The utility of analytical software in Sports Fundraising: We’ve only scratched the surface!

There are a variety of segments within the sport industry that are adopting more analytical approaches to their decision making among professional, intercollegiate and even interscholastic sport organizations. Additionally, administrative decision makers such as general managers & owners, athletic directors, and even coaches are of course interested in making decisions that are in the best interests of achieving their goals. When those goals can be quantitatively measured and the proper “technology” employed; that combination has been the fundamental key to the surge of sports analytics among all segments.

As is relates to “Sports Fundraising” in particular; we have only scratched the surface of the knowledge that can potentially be gleaned. This; in turn, has also had a profound impact on curriculum development within the Sport Administration/Sport Management field of study. Three years ago in 2013; I documented that there has been a steady “paradigm shift” in higher education within the Sport Administration/Management domain. Whether you call it the “Moneyball effect” or something else; this analytical paradigm shift has already started in a variety of areas within the Sport Administration curriculum including; but not limited to the following:

*Athlete performance assessments/Biomechanics.

*Within-game decision-making strategies.

*Athlete selection and team/roster formation.

*Dynamic Ticket pricing solutions.

*Fan engagement/segmentation/loyalty analysis.

* Fundraising/Development.

Thus, I have leveraged this key information and created a new course titled “Sports Fundraising & Analytics” that was launched in the Fall 2015 Semester. Course content includes relationship cultivation and stewardship strategies and techniques within the sport industry and how to convert those into meaningful data. Students also learn how to use “hands-on” tools by computing and analyzing data related to sport fundraising and how it can be leveraged to impact decision-making. Overall, my students are trained on the fundamentals of the Raiser’s Edge Software System. Furthermore; other course objectives include:

*Utilizing analytical software to demonstrate “HOW” to grow your constituent base.

*Leveraging analytical software to cultivate “NEW” revenue streams.

*Expanding the use of analytical software to demonstrate “WHY” there are efficiency gains to being proactive about constituent development rather than retrospective.

* Applying the Raiser’s Edge software for “drill down analyses”: (i.e. calculate & determine which constituent and solicitor relationship has raised the most money over a lifetime? Calculate & determine who your Top Donors are without an assigned solicitor? Etc.)

In the end analysis as it pertains to Sports Fundraising and Development; curriculum development is still in its infancy and as a result; the use of these analytical tools/platforms will grow significantly in 2016 and beyond. Finally, those who possess these analytical skill-sets will certainly be in high demand as well.

David J Kelley Ph.D., CAA is an Assistant Professor in the Sport Administration Program at the University of Cincinnati.  Throughout his career, Dr. Kelley successfully raised funds and secured grants to improve the sport programs under his supervision.  He has published articles on sport fundraising, sponsorships, and curriculum development.  In April 2012, Dr. Kelley published the highly sought after book Sports Fundraising:  Dynamic Methods for Schools, Universities and Youth Sport Organizations by Routledge Publishing Inc. and can be obtained by connecting to:  http://www.routledge.com/books/details/9780415507196/

Cultivating areas of specialty among your fundraising committee is a key to success

In many instances, this is considered one of the most often overlooked aspects of a successful fundraising initiative. Your committee is the fundamental key of your fundraising efforts. Despite the difficulty in recruiting volunteers and quality people to be part of your fundraising initiative, one of the biggest mistakes that can be made is just accepting anyone onto your committee. Therefore, it is best to search for people that are motivated self starters who can take guidance and direction, yet are also able to function and operate individually. Taking the time to identify their strengths and weaknesses, can result in placing the best qualified person in their most appropriate position. Optimistically this effort will lead to fundraising success. Moreover, placing people that have particular expertise or specialty is just as important. Whether this task is initiated by the Director of Athletics or perhaps delegated to the Athletic Booster club president, it’s importance cannot be underestimated.

When dealing with bricks and mortar type projects, reaching out to and involving people who have specialized skill in in areas such as construction management can be a real boon to the design and timeliness of the project. In general, in certain instances, educators can get into roles they are either not suited for or beyond their qualifications, which can be an obstacle to fundraising and construction management. For example, in California, a gymnasium construction project was compromised when the superintendent of the schools placed a change order in the gymnasium design and as a result, the bleachers stretched beyond the sideline to the three-point line and once extended, the playing area is unsuitable for regulation play. “The bleachers were not part of the original design for the gyms, according to Cornell Williams, the project manager. The seating was added at the request of Pamela Short-Powell, then superintendent of Inglewood Unified School District. Short-Powell had the leverage to amend the original plans, according to Trina Williams, a district board member” (Kyriacou, 2010, p.1). Additionally, “Modifying the bleachers would cost between $5 and $6 million, according to an estimate the committee received from the project contractors, FTR International and Icon West, Inc.” (Kyriacou, 2010, p.1).

In other instances, those who possess the qualifications and expertise on issues related to construction management and key terminology such project activities, project scheduling and/or critical path methodologies can facilitate the timely procurement of necessary materials, and otherwise insure the completion of a project as soon as possible. In contrast, poor scheduling can result in considerable waste as laborers and equipment wait for the availability of needed resources or the completion of preceding tasks. Furthermore, reaching out to and involving people who have specialized skills and experience with critical path methodologies and allowing them the autonomy to help manage projects is a key to success.

In sum, contemporary athletic fundraising activities that are intended to pay for capital construction projects are all about effective communication and having the necessary interpersonal skills to know when to pursue, when to back off and listen, when to be aggressive and when to be undemonstrative. Overall, cultivating people who possess areas of specialty among your fundraising committee is so vitally important to fundraising and project success.

David J Kelley Ph.D., CAA is an Assistant Professor in the Sport Administration Program at the University of Cincinnati.  Throughout his career, Dr. Kelley successfully raised funds and secured grants to improve the sport programs under his supervision.  He has published articles on sport fundraising,  sponsorships, and curriculum development.  In April 2012, Dr. Kelley published the highly sought after book Sports Fundraising:  Dynamic Methods for Schools, Universities and Youth Sport Organizations by Routledge Publishing Inc and can be obtained by connecting to:  http://www.routledge.com/books/details/9780415507196/

References

Kyriacou, C. (2010).  Design flaws in Inglewood school gymnasiums.  The South
Los Angeles Report. (at http://www.intersectionssouthla.org/index.php/author/1482)  Accessed 15 October 2010. 

The Importance of Fundraising Diversification

ICYMI: The Importance of Fundraising Diversification explained here…Check it out!

Best Practices in Sports Fundraising & Development

As it relates to education-based athletic/sport organizations, “Fundraising Diversification” is an important concept for both youth and high-school/interscholastic athletic administrators to acknowledge if they want to have success in both the short and long term. From an organizational standpoint, the logical goal is to have the requisite resources to manage multiple streams of income and strike a balance among them. Consequently, for the better part of the last three to four decades among youth and many high school athletic programs, fundraising has been conducted as a short-term activity to satisfy a specific need of the program ranging from new uniforms for soccer players to new bats for the softball team to updated equipment for the football team. While the specific needs may change over the years, the methods of obtaining the funds have, for the most part, remained the same.

               Episodic fundraisers are activities where the sport organization/program sells…

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A new undergraduate class this fall – SMGT 4030: Sport Fundraising and Analytics.

Sports Fundraising and Analytics PB

SMGT 4030: Sports Fundraising and Analytics:

The course presents the significance of data analytics on sport fundraising. Course content also includes relationship cultivation and stewardship strategies and techniques within the sport industry and how to convert those into meaningful data. Students will learn tools on how to compute and analyze data related to sport fundraising and how it can be leveraged to impact decision-making. Students will be working with the “Raisers Edge” Software platform; the world’s #1 Fundraising and Donor Management Solution that is widely used in the Sport Industry and in other industries as well. Students will learn through hands-on activities/labs on how to:

• Navigate key information within the system about constituents within an athletic database.

• Cultivation “action steps” within the system so you have a complete picture of your constituent interaction in order to more effectively manage your donor relationship.

• Discover and manage major gifts from high net worth alumni or from former student-athletes within an athletic database.

This course will feature contributions from Sport Industry practitioners from:

• The University of Cincinnati UCATS Athletic Development Department

• Duke University Iron Dukes Athletic Development Department

• The Louisiana State University- LSU Tiger Athletic Foundation

• The Ohio State University Athletic Development Department

• College of the Holy Cross Athletic Development Department

• St. Xavier High School Development Department

Most importantly, once you learn the fundamentals of this platform, you will differentiate yourself and possess a skill-set that is highly valued among all three main NCAA divisions within IntercollegiateAthletics as well as among many interscholastic athletic departments nationwide.

The wisdom of the Rosso LAI Principle in Sports Fundraising

Henry “Hank” Rosso is considered the founding father of ethical and philanthropic fundraising.  His philosophy has influenced thousands in the non-profit fundraising profession and despite his passing in 1999, his wisdom and teachings flourish.  Additionally, Rosso’s LAI Principle has also had a significant impact among not only a variety of non-profit segments, but also among intercollegiate athletic development professionals.  In a conversation with my good friend and colleague Bob Arkeilpane; who was then the University of Cincinnati Deputy Director of Athletics back in 2011, he commented that Rosso’s LAI Principle was an important planning tool in terms of how the “feasibility” of athletic fundraising campaigns are tested and delivered at Cincinnati.

Overall, linkage refers to the human connection the prospect has with the sport organization, ability refers to the financial ability of the prospect to give gifts at the level being sought, and interest refers to the degree to which the prospect is interested in becoming involved with the sport organization.  In a nutshell; it is good fundraising practice to identify and then target donors who display all three criteria.

The linkage may be that the prospect is not only an alumnus of the school, but is also a former student-athlete.  Simultaneously, of the three areas (linkage, ability and interest), ability is the “least reliable indicator” of charitable giving.  However, ability must be considered based on the level of money being sought.  The last indicator, interest, might be that the prospect is a season ticket holder and attends games on a regular basis.

If all three criteria are present and judicious time and effort are used to create mutually beneficial alliances between the constituency and the athletic program, fundraising success can be achieved.  Moreover, a scoring system can be incorporated in order to quantify the prospects, which can help direct cultivation and solicitation energies toward those individuals or corporations who are most likely to supply financial backing.

Finally, at the end of the day, it makes no sense to target the individuals within a certain constituency who have the most money to give (ability) if there is no linkage or interest in the work of the athletic program.  As a result, the effort to focus only on those individuals who have the greatest financial ability becomes a waste of time.  Thus, being proactive and incorporating the wisdom of Hank Rosso’s teachings in conjunction with paying attention to the needs and values of the prospects will help draw them into the mission of the sport organization and ultimately support it financially.

David J. Kelley Ph.D, is an Assistant Professor in the Sport Administration program at the University of Cincinnati. Throughout his career, Dr. Kelley successfully raised funds and secured grants to improve the sport programs under his supervision. He has published articles on sport fundraising, sponsorships, and curriculum development. In April 2012, Dr. Kelley published Sports Fundraising: Dynamic Methods for Schools, Universities and Youth Sport Organizations by Routledge Publishing Inc, and can be obtained at the web-site below: http://www.routledge.com/books/details/9780415507196/  

OR
http://www.amazon.com/Sports-Fundraising-Dynamic-Universities-Organizations/dp/0415507197

Cultivation best practices in Intercollegiate Athletics: A practitioner’s perspective.

I wrote about this in 2013 and felt it was necessary to bring it up again.

Best Practices in Sports Fundraising & Development

Developing a comprehensive cultivation plan for your Athletic Department is a key to success whether you are creating an annual, capital or even a major gifts campaign. With that being said; many individuals I have a connection with who are members of the NAADD (National Association of Athletic Development Directors) took the time to share their keys to success in this area and there were some interesting patterns that emerged.  My first question was:

“What do you believe are the essential/necessary “Skill-sets” to effectively cultivate and manage gifts within your institution’s Athletic Development Department?

The common theme was the obvious “people-skills” that included; but not limited to the following:

*Being proactive.

*Being social.

*Being customer service driven.

*Being comfortable with one to one and small group communication/negotiation.

But within that; as I dove in a bit deeper and what was interesting among these professionals was that each stated in…

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The Importance of Fundraising Diversification

As it relates to education-based athletic/sport organizations, “Fundraising Diversification” is an important concept for both youth and high-school/interscholastic athletic administrators to acknowledge if they want to have success in both the short and long term. From an organizational standpoint, the logical goal is to have the requisite resources to manage multiple streams of income and strike a balance among them. Consequently, for the better part of the last three to four decades among youth and many high school athletic programs, fundraising has been conducted as a short-term activity to satisfy a specific need of the program ranging from new uniforms for soccer players to new bats for the softball team to updated equipment for the football team. While the specific needs may change over the years, the methods of obtaining the funds have, for the most part, remained the same.

               Episodic fundraisers are activities where the sport organization/program sells products and/or services to generate funds for a specific short-term goal, such as soccer uniforms as outlined above. These approaches, ranging from selling candy bars to washing cars or selling merchant-discount coupon cards are the “traditional way” in which the majority of youth sport organizations and many high school athletic departments raise funds for their respective programs. However, these episodic approaches are just one piece of the fundraising puzzle. The key concept/idea to keep in mind is that although episodic fundraisers are a “reality” and generate money, they should not be the only method/approach in which fundraisers are conducted. We have all heard the idiomatic phrase “Don’t put all your eggs in one basket”. Moreover, from a financial investment standpoint; just as a retirement portfolio needs to be “diversified” among stocks, bonds and other assets/securities in the short & long term…..so too should the strategies for fundraising among youth and interscholastic athletic organizations.

Developing long-term strategies is just as important as the immediate needs of replacing worn-out/outdated uniforms or updating athletic protective gear. These long-term areas that need to be contemplated by athletic administrators can include, but are not limited to the following:

• Booster Club membership fee arrangements.
• Alumni outreach strategies for planned giving opportunities.
• Annual giving/Internet-based Crowdfunding opportunities.
• Grant Opportunities-(Government, Corporate and Sport-related).
• Corporate Sponsorships/Advertising/Naming Rights Opportunities.
• Licensing & Merchandising Opportunities.
• Outsourcing Concession Operation Opportunities.
• Parking fee arrangements.
• Special Events (i.e. Golf outings; Gala Dinners, Raffles, ** options are limitless**).
• Hospitality Amenities (i.e. Alumni reunion tailgating spaces; **options are limitless**).

Clearly, the long-term areas outlined above will be situationally specific to the type of sport organization in question.  Nonetheless, my intent here is to provide athletic administrators an appreciation and understanding of the unique constellation of dynamics and processes that ultimately demonstrate the benefits of diversifying fundraising activities that can satisfy BOTH the short and long term objectives.

David J. Kelley Ph.D, is an Assistant Professor in the Sport Administration program at the University of Cincinnati. Throughout his career, Dr. Kelley successfully raised funds and secured grants to improve the sport programs under his supervision. He has published articles on sport fundraising, sponsorships, and curriculum development. In April 2012, Dr. Kelley published Sports Fundraising: Dynamic Methods for Schools, Universities and Youth Sport Organizations by Routledge Publishing Inc, and can be obtained at the web-site below: http://www.routledge.com/books/details/9780415507196/  

OR
http://www.amazon.com/Sports-Fundraising-Dynamic-Universities-Organizations/dp/0415507197

Sports Fundraising: Leveraging Data Analytics

Data mining & predictive analytics is an emerging area of inquiry in sports fundraising and is the key to its imminent growth in the entire sport industry. Overall; data mining and predictive analytics has significant value/utility in the sports fundraising/development landscape as it allows athletic departments to be proactive about their donors rather than retrospective. In other words; it means athletic development departments can attempt to predict future trends with their prospects & donors rather than discovering them after they have taken place. The credit issuing industry is a perfect example of how they have capitalized and leveraged data mining and predictive analytics to their benefit.

For example; predictive analytics is used to combine both demographic and behavioral data about consumers to assess their risk when they apply for a card. The role of predictive analytics is to provide a FICO credit score based on that data. That score helps a credit-issuing company to decide whether or not to give a person a credit line limit of $500, $5,000 or $25,000. The key-driver to the FICO score is within notion that the ‘behavioral” data are quite important predictors, because actual behavior is better at predicting future behavior than just demographic characteristics alone. Compared to the sports/athletic environment; many athletic departments at the intercollegiate level rely heavily on demographic information (i.e. gender, zip code, net worth etc) but that only provides part of the picture. Behavioral data (i.e. game/athletic event attendance/# of years as a season ticket holder; # of visits/hits to the athletic website; licensed merchandise purchases; # of previous athletic donations etc.) should be used in conjunction with demographic data similar to the way in which the credit issuing industry utilizes it.

In the end analysis; by taking the time to go through the process of creating a scoring system is an efficient and effective way to determine if prospects merit further cultivation. It certainly demonstrates the value of this “tool” and as such; can really benefit the entire athletic development industry as we move forward into the future.

David J. Kelley Ph.D, is an Assistant Professor in the Sport Administration program at the University of Cincinnati. Throughout his career, Dr. Kelley successfully raised funds and secured grants to improve the sport programs under his supervision. He has published articles on sport fundraising, sponsorships, and curriculum development. In April 2012, Dr. Kelley published Sports Fundraising: Dynamic Methods for Schools, Universities and Youth Sport Organizations by Routledge Publishing Inc, and can be obtained at the web-site below: http://www.routledge.com/books/details/9780415507196/  

OR
http://www.amazon.com/Sports-Fundraising-Dynamic-Universities-Organizations/dp/0415507197

Don’t be a “Creep” and stay true to your mission!

When it comes to identifying and locating granting agencies & foundations; careful analysis of the mission and objectives of your sport organization must be carried out and should be in alignment with the criteria and/or guidelines of the grantor.  In general, the majority of grants (federal, corporate and sport-related) accept proposals that integrate the needs of students, youth and other community members and not just athletics-only requests.  For example, if the need is for new athletic equipment or perhaps for a new athletic facility or a renovation type of capital project, proposals that are most effective in getting grant monies will document the usage patterns among multiple participants/user-groups in order to demonstrate to the granting agency the size and/or volume of the impact it has made on the community as a whole.  Therefore, documenting usage patterns can include, but are not limited to the following:

• Girls & Boys varsity athletic teams.
• Girls & Boys non-varsity athletic teams.
• School Physical Education classes.
• Special Education classes.
• Intramural programs.
• Recreation and community youth sport programs.

Overall, documenting accurately the usage patterns among these user groups in addition to the cooperation between and among these groups will definitely be looked upon much more favorably by the majority of granting agencies/foundations.

One potential pitfall to avoid is the concept of “mission-creep”.  This is a situation when the sport organization or grantee attempts to conform to the grantors criteria and guidelines to such an extent, that they claim to be something they actually aren’t.  In a nutshell, mission creep is overstating the goals and objectives of the sport organization beyond its original mission. Essentially, the allure of money can distort reality and as such, some sport organizations may claim to provide programs or services to student-athletes and/or community members when they actually don’t.  This kind of misrepresentation of the facts can culminate in the granting agency/foundation demanding the money be returned and the reputation of the sport organization be severely tainted.

Thus; the key-takeaway to be learned here is to remember that regardless of the money, you must be true to who are are and what you are all about.  It is unethical and irrational to take such a risk to create documents that either exaggerates the truth or are complete nonsense in order to pursue funding for funding’s sake.  In the end analysis, a sport organization should say no to funding opportunities or programs that do not align with their mission, otherwise they can jeopardize their reputation as well as their ability to accumulate grant money over the long-term.  Therefore……don’t be a creep and stay true to your mission!

David J. Kelley Ph.D, is an Assistant Professor in the Sport Administration program at the University of Cincinnati. Throughout his career, Dr. Kelley successfully raised funds and secured grants to improve the sport programs under his supervision. He has published articles on sport fundraising, sponsorships, and curriculum development. In April 2012, Dr. Kelley published Sports Fundraising: Dynamic Methods for Schools, Universities and Youth Sport Organizations by Routledge Publishing Inc, and can be obtained by connecting to the internet web-site below: http://www.routledge.com/books/details/9780415507196/