There is a misconception about this that should be clarified. The goal in this was not to keep the effort focused on one, paywalled site. The manager of that site agreed to allow us to post a very short on-line poll that allowed us to gather information about what was important to fans/alum in this effort and also what the potential donor impact was. We decided to keep that particular poll on that site alone because it represented the purest form of focus group that one can ask for, and we more than surpassed the number of responses needed to reach critical mass from a sample size perspective (over 250 poll responses in about 4 days) and we could do it in a forum that was relatively private while we were still formulating the program. The manager of that site has been very supportive of this effort and we greatly appreciate that, but it was never structured to be exclusive to his site and he never asked for that. He is getting no special benefit from this other than the fact that an improved GT Football result is good for all of the GT ecosystem, including his site. We launched the initiative first on that site because it would allow us to test the mechanics of the donation program for a few hours first and then we were going to expand it to other sites within a few hours. In actual fact, Ibeeballin beat us to it and took it to this site and another and so we didn't need to do that. (Ibeeballin - your effort on promoting this is much appreciated, just like your prior effort on the field for GT.)
It is true that we went ahead and launched it before we had all of the backend donor mechanisms customized, but that is because we thought it made sense to get it to the audiences that we know are most passionate about GT Athletics and recruiting in particular before the EOY donation deadline had expired, even if every aspect was not yet designed to our satisfaction. I think that the GTAA did a very good job of getting this up and running quickly to allow donors who wanted to register by EOY 2017. I can tell you that Todd has instilled an entrepreneurial and supportive culture there that I have not seen since the Homer Rice days, and on the business side, ever. There will be a broader roll-out forthcoming with more enhancements to the links and donor experience.
Finally, thank you to all of you who are stepping up to the plate and backing this initiative. With your help, I hope that we will be able to announce "mission accomplished" for this important foundational investment in our capabilities in the near future. I am convinced that Todd and Paul are committed to making the right moves to take GT to the next level of competitiveness, and that is why I am backing this as one of my main "venture philanthropy" initiatives over the next couple of years. Thank you to those who have made the decision to help to create the change we want to see, and to those that have not yet, I hope you will join us soon.