Roof

[RonJohn]

Agreed. Many of us fans would want us to become another Clemson, or Auburn or even TCU. IMO, schools like those have made sports , and especially football, a priority of the University. They see it as a way to advance the branding and identity of the school in a very competitive landscape. We ( Tech ), on the other hand , have relied more on our academics to advance our brand and identity. If we have an exceptional football season, great, but it doesn't change the paradigm. We are more like Northwestern , Duke , and Vanderbilt than we would like to admit in that regard. In some ways it's amazing that we have been as successful at football as we have been , considering our priorities, in the current era of CFB.

The school cannot provide more financial support to athletics. They school already supplies as much as is permitted by Regents regulations. (Actually I checked the numbers GT(School) provides $7.44 million of a $76.4 million budget. So the school could provide $200k more) Clemson, Georgia, and Auburn fans have made football a priority. They buy tickets. They buy licensed merchandise. They donate money. If you want GT Athletics to have more money, you cannot look at the school to provide it because they cannot legally. Us fans will have to be the ones to provide it.

 

[Deleted member 2897]

The school cannot provide more financial support to athletics. They school already supplies as much as is permitted by Regents regulations. (Actually I checked the numbers GT(School) provides $7.44 million of a $76.4 million budget. So the school could provide $200k more) Clemson, Georgia, and Auburn fans have made football a priority. They buy tickets. They buy licensed merchandise. They donate money. If you want GT Athletics to have more money, you cannot look at the school to provide it because they cannot legally. Us fans will have to be the ones to provide it.

I would be shocked if in the next 2-3 months max we don't see some new major programs designed to force a large step change in donations to the AT Fund.

 

[dressedcheeseside]

The school cannot provide more financial support to athletics. They school already supplies as much as is permitted by Regents regulations. (Actually I checked the numbers GT(School) provides $7.44 million of a $76.4 million budget. So the school could provide $200k more) Clemson, Georgia, and Auburn fans have made football a priority. They buy tickets. They buy licensed merchandise. They donate money. If you want GT Athletics to have more money, you cannot look at the school to provide it because they cannot legally. Us fans will have to be the ones to provide it.

When you compared fan support with the factories you listed, did you compare total contributions or per fan? Those schools all have way more fans than we do. If our 'per fan' contribution is comparable, it is unrealistic to expect the fans to pony up more. The real issue is how do we grow our fanbase.

 

[RonJohn]

I would be shocked if in the next 2-3 months max we don't see some new major programs designed to force a large step change in donations to the AT Fund.

I am all for that. I believe KQ made a comment that TStan was planning to start something similar to IPTAY.

I just wish the fans would stop waiting for the school to do something, when in fact the school financially is already doing everything that it can legally. It seems to me that there are constant complaints on here that the school, the students, and some rich alumni don't put enough money into the program. I also believe that many of the people making those complaints don't buy season tickets and don't donate to the program. They won't do it, but they are mad that others don't do it. It doesn't even matter to them that some of those others(the school) cannot legally do more.

 

[RonJohn]

When you compared fan support with the factories you listed, did you compare total contributions or per fan? Those schools all have way more fans than we do. If our 'per fan' contribution is comparable, it is unrealistic to expect the fans to pony up more. The real issue is how do we grow our fanbase.

Fine, but the school is still doing everything financially that it legally can. What irks me are the complaints that the school should pay more. The school cannot pay more. If fans want the GTAA to have more funds, the funds have to come from the fans. Period. The school cannot provide more. The school cannot increase fees to have the students provide more. That leaves only the fans. If there aren't enough fans, or the fans refuse to provide the funds, then GTAA will not have the funds. There is no secret way to magically get more funds that the Hill is refusing to do. The Hill that everyone complains doesn't care provides the maximum amount of money that they are allowed to. If they didn't care, as people on here assume, they would not provide the maximum.

 

[ilovetheoption]

I am all for that. I believe KQ made a comment that TStan was planning to start something similar to IPTAY.

I just wish the fans would stop waiting for the school to do something, when in fact the school financially is already doing everything that it can legally. It seems to me that there are constant complaints on here that the school, the students, and some rich alumni don't put enough money into the program. I also believe that many of the people making those complaints don't buy season tickets and don't donate to the program. They won't do it, but they are mad that others don't do it. It doesn't even matter to them that some of those others(the school) cannot legally do more.

IPTAY is genius, and I cannot for the life of me understand why more schools don't do it. You expand the donor base because ANYBODY can afford a little bit, and if even 10% of those that get used to giving end up giving more, the program pays for itself many times over.

 

[GTdragons]

The school cannot provide more financial support to athletics. They school already supplies as much as is permitted by Regents regulations. (Actually I checked the numbers GT(School) provides $7.44 million of a $76.4 million budget. So the school could provide $200k more) Clemson, Georgia, and Auburn fans have made football a priority. They buy tickets. They buy licensed merchandise. They donate money. If you want GT Athletics to have more money, you cannot look at the school to provide it because they cannot legally. Us fans will have to be the ones to provide it.

So how does that fit with this statement from the AT fund website?

“Annual funds for Men's Basketball and Football come from small, but impactful core donor support groups, allowing these programs to have access to discretionary dollars in order to move quickly and efficiently in recruiting, coaching, and graduating championship student-athletes.”

It sounds like even if I donated football wouldn’t see a dime.


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[Deleted member 2897]

I have a lot of issues with the current structure of our AT Fund, and I have passed those along to ADTS and his team. A few (going from memory from when I voiced them):
* Naming/branding - I'm fine with it being the AT Fund, but the car stickers you get aren't attractive and don't stand out. I proposed something like the traditional GT but then have GOLD underneath it to stand for something like gift of loyalty donation (I actually got that exact phrase from someone else I forget who). It needs to standout, but in a good way.
* Overly complicated structure/hierarchy - it looks like an Engineer designed the levels, because there are like 72 levels, going all the way down to $150. I think we need to collapse the levels down to a much smaller number, and allow a lower entry point.
* Nobody ever asks for money - why does nobody ever call me and ask me to give again or give more? I volunteered to do that and also offered to start a calling/presentation pyramid to spread the message to all your friends from Tech. Get everybody who isn't donating yet to start. Get everybody who is to give 30% more.
* Speaking of which - I asked for a long list of what they would spend money on if they had an unlimited amount - make a list, prioritize it, then use that to start calling/donation campaigns.
* When you login to the AT Fund, you shouldn't have to run a crystal report PDF to see your point total. It should come up on the web page itself. It should also tell you how many spots you'd jump if you gave another $100, $500, and $1000.

These are just a few I can think of. I am sure they have been bombarded with many other suggestions and many better ones. The most important thing is they are listening and gathering information.

 

[RonJohn]

So how does that fit with this statement from the AT fund website?

“Annual funds for Men's Basketball and Football come from small, but impactful core donor support groups, allowing these programs to have access to discretionary dollars in order to move quickly and efficiently in recruiting, coaching, and graduating championship student-athletes.”

It sounds like even if I donated football wouldn’t see a dime.

Depending on how much you donate, you could specify specific purposes for the donations, such as extra recruiting staff. If you teamed up with many other smaller donors to specify a purpose such as recruiting staff, that might work also. The problem with accepting a $10 donation specifically for extra recruiting staff is that it wouldn't pay for one hour of time from an extra recruiting staff person. It would be difficult for anyone to hire a full time employee based solely on a single $10 donation. It would cost more to advertise the position than the donation paid for. Therefore accepting small donations with conditions attached to them is very difficult.


You can specify what programs your donations are used for: https://gtswarm.com/threads/donations-to-gt-basketball.13872/
It isn't the same as specifying a specific purpose for the funds, but it does allow smaller donors to specify the program.

I am not affiliated with the GTAA other than being: an Alumnus, a season ticket holder, and a donor. But I am pretty sure that the statements above are true.

 

[dressedcheeseside]

Fine, but the school is still doing everything financially that it legally can. What irks me are the complaints that the school should pay more. The school cannot pay more. If fans want the GTAA to have more funds, the funds have to come from the fans. Period. The school cannot provide more. The school cannot increase fees to have the students provide more. That leaves only the fans. If there aren't enough fans, or the fans refuse to provide the funds, then GTAA will not have the funds. There is no secret way to magically get more funds that the Hill is refusing to do. The Hill that everyone complains doesn't care provides the maximum amount of money that they are allowed to. If they didn't care, as people on here assume, they would not provide the maximum.

Does this maximum you speak of include contributions/Donations to the school from alumni and or other donors?

 

[RonJohn]

Does this maximum you speak of include contributions/Donations to the school from alumni and or other donors?

It doesn't matter where the school gets the funds from: tuition, fees, donations, endowment distributions, grants, etc.. Funds that go through the school can only provide 10% of the athletic department budget.

 

[Deleted member 2897]

It doesn't matter where the school gets the funds from: tuition, fees, donations, endowment distributions, grants, etc.. Funds that go through the school can only provide 10% of the athletic department budget.

This is why the AT Fund is so important - it is completely separate of that and 100% goes to athletics and you can specify various programs if you want.

 

[Supersizethatorder-mutt]

I stopped my annual contributions to the AT fund when DRad instituted the tickets fees, since the extra amount we had to pay was for the AT fund, and I assumed that was good. Obviously, it's not good enough, so yesterday, for the first time in several years, I wrote a separate check for AT. I HOPE it will go towards some of the many things we need and not just to administrative costs. I am retired and live on a fixed income, but if I can afford a little extra annually, I would bet that others can too, and Tech athletics obviously needs all it can get FROM US.

SO GIVE, BROTHERS AND SISTERS !!!

 

[GTdragons]

Depending on how much you donate, you could specify specific purposes for the donations, such as extra recruiting staff. If you teamed up with many other smaller donors to specify a purpose such as recruiting staff, that might work also. The problem with accepting a $10 donation specifically for extra recruiting staff is that it wouldn't pay for one hour of time from an extra recruiting staff person. It would be difficult for anyone to hire a full time employee based solely on a single $10 donation. It would cost more to advertise the position than the donation paid for. Therefore accepting small donations with conditions attached to them is very difficult.


You can specify what programs your donations are used for: https://gtswarm.com/threads/donations-to-gt-basketball.13872/
It isn't the same as specifying a specific purpose for the funds, but it does allow smaller donors to specify the program.

I am not affiliated with the GTAA other than being: an Alumnus, a season ticket holder, and a donor. But I am pretty sure that the statements above are true.

Interesting. When I looked at the AT fund page earlier you could earmark your contribution for any program except men’s basketball and football.


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[g0lftime]

I also designate $ to our top notch golf team. We have great kids in the program, we are competitive at the national level, we are 100% APR, almost all Dean's list, and they get great exposure for GT on the PGA as graduates. One of the bright spots in GTAA.

 

[GT Man]

I also designate $ to our top notch golf team. We have great kids in the program, we are competitive at the national level, we are 100% APR, almost all Dean's list, and they get great exposure for GT on the PGA as graduates. One of the bright spots in GTAA.

If we already have a competitive golf program, why throw more money at it?

 

[Supersizethatorder-mutt]

I also designate $ to our top notch golf team. We have great kids in the program, we are competitive at the national level, we are 100% APR, almost all Dean's list, and they get great exposure for GT on the PGA as graduates. One of the bright spots in GTAA.

Actually, I think the golf team is pretty well off already. I don't remember where that money is coming from, but, no offense, your money is more needed by the other programs at Tech.

 

[slugboy]

It doesn't matter where the school gets the funds from: tuition, fees, donations, endowment distributions, grants, etc.. Funds that go through the school can only provide 10% of the athletic department budget.

Also, research dollars are tied to the researcher and research facility, and other funds also have strings attached. I'm surprised that, aside from the student athletic fee, as much money can go to the GTAA from the general institute budget as does.

 

[RonJohn]

Also, research dollars are tied to the researcher and research facility, and other funds also have strings attached. I'm surprised that, aside from the student athletic fee, as much money can go to the GTAA from the general institute budget as does.

I haven't seen an audit type report, only the same numbers that USA Today shows for NCAA budgets and expenses. The budget item of School Funds is about $2 million, but there isn't a breakdown of what that includes. That line item can include non-monetary things such as facilities utilities and maintenance that the GTAA isn't required to pay. So it could include water, electricity, steam, groundskeeping, etc if the school provides those for GTAA facilities and does not require the GTAA to pay the school for them. Without a breakdown, I have no idea how much if any of the $2 million is money and how much is made up of other things.

 

[RonJohn]

Interesting. When I looked at the AT fund page earlier you could earmark your contribution for any program except men’s basketball and football.

@msargent1 contacted CJP and was put in contact with a guy at the AT Fund who was able to direct him to the proper place to specify the funds to basketball. I haven't seen a direct link to football and basketball specific donations on their website.