UPDATED TO 3.5 M! AD Email - GEORGIA TECH LAUNCHES COMPETITIVE DRIVE INITIATIVE

[New Old Guy]

Define “everyone”

I have always received comms from both athletics and roll call. I only got comms about this from athletics.

I’ve also confirmed that friends of mine that receive Roll Call communications but not GTAA conns did not receive any notification of this program.

So basically it went to the same “everyone” that GTAA comms have in the past.

Tech supporters who have not yet been contacted WILL BE. Remember this was just announced last Thursday.

The President supports this. Therefore the Institute supports it.

 

[bke1984]

Tech supporters who have not yet been contacted WILL BE. Remember this was just announced last Thursday.

The President supports this. Therefore the Institute supports it.

I hope so, but I’ll believe it when I see it. As of right now I have very little confidence that the roll call list will be contacted.

 

[New Old Guy]

I hope so, but I’ll believe it when I see it. As of right now I have very little confidence that the roll call list will be contacted.

I understand. And I hope/think this time is different. If your friends that are only Roll Call have not been contacted by mid-next week, please post that and I will followup with GTAA. Everyone at Tech wants this to be a success.

 

[RonJohn]

I would confirm that by looking at my AT Fund report, but I get an internal server error when I try to access it right now. (Does anyone else have that issue?)

I had that issue yesterday, but it is working today.

The report system seems to be unavailable quite frequently. I look occasionally and it will have authorization errors, then be working again in a couple of days.

 

[g0lftime]

Tech supporters who have not yet been contacted WILL BE. Remember this was just announced last Thursday.

The President supports this. Therefore the Institute supports it.

A good leader assesses the situation and acts to improve deficiencies. The GT Foundation is in good financial shape and he obviously has identified where there is a need. In the long run the success of the athletic programs will benefit both academic and athletic programs within the school. Prior admins seemed to only care about contributions to the academic side as long as athletic side was somewhat competitive which under GC went out the window.

 

[New Old Guy]

A good leader assesses the situation and acts to improve deficiencies. The GT Foundation is in good financial shape and he obviously has identified where there is a need. In the long run the success of the athletic programs will benefit both academic and athletic programs within the school. Prior admins seemed to only care about contributions to the academic side as long as athletic side was somewhat competitive which under GC went out the window.

I think you are sort of echoing President Cabrera’s POV. He thinks, it seems, that success in Athletics is important to the overall health of Georgia Tech (students, alumni, professors, staff, etc.). I’m not sure that prior admins didn’t care, but they certainly appeared to place a lower priority than we currently have.

 

[RonJohn]

A good leader assesses the situation and acts to improve deficiencies. The GT Foundation is in good financial shape and he obviously has identified where there is a need. In the long run the success of the athletic programs will benefit both academic and athletic programs within the school. Prior admins seemed to only care about contributions to the academic side as long as athletic side was somewhat competitive which under GC went out the window.

I think it is worth noting that this campaign appears to me to be a side channel way of using foundation funds for athletics. The foundation has a charter and bylaws that require it to focus on academics. This drive is specifically funding the scholarship fund, so payments for the academic studies of the student athletes. It isn't funding athletics directly, such as paying for coaches or athletic facilities.

I think the drive is great. I think it is an interesting way of looking at things and doing what can be done within the charter and rules. I don't think it is a flood gate for foundation money to start funding athletics.

However, if the president and the foundation cooperate with athletics, it could open up a lot of direct donations to athletics. (which seems to be the purpose of this drive). The president said that the $2 billion fundraising campaign that is getting started is going to include athletics. If they all cooperate together, the school, roll call, foundation, and athletics could all increase their fundraising abilities.

 

[Techster]

 

[leatherneckjacket]

Anyone have an update on the progress.

 

[leatherneckjacket]

Just heard from point of contact inside the athletic department that we have crossed the $1.6M mark for our $2.5M campaign.

 

[BainbridgeJacket]

Just heard from point of contact inside the athletic department that we have crossed the $1.6M mark for our $2.5M campaign.

I just heard back $1.5M. Close enough.

 

[Ramble1885]

 

[Techster]

I know the goal is $5 million COMBINED after matching, but I'd love for GT fans to hit this one out of the park and be the sole reason we hit the $5 million mark before matching contributions.

LET"S F'ING GO!!!!

 

[TooTall]

I know the goal is $5 million COMBINED after matching, but I'd love for GT fans to hit this one out of the park and be the sole reason we hit the $5 million mark before matching contributions.

LET"S F'ING GO!!!!

I agrees but as of today, that would be 7.5 million...unless ADJB can sweet talk the donor to matching ALL funds raised. As of now, only matching up tp 2.5 million.

 

[Techster]

I agrees but as of today, that would be 7.5 million...unless ADJB can sweet talk the donor to matching ALL funds raised. As of now, only matching up tp 2.5 million.

I know...I'm just saying I'd like to see GT fans make $5 million ourselves without the match.

 

[BainbridgeJacket]

Hey guys, not to restate the obvious, but this initiative is a test run to prove to the GT Fund that they'll get a good return on their investment in athletics. If we want to be competitive in the current landscape, we absolutely need to prove to them that the support is there. Last update is we're still about a million under our target. This is an NIL deal for a player at the schools we want to compete against. If you want to compete with the blue bloods, we have to open our checkbooks like they do. Let's get this done folks, if you haven't donated yet, donate!!!

 

[GT33]

I’m still a little raw because when nobody was donating nor buying tickets they reached out to me and I helped. Got a nice letter which is always appreciated. Because I did that earlier this year, I have to give more for it to be considered a new donation. Essentially I need to give both my original annual amount plus the additional I gave in Feb and it’s only $$ above that which is matching. If they just recognized the donations made now, my wallet would open again. Sorry, it’s the way the campaign was agreed to by the guy(s) giving the big $$. I’m better off just waiting the way this is set up and I’m in the 2023 tax year to boot.

 

[RonJohn]

I’m still a little raw because when nobody was donating nor buying tickets they reached out to me and I helped. Got a nice letter which is always appreciated. Because I did that earlier this year, I have to give more for it to be considered a new donation. Essentially I need to give both my original annual amount plus the additional I gave in Feb and it’s only $$ above that which is matching. If they just recognized the donations made now, my wallet would open again. Sorry, it’s the way the campaign was agreed to by the guy(s) giving the big $$. I’m better off just waiting the way this is set up and I’m in the 2023 tax year to boot.

I am not upset about it myself. They are trying to attract new donors. That is something that GT athletics needs very badly. It is a lot like satellite/phone company giving discounts to new subscribers. However, in this case I want more donors to GT athletics, so even if I didn't get any benefit at all from this initiative, I would still be pleased by it.

I am not a major donor, but I have donated something for several years. I made a donation after the coach was fired which put my 2023 donations over my 2022 athletic year donation amount. I would have been donating more this year anyway and see it as a benefit to me.

 

[bke1984]

The goal is to reach new donors. If you give and feel like it’s substantial for you and don’t want to give more then don’t. The hope is that it reaches non athletics alumni (I.e. those that give to roll call but not athletics)

…now, I still have alum friends that haven’t heard anything about this, so seems like they’re falling short.

 

[iceeater1969]

After thinking on this for a few days there is one part that I wish had been done better. If the school is going to match the donations to the GTAA, why not send details on that program to the entire alumni association mailing list instead of just the GTAA donors?

The number of donors to the school dwarfs the donors to the GTAA. If we were able to engage that group then we might be on to something. But there is still a reluctance to do so.

In the past the Alumni Assoc guarded "its" donor roll.
Who is going to make them share it to gtaa?

Maybe Angel will unite the gt family