Project 1%

[purplenorange]

Okay -- so I had this idea for getting more alumni involved and helping the school -- I read this board quite a bit, but don't post all that often. Anyway, here's the thought,

 

What if we had a "1%" group of alumni who will give 1% of their income to the school?

 

It's *not* a lot of money. If you make $100k/yr, it's a $1,000 donation. Less than cable TV costs.

 

Really - where would you be without the school? Any school? You could say that Albany gave you little more than Fordham or NYU would have - but if you went to Fordham or NYU, you'd be writing donation checks!

 

Some ideas to think about:

 

I would suggest a floor of $50k salary (i.e., if you earn <$50k/yr, give $100 and you're in).

 

We could do a fantastic annual dinner in various cities (NY, Boston, Albany, D.C.).

 

Here's the math - 140,000 living alumni. Assuming a low annual salary of $60k/yr (it's much higher than this), this yields $84MM per year to the school. That's the potential. If we even got a 10% participation rate in year 1, from currently non-donating alumni, that would be $8MM++.

 

In a few short years, the school will be able to be completely independent. By giving to the endowment, the state can take a hike - the endowment is private. My "dream" for this is that the school becomes "tuition free" at some point. It's completely possible.

 

If we have enough interest, we can start and try to make this part of the culture. Other schools have a strong culture of giving, including many large universities and state universities. Albany alums make plenty of dough.

 

For the graduate and professional school conversation -- forget it. People don't give heavily to their graduate and professional schools. They give to their undergraduate schools regardless.

 

 

What do people think? Any interest in this board? Any modifications (i.e,. should it be 1/2%)?

 

If we get enough, I'll sponsor the first annual dinner in NYC or Boston.

[danefan]

I think its a great idea. I especially like the 1% idea. It seems like so little to each individual person, which may help them get over the psychological hurdle of donating.

[uofalbany]

Sounds like an interesting concept...

For what it's worth, I'll put a link up on the blog if something becomes formal.

[UA_MA_2000]

Okay -- so I had this idea for getting more alumni involved and helping the school -- I read this board quite a bit, but don't post all that often. Anyway, here's the thought,

 

What if we had a "1%" group of alumni who will give 1% of their income to the school?

 

It's *not* a lot of money. If you make $100k/yr, it's a $1,000 donation. Less than cable TV costs.

 

Really - where would you be without the school? Any school? You could say that Albany gave you little more than Fordham or NYU would have - but if you went to Fordham or NYU, you'd be writing donation checks!

 

Some ideas to think about:

 

I would suggest a floor of $50k salary (i.e., if you earn <$50k/yr, give $100 and you're in).

 

We could do a fantastic annual dinner in various cities (NY, Boston, Albany, D.C.).

 

Here's the math - 140,000 living alumni. Assuming a low annual salary of $60k/yr (it's much higher than this), this yields $84MM per year to the school. That's the potential. If we even got a 10% participation rate in year 1, from currently non-donating alumni, that would be $8MM++.

 

In a few short years, the school will be able to be completely independent. By giving to the endowment, the state can take a hike - the endowment is private. My "dream" for this is that the school becomes "tuition free" at some point. It's completely possible.

 

If we have enough interest, we can start and try to make this part of the culture. Other schools have a strong culture of giving, including many large universities and state universities. Albany alums make plenty of dough.

 

For the graduate and professional school conversation -- forget it. People don't give heavily to their graduate and professional schools. They give to their undergraduate schools regardless.

 

 

What do people think? Any interest in this board? Any modifications (i.e,. should it be 1/2%)?

 

If we get enough, I'll sponsor the first annual dinner in NYC or Boston.

 

 

PurplenOrange, thanks for your post and the great ideas. Your ideas exemplify the important theme that we can probably achieve more through even nominal donations when we get large numbers of alumni to donate.

 

As to your point: "For the graduate and professional school conversation -- forget it. People don't give heavily to their graduate and professional schools. They give to their undergraduate schools regardless." I do not agree with this whatsoever. In fact, I think it's exactly the opposite in that people tend to donate to their graduate programs and professional schools MORE than their undergraduate programs, but we can agree to disagree. Neither of us have any data to back up our positions anyway.

 

As to my position, I base my opinion in part on the fact that most of my classmates from law school tend to feel just as connected, if not more so, to their law school than where they did their undergraduate study. Albany Law raises a lot of money and fast. If I had to guess, I would bet that the donors at Albany Law are giving more to ALS than to their respective undergraduate schools. As far as myself is concerned, I think I'm the exception rather than the rule insofar as I'm far more interseted in following UAlbany (which is neither my professional school or undergraduate institution; I did my graduate work here) as opposed to any other of the 5 schools I attended, because (1) I love college athletics and big-time universities (I grew up in Ann Arbor, MI); and (2) I'm still ticked off at Albany Law for raising my tuition 40-45% WHILE I was in law school. Not fair.

 

But I think we agree more than we disagree because the above issue you point out isn't quite the thrust of my previous post. My statement was not whether professional school graduates contribute more than the sum of undergraduate donations but simply the fact that there can be a measurable and substantial boost in endowment with a cohort of professional school alumni out there. The extent to which that cohort makes up a majority, etc. of donations at a given school, I could not even begin to guess. But I do feel that these types of graduates can and will make substantial contributions in any event.

[uofalbany]

For a long time, I've conceptualized the idea of forming a UAlbany Great Danes booster...

 

It would be alot of work, but it would be an organization that dictates where and how generated

money would be utilized.

 

Setting up a not for profit organization would require setting up the board of directors, by laws, etc..

 

Example of an independent booster:

http://www.gatorboosters.org/

[UA_MA_2000]

For a long time, I've conceptualized the idea of forming a UAlbany Great Danes booster...

 

It would be alot of work, but it would be an organization that dictates where and how generated

money would be utilized.

 

Setting up a not for profit organization would require setting up the board of directors, by laws, etc..

 

Example of an independent booster:

http://www.gatorboosters.org/

 

Great idea! And we've got several attorneys on this board should a group of us want to move forward with such a concept. I know several posters on here, including myself, would like the idea of contributing to specific projects, such as raising money for a nice LCD scoreboard inside the SEFCU (or for the football field, for example).

[danefan]

For a long time, I've conceptualized the idea of forming a UAlbany Great Danes booster...

 

It would be alot of work, but it would be an organization that dictates where and how generated

money would be utilized.

 

Setting up a not for profit organization would require setting up the board of directors, by laws, etc..

 

Example of an independent booster:

http://www.gatorboosters.org/

 

Boosters are interesting concepts, but IMO, they need an informal approval from the athletic department or else I feel they aren't as effective.

 

And BTW, if you are serious and the athletic department approves, I may have an answer for you on the legal front and 501( c)(3) application.

 

I don't know exactly what the relationship with the UAlbany Foundation is to the athletic department. That should also be a question that is asked. You wouldn't want to "step on any toes" over there. I believe the Varsity Club is an arm of the UAlbany Foundation.

[Phoenix]

I believe the Varsity Club is a constituent group of the Alumni Association.. http://www.albany.edu/alumni/VarsityClub.htm ..that said, I believe all donations (including 'Varsity Club' contributions) go to/through the Foundation.

[uofalbany]

I can't imagine that the athletic department would be anything but supportive of an independent booster.

 

With the way the STATE ties the hands of our university budget, especially the lack of ad financial support, it might be the best thing to hit UAlbany sports throughout its entire history.

[danefan]

I can't imagine that the athletic department would be anything but supportive of an independent booster.

 

With the way the STATE ties the hands of our university budget, especially the lack of ad financial support, it might be the best thing to hit UAlbany sports throughout its entire history.

 

You'd be surprised. Some people have a fear of independent booster clubs as they see them as an outsider attempting to exert control. It can be used as a way to collect money and determine how much and for what the money can be used for. These types of restrictions aren't usual with donations from individuals becaue they aren't generally that large. However, when you pool money into a booster, the booster has much more "power" to dictate the terms of the donation.

 

I'm not saying Dr. M. would see it that way or that the Booster would use it that way, I'm just saying I've heard that opinion before.

[Clickclack]

I'd like to see this "booster" notion vetted a bit more. It's something I would be very interested to hear more about.

[UAlbany09]

I pledge 70 million to the Athletic department, if I win 300 million dollars or more in a lottery.

[UA_MA_2000]

Booster Clubs have probably produced some NCAA violations in the past as well, especially at Ohio State.

[alum73]

Our athletic budget is so underfunded now, it needs many more dollars to capitalize on our early successes. why would you need to create another booster organization at this time, when you can already make donations through the athletic development office (Don Ostrom and Mary Johnson). If you are interested in funding specific sports, you can designate where to allocate your donations. It's not like we need a scoreboard to complete our athletic program. We are a D1 school with D3 facilities, for the most part. If you have funds to donate, make the donation via the mechanisms whic are already in place. I don't see the need to create more overhead. Varsity Club dues are donated to the general athletic fund. The pregame parties and other activities are sponsored or subsidised by the Alumni Assn.

[uofalbany]

If it was only about donations, then there would be no need to create a booster.

Just as you say, there are mechansims in place that act as types of boosters already.

 

But, as you also point out, the athletic department is underfunded. Therefore, everything within the athletic department is negatively affected.

 

The total number of staff within the department is far far less than it could be..

The manpower devoted to raising funds is severly limited.

The conceptualizing of events, fundraisers, and other revenue generating events is limited to only a few minds.

 

Boosters not only serve as revenue builders for their cause, they are also moral builders and generate excitement throughout the entire University community. Get people excited by fantastic booster activity and it may just inspire the university community to donate much more and to different facets of the university.... ie: Varsity Club etc.....

 

If you can get dozens and dozens, if not hundreds of dedicated booster members promoting the cause, imagine what can be done.

 

Of course there will be naysayers, but, it could prove to be invaluable. We need organizations that actually support this university. How much does nys already handcuff this university in terms of growth and development?