UConn Athletics Drive to 5K

[NYUConn]

UConn Athletics is in the middle of a big donor drive. Basically trying to get to 5,000 donors.

http://www.foundation.uconn.edu/what-to-support/athletics/hu5ky-drive/

Lots of really good information about how much it costs for every out-of-state student athlete (over $71K per year).

Also where UConn currently stacks up in individual donors versus other AAC and P5 schools.

Donations are tax-deductible FWIW so I tossed them a couple bucks.

 

[CTMike]

I don't know what number I would expect, but I thought for sure they would have been over 5k donors.

Giving back to UConn has always been a sore subject for many... It's not a culture that developed like it has at other schools. But - if someone passes on their venti chai mocha frappe thing and donates $5 to UConn... That's one step closer to 5k.

I give the bare minimum, but I do it annually because I want to support UConn and our athletes. A little can go a long way.

 

[NYUConn]

I don't know what number I would expect, but I thought for sure they would have been over 5k donors.

Giving back to UConn has always been a sore subject for many... It's not a culture that developed like it has at other schools. But - if someone passes on their venti chai mocha frappe thing and donates $5 to UConn... That's one step closer to 5k.

I give the bare minimum, but I do it annually because I want to support UConn and our athletes. A little can go a long way.

I agree, I imagine they are considering "Active Donors" people who have donated in a certain time period.

 

[Kolumbo]

CT is one of the most expensive states to raise a family. It's easy to feel like you are already giving enough to the state just by paying taxes here.

 

[SubbaBub]

Conspiracy Kitty isn't going to sleep on Kansas, Maryland, and RU showing up on that graphic.

Is 5k one of the key metrics.

 

[CTMike]

CT is one of the most expensive states to raise a family. It's easy to feel like you are already giving enough to the state just by paying taxes here.

I understand your point of view, but I would propose that a small donation directly to UConn is a much more effective way to support the school.

 

[pj]

I understand your point of view, but I would propose that a small donation directly to UConn is a much more effective way to support the school.

Good point. Cut out the middleman! Donate to UConn and don't pay your taxes.

 

[NYUConn]

It's a game of optics.

A $5 donation to UConn Athletics doesn't do much in terms of funding the teams, but if we can get 10,000 $1-5 donations all of a sudden the school can claim that it's annual donor base is 10,000+ people deep.

Those #s matter in conference realignment.

 

[Kolumbo]

Perhaps UCONN should run the beer booth's at the Rent and let the first $5 of your beer purchases go directly to UCONN. I understand vendors have to make money but they don't have to be so obscene about it.

 

[NYUConn]

Perhaps UCONN should run the beer booth's at the Rent and let the first $5 of your beer purchases go directly to UCONN. I understand vendors have to make money but they don't have to be so obscene about it.

You joke, but I used to run political campaigns and that's the oldest trick in the book.

Not beer sales, but merchandise sales. You can't technically "sell" t-shirts if you are registered as a campaign for public office, but you can ask for a "donation" of $20 for a shirt. The person then fills out a basic form with their home address and you've just received a $20 donation for your shirt.

If I were UConn I would do the same thing. Set up a booth at our games that has special merchandise not available at the Co-Op or on UconnHuskies.com and tell people it's only available through donations to the UConn Foundation.

We'd start racking up the donors pretty quickly.

 

[ZackB05]

I went to the BU hockey game at XL a few weeks ago. They were offering a $10 50/50 raffle, supporting the UConn Foundation. They took our name and phone number but not address. Wonder if they include these people in the totals.

 

[NYUConn]

I went to the BU hockey game at XL a few weeks ago. They were offering a $10 50/50 raffle, supporting the UConn Foundation. They took our name and phone number but not address. Wonder if they include these people in the totals.

Interesting. My experience is that for Non-Profits you need to be able to have a home address to verify the donation and not a phone #. I could be wrong about that though.

Either way if it was done by the Foundation I would hope they are counting those donations towards the larger goal.

 

[Kolumbo]

I would support buying certain types of merchandise if a portion of it counted as a donation. Maybe they can cut up the triangular Pavilion ceiling patches and sell them to raise money. Get Steiner Sports involved and sell off the hardwood.

 

[CAHUSKY]

They are definitely being more aggressive. I received a call from a nice kid about 2 weeks ago while I was driving home from work and committed to making a donation if they could call me later in the week when I wasn't driving. I think I received 3 messages in the next couple of days making sure I was going to honor my commitment. Donation made.

 

[Drumguy]

Just made my donation

 

[UCFBfan]

I understand your point of view, but I would propose that a small donation directly to UConn is a much more effective way to support the school.

I make a small donation to my girls' college accounts monthly so that I can give all that money to UConn when they are college aged. I think that should be enough of a donation

 

[UConnTrumbull]

Real talk: does a $10-20 donation count for being a donor? Or is it significantly higher? UCONN needs to promote this at sporting events. I saw it on the jumbo tron last night at the bball game but I think they should have a sort of recruiting booth at games. Give away goofy little buttons or something and tell drunk fans at tailgates to become a donor.

 

[Sky ball]

Conspiracy Kitty isn't going to sleep on Kansas, Maryland, and RU showing up on that graphic.

Is 5k one of the key metrics.

If so then ECU to the BiG

 

[Dooley]

Made my donation last night. Also, if anyone is interested in donating, you can check your employer's matching grant program. My company matches donations made to the UConn Foundation (among other UConn related branches). There are two options with my employer: 1) you make the donation through the UConn site and put in a request through your employer's matching grant site; 2) you can search for foundations/charities through your employer's matching grant site and donate directly through the matching site. Those might be available with your employer too.

One more thing - after you donate, you can share that information on social media sites to spread the word. Maybe your post will inspire someone else to donate, maybe it won't. But it doesn't hurt to share.

5K!

 

[CTMike]

Real talk: does a $10-20 donation count for being a donor? Or is it significantly higher? UCONN needs to promote this at sporting events. I saw it on the jumbo tron last night at the bball game but I think they should have a sort of recruiting booth at games. Give away goofy little buttons or something and tell drunk fans at tailgates to become a donor.

I'm almost positive they would count that, but may be worth looking in to.

 

[ct06111]

I think you have to donate >100 to be considered a donor. I'm not sure if it has to be an annual thing, but I think that is the base line to start receiving donor points towards seat upgrades etc.

http://www.uconnhuskies.com/sports/uconnclub/spec-rel/uconn-club-benefits-13.html#levels

So, if you donate <100, I'm not sure if you count as one of the 5k.
(Not 100% sure on that)

 

[Wise2]

Many large companies in Connecticut have Annual United Way giving campaigns. You can direct some of your donation to the Uconn Foundation and it can be done thru payroll deduction too. I just gave UCONN 50% of my United Way contribution.

 

[Dooley]

Many large companies in Connecticut have Annual United Way giving campaigns. You can direct some of your donation to the Uconn Foundation and it can be done thru payroll deduction too. I just gave UCONN 50% of my United Way contribution.

I do that too. I try to make my company give as much as possible to UConn.

 

[firstnline]

Since we are on the subject of donations/fundraising why in the heck doesn't UConn sell bricks. That's right SELL BRICKS. God knows how many hundreds of thousands even millions of bricks are on the campus at Storrs, the branch campuses, medical buildings in Farmington and the new Hartford campus in downtown.

 

[buddy]

They sold bricks back around 1981.