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Big Ten Build Fund Progress

A lot of my Rutgers based cynicism will be erased once they start actually building. Until then, I'll believe it when I see it.
Jim, with all due respect your logic seems a little backwards. The only thing that stops this project is a lack of donations. The only risk of donating early is that they don't get to the goal and you get your money back. The risk of waiting to donate is that shovels may never get in the ground.

I was with a few Rutgers alum buddy's golfing this weekend. The excuses are unreal even though they all wanted constant updates on the Howard score.

We have to change the mentality.
 
Jim, with all due respect your logic seems a little backwards. The only thing that stops this project is a lack of donations. The only risk of donating early is that they don't get to the goal and you get your money back. The risk of waiting to donate is that shovels may never get in the ground.

I was with a few Rutgers alum buddy's golfing this weekend. The excuses are unreal even though they all wanted constant updates on the Howard score.

We have to change the mentality.

You won't get your money back, worst case is they redirect the funds to some less important athletic goal.

I gave many to the RAC renovation under Pernetti after they showed new front and such. I'm pretty sure the money went to improving the sound system. Now maybe that's important but as a non-basketball fan I wouldn't of given. Eventing it was only a few hundred it left a bad taste in my mouth.
 
I think someone needs to broach the Yankee Stadium issue. How do you respond to fans who question why we are funding facilities and simultaneously moving games off campus.
Mrs. Screw is gonna get laughed at by Hobbs if she asks that. How petty.
 
Jim, with all due respect your logic seems a little backwards. The only thing that stops this project is a lack of donations. The only risk of donating early is that they don't get to the goal and you get your money back. The risk of waiting to donate is that shovels may never get in the ground.

I was with a few Rutgers alum buddy's golfing this weekend. The excuses are unreal even though they all wanted constant updates on the Howard score.

We have to change the mentality.

THIS

as a fundraising captain I have heard a ton of different excuses, some reasonable, and some very much shake my head worthy. The mentality has to change. period. our athletic fan base needs to recognize that to be B1G you have to donate, even if it's just the $10 a month, you need to donate. I get that RU has us donating for PP and donating for seat fees and now they want us to donate for something else...but each donation is going somewhere different and specific.

when I look at other schools that ask their fan base for an amount of money that sounds insane, and they get it within the week I have to wonder why. Hobbs talked about this last week on the radio at the Chris Ash show. he also acknowledged that if he were outside of NJ he would only need half the money to make it all happen.

we have an apathetic alumni base. a state that is surrounded by professional teams that draw the attention of our fans & alumni away from us. unions that drive up the price of everything. and a lot of excuses from people that like to bitch but don't like to work towards fixing things.
 
The $ is there to build the practice facility. Hence the reasoning behind my last post.
 
I think someone needs to broach the Yankee Stadium issue. How do you respond to fans who question why we are funding facilities and simultaneously moving games off campus.
One game had been moved deal was done prior to Hobbs getting here. I'm glad others are fed up with this fanbase lack of helping our teams compete with the other schools in this confrence.
 
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If alumni and fans won't pony up, maybe it's time to hit up corporate money. RAC naming rights deal or something.
 
If alumni and fans won't pony up, maybe it's time to hit up corporate money. RAC naming rights deal or something.
Maybe you should send that off to Hobbs and Sara. I bet they never thought of it. Great idea. Let's keep them coming!
 
Stop Complaining and support the build !

We are in the best conference in the country. It is time we act that way. Other Big Ten fans step up. Everyone on this board can afford to give, even if it is $120 a year. The game at Yankee Stadium was agreed to under a previous administration and it is important that we keep our word.

If you have not given, please explain why. We can get this done if everyone gets on board.

We have great leadership in place to take us to the top. !
 
The attitude is simple. Rutgers is decades behind in athletics facilities for many reasons. We can all debate the cause ad nauseum but the past is the past and does not matter. The state, for the first time in a long time has stepped up with some support and Julie (like it or not) and now Hobbs have for the first time have a comprehensive yet budget friendly plan to make major improvements.

As alumni, I believe the time is right to make things easy for the school to be a success and provide the student athletes facilities they deserve. The funding plan is nothing short of brilliant as far as I am concerned. There are very few people on this planet that can't afford to give at the lowest monthly contribution levels -- simple as that. The excuses are nothing more than lame ass excuses.

I have an attitude because only 1400 or so people have decided to pony up. What that says about our alumni is very sad indeed.
 
What questions does anyone have for me to ask on our conference call tonight?

@Jim_from_RU I've got your when do we break ground question.

Anyone else??

Did they promote the Build Fund at the game at all against Howard? I was only in the stadium for about 2 quarters so I may have missed it.

I think there are a ton of potential untapped donors who don't even know about the campaign.

They need to capitalize on the accessibility to all of the fans ar the games this season.

I think it would be great to put a couple of videos together to air during games which includes information on the campaign, renderings and how to donate. Include student athletes saying how important facilities are to them, include alums and non alums who have donated explaining why they did, and include former letter winners from all sports (especially the big guys like Ohara, Battaglia, and any other Pro Sports players who have donated or they can get to
donate - McCourtys, Leonard, Todd Frazier etc. ) trying to rally up support.

This can be an easy way of getting the word out without shoving it down people's throats. If you have people from all spectrums trying to rally support it could go a long way.

Can you ask if this is possible?
 
The attitude is simple. Rutgers is decades behind in athletics facilities for many reasons. We can all debate the cause ad nauseum but the past is the past and does not matter. The state, for the first time in a long time has stepped up with some support and Julie (like it or not) and now Hobbs have for the first time have a comprehensive yet budget friendly plan to make major improvements.

As alumni, I believe the time is right to make things easy for the school to be a success and provide the student athletes facilities they deserve. The funding plan is nothing short of brilliant as far as I am concerned. There are very few people on this planet that can't afford to give at the lowest monthly contribution levels -- simple as that. The excuses are nothing more than lame ass excuses.

I have an attitude because only 1400 or so people have decided to pony up. What that says about our alumni is very sad indeed.
I agree 100% with what you are saying.
 
@S_Janowski there was a video during the game on the board. I don't remember when it aired (my brain was literally fried from the sun) but I do know that it aired. It was something that we discussed at our last conference call.

Having the student athletes talk about how it would positively affect them is something that was previously discussed and it on my agenda already for tonight.

Did anyone notice a table anywhere for people to take a donation card or get information? I cannot say that I noticed.

They will be getting the Fund Captains a flag to fly at their tailgates so when people are in the lots they can identify us and possibly seek us out to find information. Personally, I never travel anywhere without the donation cards in my pocketbook.
 
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@S_Janowski there was a video during the game on the board. I don't remember when it aired (my brain was literally fried from the sun) but I do know that it aired. It was something that we discussed at our last conference call.

Having the student athletes talk about how it would positively affect them is something that was previously discussed and it on my agenda already for tonight.

Did anyone notice a table anywhere for people to take a donation card or get information? I cannot say that I noticed.

They will be getting the Fund Captains a flag to fly at their tailgates so when people are in the lots they can identify us and possibly seek us out to find information. Personally, I never travel anywhere without the donation cards in my pocketbook.

Sounds like they're doing everything to get the word out.

I think if they could get a video with big name letter winners who've donated it could go a long way also.
 
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Mrs Screw, can you post some contact information since I have some questions about the build fund?
 
"we have an apathetic alumni base. a state that is surrounded by professional teams that draw the attention of our fans & alumni away from us. unions that drive up the price of everything. and a lot of excuses from people that like to bitch but don't like to work towards fixing things."

[banana][banana][banana][banana][banana][banana][banana][banana][banana][banana][banana]
 
I think it's more important to cultivate new donors than anything else. It's broadens the base which is important. Some of you guys are taking out decades of frustration on this while ignoring incredibly positive signs: we have raised more money in one year than any year in history, we constructed the first new athletics facility since the 80s (baseball/softball) and had our weight room completely revamped in the past year. All great progress.
 
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I think it's more important to cultivate new donors than anything else. It's broadens the base which is important. Some of you guys are taking out decades of frustration on this while ignoring incredibly positive signs: we have raised more money in one year than any year in history, we constructed the first new athletics facility since the 80s (baseball/softball) and had our weight room completely revamped in the past year. All great progress.
All great progress indeed. And imagine what progress we could make if we did not have an abysmal alumni giving rate.
 
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Here is an idea that may be challenging to implement but could be fun. Some organizations holding 50/50 's see a tradition of the winnings being donated back to the organization. Obviously that is a big ask given the size of the pot at games. My thought would be to sell "Give Rutgers a chance" tickets. If picked, Rutgers build fund would keep the whole pot, or at least the winnings. Buyers could decided when they buy if they wanted to know if their ticket was the one that won. Regular tickets would still be available. It might bring out new buyers who want to kick in a few bucks to the fund and get the ball rolling on future donations. It might take a while for Rutgers to win the pot, but they are still getting half of it each game. The larger the pot, the more interesting it gets for more people to buy tickets.
 
@S_Janowski I have added that to my talking point list! thanks


anyone else have thoughts/comments/questions for me to discuss tonight?

I raised this idea and it kind of got shot down. A car dealership sponsored $100,000 to give 100 students $1,000 if we run the opening kickoff back for a TD.
Baseball teams have corporations sponsor charitable donations for each home rune that is hit.

Can we do something similar for the build fund? $1,000/$5,000/$10,000 for each touchdown? If not for all games, maybe for homecoming or other key games like the Penn State game. This way, it ties a "success" with giving.
Maybe there are more car dealerships to hit up or other small/medium sized businesses. Maybe construction, engineering and architecture companies would be interested because it will result in a building project (subject to conflict of interests).
 
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Is solicting donors ,thru contacts in tailgate lot a bad idea on gameday?

not at all. I gave out donation cards at my tailgate this week and I plan to give out more this week.

@Knight Shift I will add it to my talking point list for this evening. It's not a bad idea at all.
 
not at all. I gave out donation cards at my tailgate this week and I plan to give out more this week.

@Knight Shift I will add it to my talking point list for this evening. It's not a bad idea at all.

Here's another (in jest):
For all of those fans that have their undergarments all wadded up about playing at Yankee stadium:
Make a substantial pledge ($1,000/$5,000/$10,000) if RU agrees to not schedule future home games at Yankee stadium Put your money where your mouth is.

Or, Pledge $500 if they play the entire horsey video since that means so much to a lot of fans.

Or pledge $100 for every e-mail complaint sent to Sarah B. and Hobbs--boy, we would be done if we got that one in place.
 
Answers:

  1. . we are closing in on $56,100,000 from 1443 donors
  2. July and August was slow but they are starting to get donations again
  3. they have received some major donations of 25k, 50K and 75K
  4. Athletics is actively engaging the media to help them.
  5. the multi sports facility and the Soccer/Lacrosse facilities are the primary focus right now
  6. there is a lot of stuff going on in the background ...good news stuff
  7. they should have an announcement in a few weeks about groundbreaking. Hobbs repeated "weeks not months"
  8. There will be a tent on the North Plaza for the remainder of the season so people can sign up right outside the stadium.
  9. multiple people on the call voiced the idea of using the student athletes to help advertise
Hobbs used a great phrase to sum it all up:

we are all investors in our success as a school and athletic department. we all need to invest.
 
Answers:

  1. . we are closing in on $56,100,000 from 1443 donors
  2. July and August was slow but they are starting to get donations again
  3. they have received some major donations of 25k, 50K and 75K
  4. Athletics is actively engaging the media to help them.
  5. the multi sports facility and the Soccer/Lacrosse facilities are the primary focus right now
  6. there is a lot of stuff going on in the background ...good news stuff
  7. they should have an announcement in a few weeks about groundbreaking. Hobbs repeated "weeks not months"
  8. There will be a tent on the North Plaza for the remainder of the season so people can sign up right outside the stadium.
  9. multiple people on the call voiced the idea of using the student athletes to help advertise
Hobbs used a great phrase to sum it all up:

we are all investors in our success as a school and athletic department. we all need to invest.
Nice! [banana]
 
Answers:

  1. . we are closing in on $56,100,000 from 1443 donors
  2. July and August was slow but they are starting to get donations again
  3. they have received some major donations of 25k, 50K and 75K
  4. Athletics is actively engaging the media to help them.
  5. the multi sports facility and the Soccer/Lacrosse facilities are the primary focus right now
  6. there is a lot of stuff going on in the background ...good news stuff
  7. they should have an announcement in a few weeks about groundbreaking. Hobbs repeated "weeks not months"
  8. There will be a tent on the North Plaza for the remainder of the season so people can sign up right outside the stadium.
  9. multiple people on the call voiced the idea of using the student athletes to help advertise
Hobbs used a great phrase to sum it all up:

we are all investors in our success as a school and athletic department. we all need to invest.
We need to legalize pot in NJ. The kids over on Cook could grow it. The school could sell it in stands at the game and at tailgates. We'd raise everything we need and more in no time.
 
seems like when it comes to complaining and bitching, there's no lack of "contributing " on this board
 
Answers:

  1. . we are closing in on $56,100,000 from 1443 donors
  2. July and August was slow but they are starting to get donations again
  3. they have received some major donations of 25k, 50K and 75K
  4. Athletics is actively engaging the media to help them.
  5. the multi sports facility and the Soccer/Lacrosse facilities are the primary focus right now
  6. there is a lot of stuff going on in the background ...good news stuff
  7. they should have an announcement in a few weeks about groundbreaking. Hobbs repeated "weeks not months"
  8. There will be a tent on the North Plaza for the remainder of the season so people can sign up right outside the stadium.
  9. multiple people on the call voiced the idea of using the student athletes to help advertise
Hobbs used a great phrase to sum it all up:

we are all investors in our success as a school and athletic department. we all need to invest.

#7 Should be on the top. Some people do not think that it is a go.
 
Mrs. Screw, I made a one-time donation of $250 and signed up to donate $25/mo on my own a few months ago. Should I hook up with a captain (such as yourself) to help you reach your goal? Is it too late to do so, and is there some benefit to joining up with captains, such as some sort of match or bonus? (sorry if you've been asked 304102340203902 times already)
 
this was spoken about in the past and I always get blown off when I bring it up to development staff, but they should check into a fair way that everyones donations can go to or be assigned to the person who purchases their season tickets. I realize people are donating for the good of the project its paying for, but for me and prob many others it's annoying that you don't get any "RU" credit for making the donation (unless you are the one from your group who actually buys the tickets). I think if more people had the ability to make gains for themselves (for selfish reasons or not) maybe more overall people would donate.

I realize the argument about large groups making out like bandits for pps compared to a group of a couple people, but I still think they would get more donations as a whole if everyones donations could actually count towards the PPs.
 
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Mrs. Screw, I made a one-time donation of $250 and signed up to donate $25/mo on my own a few months ago. Should I hook up with a captain (such as yourself) to help you reach your goal? Is it too late to do so, and is there some benefit to joining up with captains, such as some sort of match or bonus? (sorry if you've been asked 304102340203902 times already)

First of all, I am happy to answer any and all questions.

If you made your donation after July 1 then you are eligible to join a team. It is very helpful to the captains to get more people on their team since we each pledged to find at least 25 new donors for the Build Fund.

there is no benefit to you to join a team other thank knowing you are helping us reach our goal.

anyone can reach out to me at TeamMegg@gmail.com if you have questions.or would like to join my team.
 
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