Furman football gets a big boost

[AstroDin]

Affirm
^^^ on the podcast with Clay, Dan, and Jason - I believe Dan said the donation was from a former player.

Your take on this news is well > your perspective.

Having worked with several schools/org foundations in the past and currently, I can't think of any of my clients shrugging their shoulders if one of their initiatives had received 3 million dollar donations in the last five years.

I'll leave others (FFPA) to speak to their support, but I see no signs of a decrease in support from former players.

[gman84]

Adding to Astro's point, I can think of at least 5 or 6 former players who have made major donations to the program in the last 6-8 years. I also know of several former players who make considerable yearly donations to the Paladin Club. I have definitely seen increased support since Clay has returned to Furman.

[Furmanoid]

There are schools who send lots of guys to the NFL and get little or nothing back from them.

[The Jackal]

This may be a dumb question, but how common are $1m gifts to an FCS program?

It's certainly better than not having a gift. If the answer is "extremely rare," then that's a great move for Furman. If the answer is "most FCS schools get 10 such gifts every other year," then we've got work to do.

[FUBeAR]

[AstroDin]

This may be a dumb question, but how common are $1m gifts to an FCS program?

It's certainly better than not having a gift. If the answer is "extremely rare," then that's a great move for Furman. If the answer is "most FCS schools get 10 such gifts every other year," then we've got work to do.

This isn't a scientific measurement - I did a random pull of several of the pre-season top ten schools. No major gifts showed up - except for NDSU's Team Makers program https://gobison.com/news/2019/1/11/gene ... etics.aspx

A google inquiry about Furman gets you this
https://www.google.com/search?q=Furman+ ... CA4&uact=5

I'll go out on a limb and say these three gifts during Clay's tenure are rare for FCS football programs.

[FUBeAR]

This may be a dumb question, but how common are $1m gifts to an FCS program?

It's certainly better than not having a gift. If the answer is "extremely rare," then that's a great move for Furman. If the answer is "most FCS schools get 10 such gifts every other year," then we've got work to do.

This isn't a scientific measurement - I did a random pull of several of the pre-season top ten schools. No major gifts showed up - except for NDSU's Team Makers program https://gobison.com/news/2019/1/11/gene ... etics.aspx

A google inquiry about Furman gets you this
https://www.google.com/search?q=Furman+ ... CA4&uact=5

I'll go out on a limb and say these three gifts during Clay's tenure are rare for FCS football programs.

Yeah…but it’s only $3 million…and that’s before tax, tax, title, and undercoating.

[apaladin]

This may be a dumb question, but how common are $1m gifts to an FCS program?

It's certainly better than not having a gift. If the answer is "extremely rare," then that's a great move for Furman. If the answer is "most FCS schools get 10 such gifts every other year," then we've got work to do.

This isn't a scientific measurement - I did a random pull of several of the pre-season top ten schools. No major gifts showed up - except for NDSU's Team Makers program https://gobison.com/news/2019/1/11/gene ... etics.aspx

A google inquiry about Furman gets you this
https://www.google.com/search?q=Furman+ ... CA4&uact=5

I'll go out on a limb and say these three gifts during Clay's tenure are rare for FCS football programs.

Yeah…but it’s only $3 million…and that’s before tax, tax, title, and undercoating.

You forgot the destination charges.

[Affirm]

Affirm
^^^ on the podcast with Clay, Dan, and Jason - I believe Dan said the donation was from a former player.

Your take on this news is well > your perspective.

Having worked with several schools/org foundations in the past and currently, I can't think of any of my clients shrugging their shoulders if one of their initiatives had received 3 million dollar donations in the last five years.

I'll leave others (FFPA) to speak to their support, but I see no signs of a decrease in support from former players.

Did not view podcast, so I was uninformed. Also, I have not mentioned a “decrease in support”from former players. It seems to me that the support has almost always been unnoticeable or at least unreported.

[Affirm]

There are schools who send lots of guys to the NFL and get little or nothing back from them.

Apparently those schools do not need it if they already attract and benefit from the many players who go from their programs to the NFL.

[Affirm]

Adding to Astro's point, I can think of at least 5 or 6 former players who have made major donations to the program in the last 6-8 years. I also know of several former players who make considerable yearly donations to the Paladin Club. I have definitely seen increased support since Clay has returned to Furman.

Good to know.

[FUBeAR]

Great future question(s) for ADJD…

“Let’s discuss Athletic Alumni giving by sport.

1) What FU sports have high %’s of living Alumni making donations that directly support the sport they played at Furman? Which sports are on the lower end of that metric?
2) By sport, what is the total $ amount of donations made directly to that sport by Alumni who played those sports while attending FU? To be fair, let’s divide those numbers by total Athletics scholarships Furman offers in those sports. Just the Top 5 & Bottom 5 are fine to share.”

“OK…Let’s look at Active Support. Give us some metrics around Season Ticket purchases of various sports made by Alumni of those sports.”

I think we would learn some interesting things about Support/Engagement by knowing those metrics. Yes?

[Affirm]

This may be a dumb question, but how common are $1m gifts to an FCS program?

It's certainly better than not having a gift. If the answer is "extremely rare," then that's a great move for Furman. If the answer is "most FCS schools get 10 such gifts every other year," then we've got work to do.

This isn't a scientific measurement - I did a random pull of several of the pre-season top ten schools. No major gifts showed up - except for NDSU's Team Makers program https://gobison.com/news/2019/1/11/gene ... etics.aspx

A google inquiry about Furman gets you this
https://www.google.com/search?q=Furman+ ... CA4&uact=5

I'll go out on a limb and say these three gifts during Clay's tenure are rare for FCS football programs.

“Rare” perhaps, but seemingly minor when we’re used to reading about and hearing about the enormous individual donations to UofSC football and to CU football.

[FUPlayer74]

I did a casual google search into major donations for a few FCS programs.
I've not found a school that has had three million dollar donations anytime recently.
You might say this won't go far — handled correctly and I'm sure these gifts are and will be they will go far.
Clay made the point that gifts like these help the program in many ways, including showing that in this case, a former player believes in Clay and the program.

I would expect that only a portion of the annual investment earnings (probably less than what we could get for one high-paying FBS game) would go directly to the program. I would expect the donation goes into endowed funds.
The point about “showing that someone believes in Clay and the program” is absolutely correct, in that showing that can potentially and hopefully shake loose other big donations.
By the way, where was evidence found that the anonymous donor was actually a former player? And whether it was or was not a former player, why is there not more engagement by former players showing noticeable support for Furman football? Is it just a secret?

The Furman Football Players Association ( FFPA) has gone about it's business since the Bobby Johnson days. It's financial contribution annually is critical for the football operations budget and represents the equivalent of a $2.5mm endowment. The funds have been used for game day communication equipment, uniforms, recruiting travel, golf carts, practice equipment, etc., as deemed necessary by the coaching staff. In fact the annual fund raiser for the FFPA is this weekend when approximately 120 former players will be on campus for golf and socializing.

[apaladin]

The FFPA is a vital part of FU football in a lot of ways. No one can dispute that and I just want to say thank you to all of you.