Why don't we have a better "Lumberjack Club?"

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PurpleOut
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2:46p, 11/12/17
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I've talked to several friends from different schools recently, and have mentioned here before our lack of fund raising and such when it comes to athletics. Why don't we have an athletics donor club like everyone else? I remember we had something a long time ago, but now all I see is the ability to generically donate to the school and select athletics in a list of options.

Since I graduated in 2006, I have never been contacted to become a donor, or even just to generically donate to the athletic department. This is mind boggling to me. You can search for any school and quickly find their "donor club" options, with different perks and such. Below I found in minutes, with easy to find links from their home page.

Lamar's Cardinal Club
Sam Houston's Championship Fund
Texas State's Bobcat Fund
Nicholls State's Athletic Association

Am I the only one that finds this hard to believe? Seriously look at the options Nicholls State has and the perks that come with it.
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nacluth
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3:28p, 11/12/17
What SFA has is the SFA Varsity Club. It has different levels and different perks, but it definitely doesn't get promoted as much as it should. That link above will take you too the brochure for it. I've almost signed up for the Varsity level to get two season tickets and the special parking, but after trying to spend money sponsoring this website, my wife was less than thrilled with my idea to join the club.
Ryan
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PurpleOut
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3:33p, 11/12/17
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Yeah that's it, but I still don't even see how you can come across that page. And never seen it promoted.

And that's actually been nicely updated. But how would anyone know?
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nacluth
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3:42p, 11/12/17
I've only come across it in my wife's Alumni magazines. There needs to be some way to promote it better. Maybe Isaac can get some marketing money to promote it on his site.
Ryan
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SFA Jack Fanatic
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In reply to PurpleOut • 3:44p, 11/12/17
PurpleOut said:
Yeah that's it, but I still don't even see how you can come across that page. And never seen it promoted.

And that's actually been nicely updated. But how would anyone know?
I agree. It's simply not promoted, and I don't understand why. Makes no sense! (Are you reading this, Athletic Department??)

And I wish there was a way to donate directly to the two basketball programs, since that's where a majority of my purple blood-pumping heart really lies. (But that may be asking too much...)
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PurpleOut
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In reply to SFA Jack Fanatic • 3:50p, 11/12/17
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edstile said:
PurpleOut said:
Yeah that's it, but I still don't even see how you can come across that page. And never seen it promoted.

And that's actually been nicely updated. But how would anyone know?
I agree. It's simply not promoted, and I don't understand why. Makes no sense! (Are you reading this, Athletic Department??)

And I wish there was a way to donate directly to the two basketball programs, since that's where a majority of my purple blood-pumping heart really lies. (But that may be asking too much...)


That's actually what prompted me to the post. Still curious on things that we want to raise money for, or if we're trying to do that at all (ie the hoops facility). There's no way for us to know or if we can even donate to that. Even if we realize we can donate to individual items like the baseball clubhouse, you're asked to go to the generic SFASU page like I initially mentioned.

I feel like I could start a GoFundMe campaign that would have a better and quicker impact.
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TallTexan
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In reply to PurpleOut • 12:56p, 11/13/17
PurpleOut said:
edstile said:
PurpleOut said:
Yeah that's it, but I still don't even see how you can come across that page. And never seen it promoted.

And that's actually been nicely updated. But how would anyone know?
I agree. It's simply not promoted, and I don't understand why. Makes no sense! (Are you reading this, Athletic Department??)

And I wish there was a way to donate directly to the two basketball programs, since that's where a majority of my purple blood-pumping heart really lies. (But that may be asking too much...)


That's actually what prompted me to the post. Still curious on things that we want to raise money for, or if we're trying to do that at all (ie the hoops facility). There's no way for us to know or if we can even donate to that. Even if we realize we can donate to individual items like the baseball clubhouse, you're asked to go to the generic SFASU page like I initially mentioned.

I feel like I could start a GoFundMe campaign that would have a better and quicker impact.
This times a million. I occasionally get a call from phone jacks, usually asking about the business school, but nobody ever tells me what exactly we're trying to fund, and there's no interactive way to view the campaign(like GoFundMe) to see progress.

Then again, I get the feeling that we're generally bad at fundraising across the University. They're getting ready to launch a big , 5 year 100 million campaign for SFA, but tbh, I still haven't heard what we're raising money for, other than to do it. Successful campaigns, like UT's 3 billion campaign they launched, had specific initiatives they were trying to fund. The Med School, Computer Science Lab(funded by Gates Foundation) etc.

If the University has trouble communicating to us, the alums & fans, on what we're raising funds for or where we can donate, it doesn't seem to be a big stretch to me that we're also bad at communicating our donation requests to intermediate & large donors who could make a serious change in SFA's funding. Just my two cents.
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TallTexan
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1:04p, 11/13/17
Also, baseball bricks are 1000? That prices a lot of us out of contributing.

For reference, a brick at the Rosebowl starts at 100. A commemorative brick at WVU costs 150.

I only mention that last one because I think an "SFA 70- WVU 56" brick would really add to their campus.
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SFA Jack Fanatic
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In reply to TallTexan • 1:55p, 11/13/17
TallTexan said:

I only mention that last one because I think an "SFA 70- WVU 56" brick would really add to their campus.
Yes, and several dozen "Notre Dame 76, SFA 75" bricks could be sold and used for a brick-smashing event. Heck, I'd buy a dozen of those myself!
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BigJack85
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2:13p, 11/13/17
I've heard two concerns..... 1) We've tapped out everyone of our "Big" donors so they try not to beat them down. 2) They (SFA Administration) are trying to aim more funding at academics.....

Just what I've heard....
Axe 'Em Jacks - Class of 85'
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PurpleOut
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3:44p, 11/13/17
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But if we have the Varsity Club, why not promote it? Maybe I wasn't paying attention but I don't remember any ads or announcements during any games. We don't even have it linked to the athletic site. And no option or apparent ability to show that you can donate to a certain sport or cause.

I mean, we're basically passing up free money.
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CLHawkins
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4:51p, 11/13/17
I was going to post a complaint about it but didn't feel right as someone who has never donated so went and joined and now will post my complaint. For the longest time the brochure online was from several years ago so it is good to see that has been updated. I think this should be advertised like crazy. Even if the big donors are tapped out you can still get a bunch of $100 donations each year. I don't even see it as being all about the money. It is just another good way to get people engaged in athletics. Make people feel like they are a part of it.

There is an option for being a student member of the varsity club on the brochure. I think this could be a huge opportunity if they pushed this at every orientation session. When I went to orientation my parents signed me up for everything. They bought a yearbook just because it came with a free shirt. Athletics should join in on the frenzy and make it the norm for students to be members. Students don't pay for tickets (and it should stay that way) and the athletics fee may never get passed but this is one way however small to start getting the funding needed to push our athletic program to the next level.
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PurpleOut
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9:33p, 11/13/17
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Spot on.

I would say that surely we aren't the only ones thinking this, but then I go back that nothing is currently being advertised or even attempted to be promoted it seems.

Isaac is this something we could bring up/present to someone in the AD?
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TallTexan
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In reply to BigJack85 • 1:19p, 11/14/17
BigJack85 said:
I've heard two concerns..... 1) We've tapped out everyone of our "Big" donors so they try not to beat them down. 2) They (SFA Administration) are trying to aim more funding at academics.....

Just what I've heard....
IMO, we really need to up our fundraising efforts to bring in more "big" donors who may not be affiliated directly with SFA.

Without Mattress Firm and the Cole Family(previously unaffiliated before moving to Nac), we'd be pretty short on major donors to my knowledge. With the right relationship building, we could make a big push in this area that would slowly build over the years. After all, a small donation(by large donor standards) of 1 Million will go a lot further on the SFA campus than most large schools.
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CLHawkins
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3:15p, 11/14/17
I got a welcome to the varsity club email from Tyler Boone the new Director of Athletic Development and I obnoxiously responded with questions about the Varsity Club and he graciously responded with this:

"This is exactly the kind of information we are looking for from recent graduates, thank you for the insight! I completely understand your concern that the Varsity Club is poorly marketed and buried on the website. When I was applying for this job in September, that was the first thing I noticed as something I could change. So, we are in the process of completely overhauling the Varsity Club webpage, branding, marketing and promotional materials, etc. and will hopefully be live by the end of the year.

If you know people that would be interested in joining the Varsity Club like you have, please send them my way! I would be happy to talk to them about the great things that are happening here behind the scenes and how they could be a part of it."

Excited to see what he does with it going forward and encourage people to sign up and get on board with him. Here is the link to the press release from when he was hired.

http://sfajacks.com/news/2017/9/4/general-boone-named-sfas-director-of-athletic-development.aspx
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PurpleOut
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3:43p, 11/14/17
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Interesting. Thanks for sharing.
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SFA Jack Fanatic
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In reply to CLHawkins • 5:01p, 11/14/17
CLHawkins said:
I got a welcome to the varsity club email from Tyler Boone the new Director of Athletic Development and I obnoxiously responded with questions about the Varsity Club and he graciously responded with this:

http://sfajacks.com/news/2017/9/4/general-boone-named-sfas-director-of-athletic-development.aspx
Good to know and excited to see what's coming!
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TallTexan
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In reply to CLHawkins • 8:54p, 11/14/17
CLHawkins said:
I got a welcome to the varsity club email from Tyler Boone the new Director of Athletic Development and I obnoxiously responded with questions about the Varsity Club and he graciously responded with this:

"This is exactly the kind of information we are looking for from recent graduates, thank you for the insight! I completely understand your concern that the Varsity Club is poorly marketed and buried on the website. When I was applying for this job in September, that was the first thing I noticed as something I could change. So, we are in the process of completely overhauling the Varsity Club webpage, branding, marketing and promotional materials, etc. and will hopefully be live by the end of the year.

If you know people that would be interested in joining the Varsity Club like you have, please send them my way! I would be happy to talk to them about the great things that are happening here behind the scenes and how they could be a part of it."

Excited to see what he does with it going forward and encourage people to sign up and get on board with him. Here is the link to the press release from when he was hired.

http://sfajacks.com/news/2017/9/4/general-boone-named-sfas-director-of-athletic-development.aspx

From that link wording, I was disappointed to learn that he was neither a general nor was his first name General.

Also, does anyone know if there's a monthly plan for the Varsity Club? I'd rather just set up a small recurring donation for it every month.
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Ljacks&Longnecks
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9:03p, 11/14/17
Tall,
There is a place on the membership form to do a monthly recurring amount.
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TallTexan
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In reply to Ljacks&Longnecks • 9:21p, 11/14/17
Ljacks&Longnecks said:
Tall,
There is a place on the membership form to do a monthly recurring amount.
Thanks!
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SFA Jack Fanatic
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6:54p, 11/16/17
An appeal to join the Varsity Club was done by the PA announcer prior to tonight's game. Good to see!
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In reply to CLHawkins • 11:46p, 11/16/17
CLHawkins said:


Excited to see what he does with it going forward and encourage people to sign up and get on board with him.

They did a very nice invitation to the crowd on the big scoreboard to join the Varsity Club at halftime of tonight's game. Looks like your squeaky wheel is getting some grease, CL.
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CLHawkins
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1:47p, 12/28/17
New Varsity Club page on the athletics website:

http://sfajacks.com/sports/2017/10/9/sfa-varsity-club.aspx
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In reply to CLHawkins • 4:15p, 12/28/17
CLHawkins said:
New Varsity Club page on the athletics website:

http://sfajacks.com/sports/2017/10/9/sfa-varsity-club.aspx
Excellent!!!
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ACUCattitude
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10:18a, 1/16/18
ACU just started its Wildcat Club last year and now has more than 900 members and raised a couple million dollars. Might be a model the Lumberjacks would want to look at.
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