by Kyle » April 7th, 2015, 9:06 pm
Ahhh, I see.
I misunderstood your point. Of course they are not donors until they fork over some cash. I'm talking about program changing type money. The kind of money WSU dug up to keep Gregg around.
My point is MVC schools seem to have a tough time getting the deep pocket donors to stay connected to the program and write big checks when needed. Every school has rich guys who show up to games and probably donate enough to keep good seats and occasionally roam the sidelines. Unfortunately, writing an $1,500 check every year doesn't keep good coaches around, doesn't build a state of the facilities, and certainly doesn't turn a program into a national power.
When I talk about getting these guys to write a check, I'm talking about a $50,000 check or a $250,000 check, and occasionally a $500,000 check (like this year for WSU and UNI). UNI has about a dozen guys in town capable of writing six figure checks without making a dent in their personal financial situation. They rarely did it in the past, but somehow, someway, our AD has been able to get these same people to make serious, unprecedented financial commitments.