In Honor of Gary Tinsley - Brainstorming Charitable Donation Thread

Donate To GopherHole
Gopher Bandanna Guy

Gopher Bandanna Guy

Irascible Skeptic
Joined
Sep 30, 2009
Messages
1,806
Reaction score
0
Points
36
Hey all - If you read the busiest thread of the day, you may have crossed the suggestion to perhaps round up money for a donation to a charity in Gary and his family's name, and possibly doing a t-shirt or something along those lines to generate interest and proceeds. Others have suggested a direct donation to the Tinsley family to assist with funeral costs, which is also a great idea.

We'll want to wait some time to let the grief settle, before we do anything and because of the sensitive nature of this situation, and fear of doing anything that might upset or step on the toes of the Tinsley family I decided to reach out to Joel Maturi for advisement, as he is close to the situation. Below are my emails, and his response. I'll post any update on what he may relay to us. I'm hoping he can find out for us what the family might want to see done. In the meantime, if any of you have any thing to add, a different idea, or experience in charity fundraising, let's brainstorm here and figure out what our options are and how to maximize our effect.

We may have our disagreements on this forum, but were all family in terms of love of the Maroon and Gold. Let's rally.


Thanks Joel,

Appreciate you taking the time to respond so quickly. Please do get back to me when things have settled a bit. There are a lot of us who want to do something good to carry on Gary's name.

-Jon

From: Joel Maturi <[email protected]>
To: "[email protected]" <[email protected]>
Sent: Friday, April 6, 2012 9:30 PM
Subject: Re: Assistance/Donation to Gary Tinsley Family?

Thanks, Jon, for reaching out. Let me look into where we are and get bCk to you. Joel

Sent from my iPhone

On Apr 6, 2012, at 6:20 PM, "[email protected]" <[email protected]> wrote:

Hello Mr. Maturi,

My name is Jon Tortomasi. I am an alumnus of the University of Minnesota, a Golden Gopher athletics fan, and a frequent donor to both the U's athletic and academic programs. I was shocked and saddened to hear about the death of former footballer and current student Gary Tinsley today. My heart goes out to Gary's family, friends, and teammates.

A number of my fellow Gopher supporters and I were wondering if, once the grief has been allowed to settle, it would be appropriate to collect funds for a donation made in Gary's name to a charity of his family's choosing. Or barring that, perhaps providing some kind of support (funeral expenses, etc) to the family, if needed. The goal here is to show our appreciation to Gary for his time spent at the U, and let his family know we care. Please let me know if you feel this is an appropriate action for us to take. The last thing we want to do is cause any distress or additional tension for Gary's family.

Thanks for your time,

Jon Tortomasi
 

Don't forget he had a kid so some type of support for the kid might be appropriate.
 

Raising enough to endow a scholarship in Gary's name - now that would provide a lasting legacy.
 


A Bronze level endowment would take $100 from 250 of us. That might be a tall order, but certainly a great goal. I really have no idea what kind of response we'll get from folks. I'm loathe to say it, but support may largely be based on the nature of Gary's death. If natural causes or an accident of some kind, I'm betting we could do this. If something else, people may be more reluctant. Man, I feel awful even saying that.
 


Agreed on all points. Figured it wouldn't hurt to set the bar high and see where it might go. I forgot to say it in my other post - thanks for starting the conversation.
 

This is a very good idea. I would think potentially to endow a gold level scholarship in his name would be the ultimate as long as his kid would receive it during his/her time in college. Obviously, a gold level would require some bigger doners and more doners than just people on this website. I am sure I could get my wife to commit to 50-100bucks (probably 100).
 


Great thoughts on all points.

Got an email back from Maturi last night:
Jon,

Per NCAA rules boosters cannot donate directly to the family, However, we will be accepting donations to a Tinsley Fund that we can use to assist with flying the team to Florida, other University related expenses, etc. We will be setting something up. Donors could donate to a Tinsley Scholarship Endowment for future use.

Thanks for your interest.

Joe Maturi

So bottom line here is, look for something coming soon to help the U defray costs of sending team members to Florida. Sounds like we should be able to donate to that directly in the coming days. If we're really serious about trying to raise enough for an endowment, then perhaps we should target the 'Bronze level' of $25K, and see if we can generate that much thru the season. If we can (or exceed it) great. If we can't, then perhaps there is some lesser scholarship we put together thru the U that is not endowed. I'll check on that with Maturi, and see what he says.

I've already gotten some great, supportive emails from folks that they are 'in' on a donation. If you want to reach me directly, shoot me an email at [email protected]. Stay tuned all, and don't t stop thinking about ideas to do something in GTs name.
 



It isn't something we can do this year, but we could organize a group to run in next year's Goldy's Run (or another MN running event later this summer/next year) and each participant could fundraise contributions in the lead up to the run.
 

They should partner with Nike to sell the new jerseys with #51 on them and donate any proceeds to the family.
 

tjgesquire said:
They should partner with Nike to sell the new jerseys with #51 on them and donate any proceeds to the family.
Click to expand...

I think (not sure) that the NCAA prohibits the school from directly giving money to the family too.
 

Gopher Bandanna Guy said:
Great thoughts on all points.

Got an email back from Maturi last night:
Jon,

Per NCAA rules boosters cannot donate directly to the family, However, we will be accepting donations to a Tinsley Fund that we can use to assist with flying the team to Florida, other University related expenses, etc. We will be setting something up. Donors could donate to a Tinsley Scholarship Endowment for future use.

Thanks for your interest.

Joe Maturi

So bottom line here is, look for something coming soon to help the U defray costs of sending team members to Florida. Sounds like we should be able to donate to that directly in the coming days. If we're really serious about trying to raise enough for an endowment, then perhaps we should target the 'Bronze level' of $25K, and see if we can generate that much thru the season. If we can (or exceed it) great. If we can't, then perhaps there is some lesser scholarship we put together thru the U that is not endowed. I'll check on that with Maturi, and see what he says.

I've already gotten some great, supportive emails from folks that they are 'in' on a donation. If you want to reach me directly, shoot me an email at [email protected]. Stay tuned all, and don't t stop thinking about ideas to do something in GTs name.
Click to expand...
How can this possibly be a rule? Who is going to be convinced to go to university XYZ because of the generous donations one's family might receive if you die?
 



AO54 said:
How can this possibly be a rule? Who is going to be convinced to go to university XYZ because of the generous donations one's family might receive if you die?
Click to expand...
NCAA is crazy.
 

I'm no expert on NCAA rules, but I suspect there isn't a whole lot of provisions written out for deceased student athletes, therefore Maturi is just citing general rules.
 

Gopher Bandanna Guy said:
I'm no expert on NCAA rules, but I suspect there isn't a whole lot of provisions written out for deceased student athletes, therefore Maturi is just citing general rules.
Click to expand...

I'm certainly not blaming Maturi, just pointing out the stupidity of the NCAA rules. Gary was worth multiple times what his scholarship cost to the U, and could have possibly been just months away from earning an NFL paycheck, even if it was just the 100,000 from playing on a practice squad.
 


In addition to the link.. Maybe someone has connections to do a t-shirt deal where 100% of the proceeds from the shirt sales goes toward the Tinsley fund and on the shirts is a #GT51 related information? Something like "#JustChillinNoReason' on the front and maybe a '51' on the back (like a jersey) with #ScuseScuse as the nameplate?

If I could, I'd whip up something, but I'm not a graphic design guy, more of a pencil & paper guy.
 

If only the University cared this much for every student death on campus....
 

Formo - Thanks for posting the link for donations. Would have had it up earlier today, but was caught up in meetings at work.

I agree with you, and would like to do something with t-shirts. I don't have any contacts or buds in the t-shirt printing biz, but I have used
www.customink.com for many a softball league t-shirt, and they do a great job, and always have a cool design interface, and unbelievably good customer service. I'll come up with a draft design on there, and share it here and see how it looks.
 

DiehardGopher said:
If only the University cared this much for every student death on campus....
Click to expand...

Well to be fair, the 'U' doesn't make truckloads of money off the average student. Nor does the average student provide public entertainment for the masses. But I don't want to get into a whole argument on this thread, so I'll leave it at that.
 

Here's a quick mockup design. Any suggestions on colors, design, etc. would be appreciated. I feel like the design is pretty blah, maybe too old school?
I'm a scientist - not an graphic designer!
<div style="width:300px">
<object id="Widget" width="300" height="306" align="middle" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=8,0,0,0" classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000">
<param value="always" name="allowScriptAccess"/>
<param value="false" name="allowFullScreen"/>
<param value="http://www.customink.com/share/widget01.swf" name="movie"/>
<param value="design_url=http://www.customink.com/designs/awp0-000p-873m.xml&skin_url=http://www.customink.com/share/test_skin.xml" name="FlashVars"/>
<param value="#ffffff" name="bgcolor"/>
<embed width="300" height="306" align="middle" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="false" allowscriptaccess="always" name="Widget" bgcolor="#ffffff" quality="high" src="http://www.customink.com/share/widget01.swf" flashvars="design_url=http://www.customink.com/designs/awp0-000p-873m.xml&skin_url=http://www.customink.com/share/test_skin.xml"/>
</object>
<div style="font-size:13px; color:#333366; font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:center; background: #ffffff; padding: 5px;">Custom <a style="color:#336;" onmouseover="this.style.color='#9CF';" onmouseout="this.style.color='#336';" href="http://www.customink.com/">t-shirt printing</a> at CustomInk.com</div>
</div>
Design with #51 on the back and a nameplate would be like $7.10 per shirt for 100 ordered. Without, $6.99 for 100 ordered.
 

I like that.. There's no need for an extremely elegant design. I envisioned a maroon shirt with gold lettering/design, but the other way around works as well.
 

Or try this for a little more modern look.

<div style="width:300px">
<object id="Widget" width="300" height="306" align="middle" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=8,0,0,0" classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000">
<param value="always" name="allowScriptAccess"/>
<param value="false" name="allowFullScreen"/>
<param value="http://www.customink.com/share/widget01.swf" name="movie"/>
<param value="design_url=http://www.customink.com/designs/awp0-000p-87xe.xml&skin_url=http://www.customink.com/share/test_skin.xml" name="FlashVars"/>
<param value="#ffffff" name="bgcolor"/>
<embed width="300" height="306" align="middle" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="false" allowscriptaccess="always" name="Widget" bgcolor="#ffffff" quality="high" src="http://www.customink.com/share/widget01.swf" flashvars="design_url=http://www.customink.com/designs/awp0-000p-87xe.xml&skin_url=http://www.customink.com/share/test_skin.xml"/>
</object>
<div style="font-size:13px; color:#333366; font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:center; background: #ffffff; padding: 5px;">Custom <a style="color:#336;" onmouseover="this.style.color='#9CF';" onmouseout="this.style.color='#336';" href="http://www.customink.com/">t-shirt printing</a> at CustomInk.com</div>
</div>
 

I donated $22.44 to the fund. In fact, I may have done it 3 times. I chose 22 for his age and 44 for the number of games he played at the U. Wish I could have done more. I'm in for a shirt as well, maybe 2, if that's what is decided.
 

Nice GoldenGo4Fan - I'm going to go and make my donation tonight as well.

Here's one more design to check out.
<div style="width:300px">
<object id="Widget" width="300" height="306" align="middle" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=8,0,0,0" classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000">
<param value="always" name="allowScriptAccess"/>
<param value="false" name="allowFullScreen"/>
<param value="http://www.customink.com/share/widget01.swf" name="movie"/>
<param value="design_url=http://www.customink.com/designs/awp0-000p-88v3.xml&skin_url=http://www.customink.com/share/test_skin.xml" name="FlashVars"/>
<param value="#ffffff" name="bgcolor"/>
<embed width="300" height="306" align="middle" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="false" allowscriptaccess="always" name="Widget" bgcolor="#ffffff" quality="high" src="http://www.customink.com/share/widget01.swf" flashvars="design_url=http://www.customink.com/designs/awp0-000p-88v3.xml&skin_url=http://www.customink.com/share/test_skin.xml"/>
</object>
<div style="font-size:13px; color:#333366; font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:center; background: #ffffff; padding: 5px;">Custom <a style="color:#336;" onmouseover="this.style.color='#9CF';" onmouseout="this.style.color='#336';" href="http://www.customink.com/">t-shirt printing</a> at CustomInk.com</div>
</div>
 

Ugh t-shirts with hashtags are one of my pet peeves.
 


Gopher Bandanna Guy said:
Nice GoldenGo4Fan - I'm going to go and make my donation tonight as well.

Here's one more design to check out.
<div style="width:300px">
<object id="Widget" width="300" height="306" align="middle" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=8,0,0,0" classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000">
<param value="always" name="allowScriptAccess"/>
<param value="false" name="allowFullScreen"/>
<param value="http://www.customink.com/share/widget01.swf" name="movie"/>
<param value="design_url=http://www.customink.com/designs/awp0-000p-88v3.xml&skin_url=http://www.customink.com/share/test_skin.xml" name="FlashVars"/>
<param value="#ffffff" name="bgcolor"/>
<embed width="300" height="306" align="middle" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="false" allowscriptaccess="always" name="Widget" bgcolor="#ffffff" quality="high" src="http://www.customink.com/share/widget01.swf" flashvars="design_url=http://www.customink.com/designs/awp0-000p-88v3.xml&skin_url=http://www.customink.com/share/test_skin.xml"/>
</object>
<div style="font-size:13px; color:#333366; font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:center; background: #ffffff; padding: 5px;">Custom <a style="color:#336;" onmouseover="this.style.color='#9CF';" onmouseout="this.style.color='#336';" href="http://www.customink.com/">t-shirt printing</a> at CustomInk.com</div>
</div>
Click to expand...

On a IPad - cant see your design.
 

Honestly, I love them all. The last one is great with the hands.
 

You must log in or register to reply here.



Top Bottom