BleedGopher
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This is absolutely an issue that is going to plague many athletic departments. There's so much emotion around NIL and let's be honest, it's more exciting and an immediate gratification to give money to sign a new free agent than it is to give to a general athletic fund that may build administrative offices. There is only so much money each donor is willing to give, and this is a massive new expense line that didn't exist a few years ago, at least not legally.
Per Day:
They brought in $45.1 million in donations in 2023 and $40.5 million in 2022.
In the early days of NIL, there was a sense among donors who wanted to throw money at players immediately that U administrators were dragging their feet in getting donor money directed toward Dinkytown Athletes. The Gophers don't deny that initial hesitation, said Dusty Clements, a deputy athletics director at Minnesota who has overseen the Golden Gopher Fund since 2017.
"Initially it was a little taboo I guess is the word? Like a four-letter word," he said.
Dinkytown Athletes isn't even trying to compete on their fundraising level, co-founder Rob Gag said. This year's goal is $5 million in donations. He said they have three or four donors like Klas, and those people have been instrumental in helping them cultivate more robust donor relationships.
"It's been a massive challenge," Gag said.
Part of that is institutional — even if the University of Minnesota athletics department or Golden Gopher Fund wanted to share donor lists and phone numbers, the U's legal department has said it's not allowed — and part of that is educational.
"I am used to failure ... with sales my whole life," Gag said. "I have never had no's like I did with NIL. People are warming to it but the people you need to sell, the demographic, is over 65. They have most of the money. They are just slow to warm on it."
"The collectives that are most successful, it's not from the collectives being incredible sales people, it's because they're in alignment with the university's foundation, they're in alignment with the athletics department's foundation, and the dollars flowing that way."
The Gophers and Dinkytown Athletes are trying to show that alignment to donors. As Klas put it, "Quite frankly the separation of church and state has become a pretty thin line."
www.startribune.com
Go Gophers!!
Per Day:
Separate but together
The Golden Gopher Fund sits within the larger University of Minnesota Foundation and doesn't just help finance major campaigns like building Athletes Village or Huntington Bank Stadium or remodeling Mariucci Arena. Donors contribute annually for things like financing overseas trips for teams, paying for recruiting trips for coaches, buying new equipment or funding scholarships.They brought in $45.1 million in donations in 2023 and $40.5 million in 2022.
In the early days of NIL, there was a sense among donors who wanted to throw money at players immediately that U administrators were dragging their feet in getting donor money directed toward Dinkytown Athletes. The Gophers don't deny that initial hesitation, said Dusty Clements, a deputy athletics director at Minnesota who has overseen the Golden Gopher Fund since 2017.
"Initially it was a little taboo I guess is the word? Like a four-letter word," he said.
Dinkytown Athletes isn't even trying to compete on their fundraising level, co-founder Rob Gag said. This year's goal is $5 million in donations. He said they have three or four donors like Klas, and those people have been instrumental in helping them cultivate more robust donor relationships.
"It's been a massive challenge," Gag said.
Part of that is institutional — even if the University of Minnesota athletics department or Golden Gopher Fund wanted to share donor lists and phone numbers, the U's legal department has said it's not allowed — and part of that is educational.
"I am used to failure ... with sales my whole life," Gag said. "I have never had no's like I did with NIL. People are warming to it but the people you need to sell, the demographic, is over 65. They have most of the money. They are just slow to warm on it."
"The collectives that are most successful, it's not from the collectives being incredible sales people, it's because they're in alignment with the university's foundation, they're in alignment with the athletics department's foundation, and the dollars flowing that way."
The Gophers and Dinkytown Athletes are trying to show that alignment to donors. As Klas put it, "Quite frankly the separation of church and state has become a pretty thin line."
Donors to Gophers face a decision: Give to the school or to the athletes?
There’s a delicate dance of donating money to college athletics in 2024. One of the steps is how all parties, including boosters, figure out who gets what and how. That’s part of the new world of giving in the NIL era.
www.startribune.com
Go Gophers!!
