RPS
10-04-2007, 01:52 PM
As reported here (http://calgoldenbearfootball.blogspot.com/):
The Chronicle of Higher Education last week released a report putting the Cal athletic department at the helm of the Pac-10 with $34.7 million received in charitable donations. That number was good enough for eighth in the country, less than $3 million behind third-ranked Florida. And Assistant Athletic Director for Development David Rosselli said that had the organization issued a report last year, Cal would have been ranked first in the nation.
Look at the turnaround in the program between 2002 and present. Overall fundraising—which encompasses more than just charitable donations—in the year from 2002-2003 yielded just under $8.5 million, according to a marketing report done by the Cal athletic department. From 2005-2006, the total surged to over $68 million. That’s roughly an 800% increase in three years for those of you math majors keeping track. Tedford is almost as responsible for this resurgence as he is for the Bears’ on-field performance.
It isn’t hard to pinpoint the roots of this fundraising turnaround. In 2002 the Bears football team was 7-5 and just recently emerging from the conference’s doldrums. Now, Cal is undefeated and, not coincidentally, the athletic department is well on its way to fully funding the proposed $125 million Student-Athlete High Performance Center. “The football team brings tremendous momentum not just to the athletic program but to the entire institution,” Rosselli said. “We have a captive audience now. People want to be a part of that success.” They do that by donating money—lots of it as of late. The equation is quite simple. Football brings unrivaled national television exposure, brings thousands of alumni to Memorial Stadium for games week after week, and gets the alumni engaged in the university. Having another Noble-prize winning professor doesn’t have quite the same effect.Duke may already be garnering all the benefit it can on account of athletic success due to hoops, but those who denigrate the connection between athletic success and university growth and prestige (due primarily to $ and a larger/"better" applicant pool) don't seem conversant with reality. A good football team makes good sense economically and educationally. Let's hope the recent progress at WW continues....
The Chronicle of Higher Education last week released a report putting the Cal athletic department at the helm of the Pac-10 with $34.7 million received in charitable donations. That number was good enough for eighth in the country, less than $3 million behind third-ranked Florida. And Assistant Athletic Director for Development David Rosselli said that had the organization issued a report last year, Cal would have been ranked first in the nation.
Look at the turnaround in the program between 2002 and present. Overall fundraising—which encompasses more than just charitable donations—in the year from 2002-2003 yielded just under $8.5 million, according to a marketing report done by the Cal athletic department. From 2005-2006, the total surged to over $68 million. That’s roughly an 800% increase in three years for those of you math majors keeping track. Tedford is almost as responsible for this resurgence as he is for the Bears’ on-field performance.
It isn’t hard to pinpoint the roots of this fundraising turnaround. In 2002 the Bears football team was 7-5 and just recently emerging from the conference’s doldrums. Now, Cal is undefeated and, not coincidentally, the athletic department is well on its way to fully funding the proposed $125 million Student-Athlete High Performance Center. “The football team brings tremendous momentum not just to the athletic program but to the entire institution,” Rosselli said. “We have a captive audience now. People want to be a part of that success.” They do that by donating money—lots of it as of late. The equation is quite simple. Football brings unrivaled national television exposure, brings thousands of alumni to Memorial Stadium for games week after week, and gets the alumni engaged in the university. Having another Noble-prize winning professor doesn’t have quite the same effect.Duke may already be garnering all the benefit it can on account of athletic success due to hoops, but those who denigrate the connection between athletic success and university growth and prestige (due primarily to $ and a larger/"better" applicant pool) don't seem conversant with reality. A good football team makes good sense economically and educationally. Let's hope the recent progress at WW continues....