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Communication & Fundraising in Sport

College Sports: A non-profit organization

The Ohio State Buckeyes face off against the Clemson Tigers in the 2019 Fiesta Bowl at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Ariz. (Brian Siguenza)

Last week I mentioned my work with a nonprofit agency in the city I’ve called home for thirty years. You may recall that to attain nonprofit status, an organization must provide something of benefit to the community it serves (Kenton, 2020). My employer, for example, focuses on meals to homebound seniors, financial literacy, and transportation in parts of town where the bus is inaccessible.

It seems like a stretch to compare the efforts of my agency to a major sports organization that holds contests in front of thousands of fans plus the millions watching on television. Yet it might surprise you that like us, the NCAA and the athletic programs that make up its membership are considered not-for-profit organizations. As an expert in antitrust law tells Barnhouse (2018), whereas most nonprofits emphasize the mission over money, the mission in collegiate athletics is to make money.

Why is that? As it turns out, many of the programs in the major football conferences, otherwise known as “Power Five,” spend more money than they bring in. Hobson & Rich (2015) analyzed the data of schools in these conferences for the Washington Post and found that more than half of the programs with available data operated at a loss in 2014. This includes big names like Auburn, Clemson, Michigan State, and UCLA. The review into program finances may explain the concern that many administrators who oversee the program expressed to McMurphy (2020) about whether there would be a football season in the wake of COVID-19. As one anonymous director said, “Quite simply, it would be devastating” (para. 4).

What’s more, the relationship between on-field success and general fundraising dollars is unclear. Some researchers have found that donations to a university can be predicated upon superior athletic performance, while other researchers do not believe that such a link exists (Staurowsky, n.d.; King, Sexton, & Rhatigan, 2010). If the latter group is to be believed, it can thus be implied that colleges would do just as well in the fundraising department without sports teams as they do with.

The very existence of sports at the collegiate level provides a challenge for those who raise money for the institution because it puts the school in competition with itself for scarce, valuable resources. However, this can be solved by making athletic giving part of the general university foundation (King, Sexton, & Rhatigan, 2010). The University of Iowa, where I received my undergraduate degree, structured its foundation so that alumni and other contributors can select from several categories that they wish for their donation to go. It could be used for athletics, the hospital, or a specific college (The University of Iowa Center for Advancement, n.d.).

Not only has COVID-19 put the college football season in jeopardy, but it has also made fundraising very difficult as events involving a large number of people cannot yet be held. Charitable giving had been in decline before the pandemic hit (Safo, 2019). Now the athletic and academic side of schools aren’t just competing with each other, but numerous nonprofits who are also feeling the effects. And that’s a matchup you won’t see in primetime on ESPN.

References

Barnhouse, W. (2018, June 4). Non-profit colleges bringing in ‘Fortune 500’ revenues through athletics. Retrieved from https://globalsportmatters.com/business/2018/06/04/colleges-bringing-fortune-500-revenues-athletics/

Hobson, W., & Rich, S. (2015, November 23). Playing in the red. Washington Post. Retrieved from https://www.washingtonpost.com/sf/sports/wp/2015/11/23/running-up-the-bills/

Kenton, W. (2020, April 29). Nonprofit organization (NPO). Retrieved from https://www.investopedia.com/terms/n/non-profitorganization.asp

King, E.H., Sexton, E.L., & Rhatigan, J.J. (2010, Spring). Balancing fundraising in academic programs and intercollegiate athletics. New Directions for Higher Education, 2010(149), 65-71. https://doi.org/10.1002/he.382

McMurphy, B. (2020, March 31). Will there be college football in 2020? Athletic directors weigh in. Retrieved from https://watchstadium.com/will-there-be-college-football-in-2020-athletic-directors-weigh-in-03-30-2020/

Safo, N. (2019, December 2). Charities worry giving will fall for a second straight year. Retrieved from https://www.marketplace.org/2019/12/02/charities-worry-giving-will-fall-for-a-second-straight-year/

Staurowsky, E.J. (n.d.). The relationship between athletics and higher education fund raising: The myths far outweigh the facts [PDF File]. Ithaca, NY: Ithaca College. Retrieved from http://priorities.weebly.com/uploads/8/8/6/0/8860813/athletics_and_fundraising.pdf

The University of Iowa Center for Advancement. (n.d.). Give to Iowa. Retrieved from https://donate.givetoiowa.org/s/1773/giving/19/home.aspx?sid=1773&gid=2&pgid=627&tag=agn&tab=tab1

Categories
Mentorship Journal

#9 June 1: Pricing research, market comparison – 30 minutes

I use a MacBook for my research, but that's not me. (Photo by Pixabay from Pexels)

I am still in the process of looking through pricing for websites and research on projects similar to what the ICC wants to do. You will notice that I spent just 30 minutes on that this evening. I like to take my time on these things as I am able to for a number of reasons.

First and foremost, I am a busy individual. Not only am I handling this particular initiative, but I still have my full-time job and a class that I am in the middle of, so it is a matter of not overextending myself. The second is that a decision of this nature requires a thorough examination of what is available and whether it can do what we want it to, as I have explained in a previous post. So I want to make sure that no stone is unturned in our search for the best hosting provider.

All that being said, this is something that we want to act fairly quickly on. I am mindful that the window of opportunity can close at any moment. One of the takeaways from this pandemic is that nothing lasts forever, so we must remain alert and respond accordingly. I expect to be finished with this by week’s end. It’s not likely much will change by then but at this point, who really knows?

I have said on several occasions that I do not consider myself to be an expert at website building, but I have to admit that through maintaining this site and looking at options for the ICC, I am learning a little bit more about the process every day. I’ve also mentioned that it is good to have this sort of knowledge because you never know when it will come in handy for you.

Categories
Mentorship Journal

#8 May 31: Website pricing – 1 hour

Faceless person using laptop in office. (Photo by Artem Podrez from Pexels)

Here we are, the end of the month of May, and I am continuing my look at various hosting companies for websites. I’ve mentioned multiple times that finding the best provider is a bit of a process. If you Google “Best Web Hosting 2020“–or just follow the link I’ve posted–you’ll find there are a lot of opinions out there. Some brand names appear just once, others three or four times.

A lot of factors go into a rating for these reviewers. Price is, of course, a major consideration. But you also have to think about whether the provider is able to meet the needs a site has. Will there be enough space to hold content? Can we get a live person on the phone to walk us through any issues? What do other customers think of the service? It’s not like walking into a restaurant and trying to decide between chicken or fish. A website is a significant investment that presents you to the world. So I have been going through what the experts say and putting them into a spreadsheet to show a consensus of the best product out there. I have no doubt that we will be able to make an informed decision.

It’s still rather early, but I continue to understand a little better with each passing day what the ICC is aiming for. It is going to be very exciting once rolled out and I am glad to be a part of it. Here’s to more ahead in June!

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Reflection

Week 3

Seems like it’s the short weeks that end up being the craziest. With everything that has been going on in the world, trying to stay focused on this website and what all I need to do for the Communication & Fundraising in Sport class has been especially challenging. Still, I think it’s good to have that kind of challenge at a time like this not just because it keeps me busy, but also it allows me to refine my ability to bring stability and security to an anxious population through my work.

Fundraising is a big part of the work that I do in my normal life, and it’s the subject that we have transitioned to in the course from communication. The importance of one over the other in running a nonprofit is comparable to the chicken and the egg: you can’t communicate effectively without having the proper resources which usually requires having funds, but you need to have the right message to get people to donate to you. So both concepts tend to complement each other quite well in my view.

The fundraising this class deals with is of course in the realm of sports, which could mean the athletic department of a higher-learning institution as mentioned specifically by Leonard (2012) in his textbook, but also recreational facilities such as the local YMCA. Despite the emphasis on sport, the items Leonard covers can be applied across organizations in the nonprofit sector. They do serve as a nice refresher, however, for best practices in fundraising.

A scheduling conflict led to the cancellation of the live discussion we were supposed to have so I instead ended up sharing my experiences of working with volunteers and how my current organization shows its appreciation for the work they do. I can show you an example of a social media post we did just this week to honor a young man who helped us out during COVID-19.

Horizons, A Family Service Alliance on Twitter

Even amid the great unrest that we as a society face right now, there is something satisfying about the work I am doing and I am more than happy to share in that with my fellow classmates, my community, and you, the reader.

Reference

Leonard, R. (2012). Fundraising for sport and athletics. Morgantown, WV: Fitness Information Technology.

Categories
Mentorship Journal

#7 May 30: Website pricing, market research – 1 hour

Thankfully, this research will not require consulting shelves upon shelves of books. (Photo by Olenka Sergienko from Pexels)

I took yesterday “off” so that I could tend to my Communication and Fundraising in Sport classwork. Now I am back at it this Saturday, conducting research on programs competing with the ICC’s newest initiative as well as pricing for a website. The Internet as vast as it is, there is a lot of information to look for and gather into a central document that’s simple enough to make the appropriate decision.

When I pursued my Journalism degree in undergrad, I will not lie, I had delusions of grandeur. If I worked hard enough, I could become the next Tom Brokaw or Ted Koppel. Obviously, it did not work out that way. That is why I have tempered my expectations greatly this time around. I will put the effort in to ensure that the ICC has a quality product that its intended audience uses and gets something out of. Whatever happens as a result of my work here is just great.

The important thing I am hoping to get out of this experience is the chance to showcase the talents I have accumulated from my journalistic and communications work. If you had asked me this question two years ago or heck, even one year ago, I am not sure that would be my response. But the farther I go and the closer I get to the finish line, it becomes all the more clearer to me that this is what I want to be doing. Research and publishing are quintessential traits to both journalism and communications, so my previous work has set me up to provide a great analysis for the ICC.

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Siguenza on Sports

At the intersection of Sports and Politics

Downtown Minneapolis in October 2016. (Brian Siguenza)

No matter who you are, politics is a very sensitive subject and you have to be careful about what you say and who you say it to because the discussion can escalate fast. And yet, it doesn’t feel right to talk about something like the NHL’s plan on returning to action and pretend as though the events that have unfolded in Minneapolis and across the United States in the last few days aren’t happening.

Indeed, sports are a very nice distraction from all the worries that we have as individuals. For three hours a night, longer on weekends, we can remove ourselves from the normal hustle and bustle, and get lost in a game of physical strategy. Much like a movie, except it happens in real-time and nobody knows how it’s going to end, not even the actors. This might help to explain why people are so eager to see live sports. It might also explain why some do not like athletes using sport to bring attention to real-world problems.

Ayesha on Twitter
https://twitter.com/andylassner/status/1266321654075936770
Andy Lassner on Twitter
The Philadelphia Inquirer on Twitter

But as the late Nelson Mandela suggested in a poignant speech 20 years ago, sports are so much more than the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat. Through the work of those who play them, sports have the opportunity to change lives. Listen carefully to his words, and perhaps you’ll find that Colin Kaepernick and other players who take a stand (or a knee) on societal matters understand the true spirit of being an athlete. And they deserve to be heard.

Laureus on YouTube
Categories
Mentorship Journal

#6 May 28: Conference call, website pricing – 1 hour

Brian Siguenza's site uses features by WordPress. (WordPress)

We had our meeting via Zoom today, which led to further exploration of finding a host for the new ICC website. A lot of options exist for maintaining a site–GoDaddy and Wix are among the more popular ones. I mentioned earlier that I do not consider myself to be a wiz at building pages from scratch, but I have been able to keep this site going with the ease of WordPress. I also use Bluehost for my needs, and my experience with them will factor in the recommendation I make to the group.

Something else that came up was market research on projects similar to what we want to do. For competitive reasons, I still cannot fully disclose what that is, but investigative research is always fascinating. It gives you a pretty good idea of what else is out there and how you measure up.

Today marks one week since I began working with the ICC. There are still some nuances that I am getting used to like understanding the project itself, but I am in close contact with the ICC partners, who are very good about offering their suggestions. If I were to have a memorable moment of the past week, it would be crafting the news release for the project. Given my background, that is something I have always enjoyed doing. A lot more will be coming down the pipeline in that area and I am looking a great deal forward to bringing my unique style to those endeavors.

Categories
Siguenza on Sports

Flying the friendly skies

A United aircraft. (Pascal Renet via Pexels)
White United Airlines plane. (Photo by Pascal Renet from Pexels)

Last week, I mentioned in a post my objection to using the phrase “stick to sports” at those who make their living in athletic competition. The issue I take with the phrase is that it dehumanizes the athlete, suggesting that they are nothing more than a commodity to be used solely for our entertainment. The way I see it, the players that we watch on TV and read about on the Internet aren’t all that different from us. They get up in the morning, go to jobs, and have the same basic needs. Like those of us who are not athletically gifted, they sometimes want to be left alone.

Case in point, an anonymous NFL player who caught United’s red-eye service to Newark from Los Angeles back in February. The player is now suing United for an incident that occurred with a female passenger whom he and the person accompanying him said was acting rather erratically. The suit, filed in Los Angeles, alleges that the woman made inappropriate gestures to the player, including touching him around his upper legs. She also harassed him over the use of a face mask he had worn out of concern for COVID-19 (Fox 11 Los Angeles, 2020).

Pandemic or not, air travel can be a very stressful experience. All passengers and crew deserve to be treated with respect regardless of the circumstances. There’s no need for additional turbulence.

Categories
Mentorship Journal

#5 May 27: Logo prototypes – 30 minutes

Timing is everything when you're pursuing an MBA and work full time. (Photo by Torsten Dettlaff from Pexels)

Today I’m working on some recommendations to change up the International Cultural Consortium (ICC) logo. It does not need to be anything major, they already have an image that conveys the purpose of the organization, just some potential tweaks that will make it stand out.

I am a creature of habit myself. I tend to follow a schedule to my day–wake up, go to work, come home, exercise, tend to my studies, then go to bed. In light of COVID-19, the commute has practically been eliminated and I just travel to the kitchen for coffee in the morning. The fact that I am already working from home has made the start of the ICC mentorship quite smooth. I honestly don’t notice all that much of a difference between the mentorship and my job.

For somebody who thrives on a routine, that is a very good thing. Especially as my days can be quite full. I work for eight hours and am in the middle of another MBA course at Tiffin, so that doesn’t leave me with a lot of flexibility in terms of time.

That is not to say that I don’t enjoy some variety. I like to diversify my interests, so changing between my normal nonprofit work and my sports-related work keeps it lively. I learn so much more doing it this way.

Thursdays are when I have a standing meeting with Liston, Josh, and Dr. Tiell, so I shall partake in that tomorrow and see where the discussion leads.

Categories
Communication & Fundraising in Sport

Discussing Donor Databases

Hopefully you have noticed by now that I am quite well-versed in the world of sport and communications. Now I would like to show you my expertise in another subject: fundraising. My day job is with a 501(c)3 non-profit organization here in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The term non-profit is a bit of a misnomer because it suggests that the organization does not exist to make money. It is true that the purpose is more about providing a service that benefits the residents of a particular community (Kenton, 2020). However, the organization still needs to have the appropriate financial resources in order to do so.

That’s where donors come in. The generosity of corporations and individuals alike allow organizations like ours to ensure that we can meet the needs of our population. We want to maintain that connection to the people who have contributed to us, so we keep records using an online database. There are several options available for tracking donor data but for the sake of simplicity, I will tell you about the two systems that I have used: Raiser’s Edge 7 by Blackbaud and Little Green Light (LGL).

The Raiser’s Edge software we used was installed on the network of our computers. It was simple enough to manually input contact information on a constituent and any donation they made. Importing records could be a challenge though, as well as creating exports if we wanted to look at, say, gifts that have been made in the current fiscal year. On the other hand, I can not only import and export records in a matter of minutes on LGL, but I can also track upcoming grants with it as well.

Now I was part of the decision-making process to switch over to LGL, which is why I’m so partial to it. Ultimately, the software that a fundraiser chooses has to fit the capacity of his or her program, both from a functional and economical perspective. In that sense, I would recommend reaching out to other non-profit agencies in your area to get a feel for what software works best for them.

Reference

Kenton, W. (2020, April 29). Nonprofit organization (NPO). Retrieved from https://www.investopedia.com/terms/n/non-profitorganization.asp