the Hokie Club may have more competition for an alumni's disposable income than when I graduated (Class of 2000) and alumni may have less disposable income to compete over. No matter what age groups you break the alumni up into you will find that the Hokie Club has competition and in some (maybe most) cases the competition is winning because of how the alumni has defined his/her priorities. Competition could include the following:

1. Paying off student loans.
2. Employer shifting the increased medical expenses onto the employee (more money taken out of the paycheck).
3. Alumni contributing more to his/her retirement since the employer is contributing less.
4. Alumni contributing more to his/her retirement to make up for losses in the market's behavior.
5. Cost associated with having children.
6. Having to save more money for a down payment on a home (first time homebuyer) because the housing bubble burst forced the rules to be tighten to reduce/eliminate the loopholes.
7. Saving up for a down payment on a new/newer vehicle.
8. Out of pocket medical expenses.
9. Getting laid off from work and burning through any emergency fund that was established.
10. Other competing organizations (i.e. church, VT academics, non-profit organizations, etc).

Since a large percentage of the alumni live outside the NRV/Roanoke area, they may not have the luxury to spend an entire day or weekend to attend a home athletic event. As a result, their interest in purchasing season tickets could decrease. If they aren't going to purchase season tickets, then they have less incentive to contribute money to the Hokie Club. Some may take that money and either increase their contribution to VT academics or use it for something else.

It seems that some people (not just VT alumni) have developed the mindset that they don't expect anything in return when contributing to a schools academics (excluding a large enough donation to get the school to name something after you). However, they expect something in return when contributing to a school's athletic program. If the athletic department/booster club is looking to increase the amount of contributions (i.e. $1,000 or more), then they will have a more difficult time selling it to a non-season ticket holder because they only thing they can sell is a 100% tax write off (vs. 80% with season tickets).