Here’s a non-VT anecdote about fundraising. My wife and I bought our current money pit house from Appalachian State’s wrestling coach. The coach is now renting in a different part of town, and we’ve been settled in for about a year-and-a-half. The other day, we got a fundraising inquiry in the mail from the Yosef Club, which is App State’s version of the Hokie Club. The letter was for the coach, who once resided at my house.

App State’s athletics software doesn’t know where its own head wrestling coach lives. There are probably a half-dozen different suites of data software on campus that have the coach’s current address, and none of them are talking with the Yosef Club’s/ASU Advancement’s software. I imagine that’s the reality at every school to some degree.

I’m going to wrap up my opinion drop on Hokie football by talking about big-picture items involving Hokie administrators and athletics; as my little story might’ve clued you in, money will be the theme. I was part of a university capital campaign, and the current money intrigue surrounding Tech football has made this the only time I’ve ever wanted to touch on it.

Big-time collegiate fundraising can be a lot like big-time coaching. If you’re awake, you’re working, and most of your time is spent building relationships. There are times to make strategic and tactical decisions, but they’re in small windows. The rest of the time is spent recruiting and coaching. In one job, you’re recruiting high school kids and coaching college students; in the other, you’re recruiting new donors and bigger gifts from current donors, and then you’re coaching them into making gifts that help your school.

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