𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗿𝗼𝘀𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗲.We concluded the Drive Year with 29,056 Hokie Club members, the most in history.Hokie Nation, thank you.📰: https://t.co/j2vmDtMhUa pic.twitter.com/VpPZQxpFMh— Hokie Club (@HokieClub) April 11, 2022
If you're wondering what kind of growth this means, I direct you back to the February announcement when we surpassed 25,000 members
The Hokie Club was comprised of roughly 9,800 donors at the Drive for 25's beginning in 2016, and Virginia Tech sat near the bottom third of the ACC in annual giving. Since then, Hokie Nation has helped raise annual scholarship funding at Virginia Tech from an average of $9.2 million a year to $15.2 million.
Virginia Tech also now ranks in the top three of total annual donors at the close of the Drive for 25 campaign, with a number that should increase substantially by the end of the March 31st deadline.
Massive credit needs to be given to Whit Babcock for making this happen. When the Drive for 25 campaign was announced in 2016, many thought it was too ambitious of a goal and would be impossible to attain. Not only was that goal accomplished, but we've blown past it.
Comments
This the biggest accomplishment to date that Whit has done. That's an unbelievable effort and increase in 6 years.
This stuff is why you hire Whit Babcock and keep him as AD for as long as you possibly can, even when the head coach of the football team proves himself to be completely in over his head.
Whit let Fuente hang himself. And hang himself he did. I think the difference between Whit and Fuente is that Whit learned from his mistakes and adjusted. Fuente didn't. I'm happy with where we are with Whit at the helm. I think he's a fine AD
Which I think works to our advantage moving forward. He's telling the world that Virginia Tech isn't Auburn. Future coaches are going to see Whit having a long leash as a major plus in coming to Blacksburg.
So what's the next campaign gonna be called now?
drive for 250? 10X it I guess?
"Drive for 69"
Nice
I joined the Hokie Club this year immediately after the ACC basketball championship (donated directly to the basketball team). I'm sure a bunch of people did the same.
I joined when Fuente was fired.
To quote my man SevenLayersofPlayers,
I ended my membership after the 2020 season and rejoined this spring. Feel much better about the direction of VT athletics a little over a year later.
I re-joined this year (after a number of years of not donating) after we fired Fuente... I try to give a little every month.
Just win, baby.
I'm sure the ACC Championship didn't hurt.
Amazing achievement. I went on Donor Central for the HC and the difference is staggering.
Drive year 2021 - X,XXX out of 10,749
Drive year 2022 - X,XXX out of 21,740
Over 100% increase in a year. Well done Whit and my hat's off to you sir.
Not gonna lie, I joined for the flag.
Me toooooooo
I'm a sucker for swag. I got in on the Commonwealth Cup magnet, donated for the flag, the shirt, and the bball banner (even though I'm not a big bball guy). I think I've donated once when there wasn't swag involved, but I'm going to try and make at least one non swag related dono this year.
Which is how big time programs do it. I gave multiple times this season more than normal for some swag and each time way over the amount needed for the swag. Little goodies get me hyped and there was very little to none before.
This is the ultimate fundraising model. My wife works in non profits. Many people think that if they donate a certain amount of money, their donation does not matter. That could not be farther from the truth. Even if you can donate $10 a month, that is $10 a month the organization can plan on. Having insight into future donations allows organizations of all types to forecast and better predict future growth. Of course large donations are vital as well, but organizations do not know when they are coming. Organizations need big and small reoccurring donations to be well balanced. Thousands of donors donating $10 a month adds up quickly.
I use my TKP bottle opener all the time.
I wonder the amount of money raised vs prior years. Which in the long run, IMO, is more important overall.
The original post says we were averaging 9 mill and are now at 15 mill, which was before the end of the deadline
Appreciate it. Should be interesting to see where the final amount lands with almost 5,000 more donors since
Yeah, I'm guessing since we are a public university this will all come out eventually. Not to mention I'm sure they'd like brag about it and encourage more giving.
I didn't jump in this year, I had some other things I had to deal with. But I plan on joining the club at some point this year. My first donation was when we cancelled the ECU. Worth it.
For reference, the Thank You email I got on Monday said $20 million for this year's campaign and $40 million in pledges/contributions for the fiscal year ending June 30th.
Not a bad increase from $9.2m in 2016