Virginia Tech hiring Whit Babcock as its new Athletic Director brought great hope to Hokie Nation. By all reports his greatest strength was his ability to engage students, alumni, and the greater community to raise interest and, more importantly, money. Whether it's the new indoor practice facility, the small(ish) football staff (by SEC standards) or the ever-pressing need to keep up in the arms race that is major college athletics, Whit's prowess at opening checkbooks is a much needed addition to the Tech Athletics Department. Working in his favor is a sizable alumni pool that is one of the largest in the nation, many of whom reside within a 5-hour radius of campus. With that being said, Whit has been immediately tasked with re-engaging a fan base that has become frustrated with the recent performance of the two revenue-generating sports—football and men's basketball—while building a strong foundation for future giving throughout the Virginia Tech community.
A developing issue that all Universities, and nonprofits for that matter, are becoming increasingly exposed to is the complexity of energizing the Millennial Generation. The participation of this incredibly abstruse generation will not only enhance the diversity of the alumni base, but it will increase both current and future giving, providing an incredibly strong foundation for the future of the University. Some of you may be asking yourselves, "Who are these Millennials and how old are they?" Many of you will be surprised to find out you are a part of this rising generation that has and will continue to challenge the way we live.
Loosely defined, Millennials are essentially people born anywhere between 1979 and 1996. It is a generation that has been born out of the internet, accustomed to the "information now" society that we currently live in, and responsible for the social media revolution that has taken the globe by storm. There is a high level of debate regarding the personality traits and values that characterize Millennials, ranging from highly civic-minded and upbeat to increasingly narcissistic and wealth-driven. What is not debatable is the fact that, domestically, Millennials are the most diverse, highly educated and debt-ridden generation in modern history.
From an economic perspective, the generation's personality traits have been largely shaped by the impact of the Great Recession in the late-2000's. In 2012, it was reported that approximately 1 in 2 recent college graduates were either unemployed or underemployed. Many members of the generation took available jobs close to their homes and chose to live with their parents due to the tenuous job market and their varying levels of student loan debt. As the job market gets more and more selective—pushing young professionals and current undergraduate students to consider post-graduate degrees to make themselves more marketable—wages have stagnated and tuition costs continue to rise at a perilous rate.
Unlike previous generations, there is a growing sense amongst young people that a continuation of this cycle could lead to a lost generation. Rising debt and low wages means less consumer spending: less homebuying, less car buying, and/or couples choosing to have children later in life. Interestingly enough, I heard an uplifting piece of news from National Public Radio's Planet Money team a few weeks back: survey data found that the Millennial Generation has shown to be happy with less money. This is an important psychological element that needs to be fully understood by Whit and the rest of the Hokie Club. We are savvy, strive for maximum information, and are willing to give our time and limited resources if our imaginations and interests are captured. At the same time, we are a hard bunch to get a hold of, and interest groups need to take advantage of those fleeting moments.
We, and I say "we" because I fall into the generation and I assume a significant portion of Thekeyplay.com's readership does as well, as Millennials entered the workforce during the most difficult economic climate in almost a century. I, for one, feel like the older generation doesn't fully understand us. Because we are highly educated, we are very driven and have large aspirations. We are never content with the status quo and we will never settle. We are trained to keep our eyes open for great opportunities—socially, professionally, etc... Professional loyalty is no longer a given, and it certainly isn't a value that is ingrained in any of our brains because we haven't experienced it the way our elders have. In many ways, it barely exists today. But these are the traits that lead to innovation and social progress.
Why do I bring all of this up? Because the inability to successfully capture the interest of the Millennial Generation now, at this point in time, could lead to the loss of the population as a prospective donor pool. It is imperative that Whit Babcock and the Hokie Club engage and excite this generation in order to ensure that University and Athletic Department do not fall by the wayside in the coming years and decades.
Bringing About Change
The Hokie Club has on outreach problem. Some of you may take issue with that statement, but the truth of the matter is the current number of active donor members in the Hokie Club is a paltry 10,000. That is it. 10,000 out of over 230,000 living alumni across the globe (just over 4%). Even worse, very little of the membership is made up of Millennials. Though current membership certainly needs to increase (likely through reforms to the manner in which the club actively communicates with alumni), it is imperative that younger alumni be directly targeted to help drum up support. It is the younger alumni that have the ability to directly and indirectly energize and interact with peers and promote the benefits and importance of the Hokie Club.
The 2013 Millennial Impact Report outlines the ways in which organizations can connect with Millennials. This was achieved through the utilization of 4 years of survey data specifically targeting the Millennial population and their responses to common outreach models. I would encourage all of you to read the report, but the largest takeaway is this: "Millennials first support causes they are passionate about (rather than institutions); so it's up to organizations to inspire them and show them that their support can make a tangible difference on the wider issue." An interesting wrinkle, as this particular report indicates that reliance by, say the Hokie Club, on the sheer fact that Hokies will give to anything Hokie because we love our University, is shortsighted. More on this in a second.
There a couple of key areas where the Hokie Club could improve: Connectivity, Involvement, and Transparency.
Connectivity
The Millennial Impact Study found that 83% of Millennials own a smartphone and 75% like, retweet, or share content on social media. The existing infrastructure of the Hokie Club fails to take advantage of the already strong use of social media by alumni, specifically the younger generation. The Hokie Club's national twitter handle currently has a depressingly miniscule 1,350 followers. Arguably two of the largest chapters have startlingly low follower counts: the Richmond Chapter has 224 and the Northern Virginia Chapter has 233. Each of these accounts essentially retweets a smattering of Hokie-related news and shares event info, many of which are golf outings and local speaking engagements. While the content forms a good foundation, the accounts serve as information sources and do little to capture the attention of followers amidst the constant noise of one's newsfeed.
The Impact Study found that Millennials, who I would argue are the target demographic on social media platforms, such as Twitter, are "far more likely to like, re-tweet and share posts that had visual content." This form of indirect advocacy would enable the Hokie Club to reach a far greater audience than the 1,350 people that currently follow them. An improvement in the content, created to target specific groups of people, could go a long way towards delivering a message. For instance, the Hokie Club could create a viral video (I really hate that term) utilizing memorable highlights, with Enter Sandman playing in the background. After @hokieclub tweets it to their followers, Joe would get sufficiently amped up and retweet it to his legion of 9,700 followers, and so-on. All of a sudden, the message has reached a far greater audience from just one person's initial interest.
Like it or not, social media is the conduit to reaching today's population. In order to succeed in this endeavor, Whit and the Hokie Club need to craft succinct and effective messages that stand out amidst the constant stream of information. As one Impact Study respondent noted, "Educate me about [your] organization and challenge me to think and reinforce my caring." The methods in which Whit and the Hokie Club attempt to solicit interest in the Hokie Club cannot always be focused on raising money either, as 69% of study respondents tended to tune that information out. The power of social media to effectively reach large audiences is greater than an email or cold call. The success of those types of traditional delivery methods are rooted in a pre-existing contacts list, which we have proven to be severely lacking.
Enter social media. In order to maximize the potential of direct and indirect advocacy via social media, groups such as the Hokie Club would benefit by monitoring the reaction and proliferation of their messages and continually adapting their delivery methods (videos versus verbose articles) to better reflect the interests of their audience.
Involvement
Virginia Tech is rooted in the motto of Ut Prosim. Service and giving are pillars of our University, and the importance of these values was immediately instilled upon us when we arrived at Tech. While data suggests Millennials are by-and-large active volunteers in causes that they are passionate about, it becomes slightly less of an issue amongst Hokie alumni. The challenge is in activating the alumni base, especially the younger generation, to give despite the aforementioned financial challenges that many face. One of the largest perceptions amongst young alumni that I have spoken with is that older, wealthier people who can afford to give large amounts of money in one check are the ones that the Hokie Club focuses their attention on. But if you can engage 100 Millennials and convince them to give even just $250, that's equal to a $25,000 check. As the generation gets older and theoretically makes more money, while climbing out from under the mountainous student loan debt many face, they will ultimately be able to afford to give more money.
Involving the younger alumni now, during their 20's and 30's will pay large dividends in the future. To ignore the generation when they have little money, only to actively recruit them during their 50's and 60's feels cheap and shallow. Millennials are active, mission-driven people eager to make an indelible mark, however possible. Some people may not be able to donate money, but may be willing to donate their time. Finding ways to utilize this service-oriented facet can augment the brand, especially when it involves the application of skills that may benefit the outreach model. For instance, graphic designers could assist with t-shirts, posters, and social media campaigns. Marketing professionals could help generate interest and donations from within the business community. Active use of a skilled and passionate alumni base can pay dividends that far exceed direct monetary donations.
Transparency
It is important for many people, not only Millennials, to see the difference that their time and money makes. Many people are inherently skeptical of blindly donating to causes. They have no idea where their money is going, and whether any of it is bringing about true change. Personally, I get solicited by Virginia Tech, the College of Architecture and Urban Studies, my graduate school, and my graduate program. Virtually all of the material is some form of solicitation for donations, rather than a comprehensive and meaningful update on the school and notable alumni news. My natural reaction is typically along the lines of, "Okay, so I've technically given you tens-of-thousands of dollars already (to which I am paying back over x-number of years, plus interest). Why should I give even $250 now, and what is that money specifically being used for? What is the impact of my gift?"
On the surface, it is hard for $250 to feel like a significant contribution. Would $250 help me in the football season ticket seating queue? Sure. Is it a tax write-off? Yes. But in the grand scheme of things, it is hard for it not to feel like a drop in the bucket.
The major donors, the ones giving tens of millions of dollars, have conference rooms and buildings named after them. My $250, which means a lot to me at this stage in my life, goes where, exactly? Research conducted as part of the Impact Report suggests that Millennials are more inclined to donate to causes that allow them to "see where their money is going; if it's making a tangible impact, they are more likely to give again." An improvement to the current fundraising model would be a fully-transparent giving network that outlines all of the capital projects currently seeking funding by the Athletic Department (or some other area of the University) and their requisite fundraising goals. This would allow alumni to choose where their money goes based on personal areas of interest, and enabling them to take pride in seeing the tangible results of their generosity.
For example, let's say I want to donate $150 to softball equipment and the other $100 to re-finishing the basketball court in Cassell Coliseum. I could specifically target my donations to those funds via a clear and simple, graphically-compelling website that gives real-time information related to each fund. I would attend softball and basketball games knowing I had helped buy a new bat and helped paint the "H" along the baseline.
Whit Babcock and the Hokie Club cannot continue to approach the Millennial generation the way it has previous generations. We demand more, and if we aren't intrigued, we move on. Plain and simple. This issue needs to be at the forefront of any campaign targeting younger alumni. We love our school, but that doesn't necessarily mean we have the financial wherewithal to annually donate hundreds or thousands. Whit and the Hokie Club should embrace the fact that we demand more—it will ensure that they do not rest on their laurels, and that they constantly push themselves to be better and to continually innovate. I believe Whit is the right man for the challenge, and I have the utmost faith that he will continually push all of us toward continued success, both on and off the field.
A special thanks to my brother-in-law, Alumni Association Board of Directors Member and fellow keyplayer JY VPI for his assistance. Stronger youth involvement within the Virginia Tech community is a significant mission for him, and he has dedicated a great deal of energy toward outreach aimed at increasing participation and creating roles for students and young alumni.
Comments
abstruse
adjective
difficult to understand; obscure.
This is an excellent piece, and these are some of the problems I'd like to help solve. Well, these, and operations research problems.
I give to the college of engineering when they ask for it, once a year. I have the option on the VT Foundation solicitation that they send me to donating to engineering or some other fund, maybe a general fund or something. As you suggest, I would rather be able to target my donation a little more. I'd like to send my cash to the top departments we have, ISE (my department), or the medical school.
I'm excited about the signature engineering building and the medical school but want to see us do as much research as anyone does into renewable energy technologies and processes and would send donations that way if I could. If VT shows me what VT wants to do in the future, I'll decide where I want to put my donations, because they're bound to get some donation from me at some point. When I am asked for money but then don't have much of a choice in where it goes, I feel like it goes down the rabbit hole, never to be seen again. I don't like that.
I'm not a big donor, in fact, I just started giving money to the university last year, and it was only about $200. To put that in perspective, your $250 suggestion for millenials is more than I give, and I've been working in a full time job for 8 years now. I wouldn't think an underemployed graduate living with their parents would be able to swing that. Every little bit counts of course.
I don't engage in social media, but I think this puts me in the minority, so I couldn't care less whether there were images in the tweets or not. I want substance in our publications and quality in the products that carry our brand. I want people to see something or someone who comes out of Blacksburg and think of them the same way as I think about people who come from MIT or Stanford. That's the brand I want. Tell me how I VT is building that and I'm in.
THIS! THIS! THIS!
As a graduate from the engineering program who went into supply chain/consulting, I'd be far more interested in donating money (or time) towards something supply chain related as opposed to the engineering department as a whole.
Same with athletics. If I want to donate specifically to the building of the new practice facility, I should know that my money is going there, and for $XXX.XX I should be able to get my name on one of the bricks.
Hi horse! Glad to see another ISE alum here! Btw I am not on social media either (used to be on FB, but got out when their privacy went south).
And great, great article. While it is the self centered attitude that seems to define this generation at large, I'd argue that the second point you raised (the student debt and lack of meaningful employment) is the key trait of our lot. Now a big part of it comes from a lack of long term thinking, but at the same time, the millennialist are also (I think) very emotional. So I think Whit's challenge would be to tug at that, while admitting the brutal fact that several $20 donations are much easier to solicit than some $200 checks per year. Similar to the difference between the Republican and Democratic presidential campaigns of 2008.
I appreciate the article, and have one primary comment, followed by some observations. The hurdle of addressing the topic of VT Athletics/Hokie Club performance & outreach is this - It is extremely challenging to separate yesterday's (Jim Weaver's) vision from tomorrow's (Whit Babcock's) vision. The objectives of Whit shouldn't be mislabeled under the objectives of yesterday, other than to reiterate - 'The old way does NOT work now!' I think that is essentially what you're doing here. I think it is critical for Hokie fans to engage Whit's group in a positive manner, to provide insight into our expectations. We must not merely say - 'Here we are, come serve us...' but instead we should say - 'Here is what excites us...' The onus cannot be solely on VT Athletics/Hokie Club to generate concepts for improvement. The customer base must be active and provide tangible and reasonable expectations. Also in that light, whether Millenials, Gen X'ers, or Boomers, we as consumers/fans must establish priorities and reasonable vision ourselves. We must make our own decisions based on budgeting and live with those results. I'd love most of the perks of higher Hokie Club status, but I understand the ROI that I receive for the level I donate. We all should do that. I am extremely encouraged that Whit wants to engage the masses that give lower dollars, unlike the past. What I caution is that the masses hold their expectations to realistic levels. Our desire for certain benefits does not always equate to it being feasible for us to receive them. We can't just sit back and wait for Whit (figuratively) to come to us, we need to move to meet him in the middle. Again, a great article, and certainly exciting and (positively) changing times for Hokies!
I think Virginia Tech needs to change how they approach students in order to gain more long-term financial donors. My husband was a cadet and learned so much about the university as part of his time in the Corps: the Pylons, the Cenotaph, the words to the fight song. This basic school history is stuff I picked over my four years at Tech. I'm going to embarrass one of my sorority sisters here. Another sister was dating (and has since married) Andrew Lanier who wore #72. This particular sister asked his girlfriend why all of the VS Pink line for Virginia Tech had Andrew's number on it. She didn't realize that Tech was founded in 1872.
We need to improve school spirit before our new students even start class. One thing most SEC schools get right is a sort of indoctrination of students that starts at orientation. I know tons of people who went to Auburn and Bama. They learn a lot more about their universities before they even start college (not including the fact that most of them had parents who went there and taught them) than I ever officially got from Virginia Tech. If we get them excited about the magnificent history of our institution, they'll want to attend games, they'll look back on the four (five or six) years they spend in Blacksburg as some of the best of their lives, and they'll open up those checkbooks.
As for Hokie Club, I joined last year and got the end of year donation information. Hokie Club has around 10,000 members. That is roughly two graduating classes and is pathetic for a school of this size. Obviously, that doesn't account for multiple members (my husband and I have one donation account), but still can really be increased.
As someone currently involved with new student programs, we are shifting to a heavier emphasis on Tech traditions and the like so hopefully that fixes that part of the problem!
I think we had this discussion in a previous forum/blog post. When I entered Tech in 2001, they definitely did this during orientation. Based on what you and others have said, it must have gotten lost somewhere down the line. Yes, it should come back. Quickly.
I remember it happening in 2008.
yeah my wife went through it in 98 and I remember her being super excited we she got back. if I'm not mistaken she got a cup and some stickers and stuff like that. little things like that go a long way.
Lol .. Good Lanier story.
Question - can someone explain the relationship local alumni chapters have with hokie club/the university in general (from a fundraising standpoint)?
I am the Chapter President for the Central PAChapter of the VT Alumni Association and a Hokie Club Rep. The Alumni Association will not allow me to send out information to the alumni in our geographic area about the Hokie Club. The Alumni Association in Blacksburg keeps the email addresses of all of the alumni in the area - so most communication that I send out has to go through Blacksburg. We have Facebook and a constant contact account that I can push information through, but the reach is not nearly the 1,100 alumni living in Central PA.
It seems as though the Hokie Club hasn't evolved with the times and expects primary consideration over other fundraising efforts. One would think the Hokie Club would have the desire and ability to acquire info about alums from the university. It really seems the effort isn't there, though. All indications to me are that the Hokie Club's attitude is - 'you have to come through us for season tickets' and their vision and effort extends no further. It will be really nice to see that change.
I agree completely.
Just as it was mentioned about educating students about Virginia Tech upon arrival, there needs to be an education to students about the Alumni Association, Hokie Club, Contuing Education, and VT Outreach programs, along with several other things, to plant the seed in recent graduates minds that these things are available to them. If the Hokie Club can change their tone and culture of "this is the only way to the lights," then I think we'll see growth in all alumni engagement opportunities.
There are a lot... and I mean a LOT of minor problems that have culminated into one major problem when it comes to alumni giving at Virginia Tech.
In my opinion, the whole issue we have right now stems from the fact we have separate groups that run independent of each other that are charged with fundraising for Virginia Tech, but neither has adequately communicated out that they do, in fact, run separate. We have the Alumni Association that is in charge of academic fundraising and we have the Hokie Club that is in charge of the athletic fundraising. Neither works with each other, nor do the established members within each group in Blacksburg WANT to work with each other. (a situation that has developed because historically, the Hokie Club has never been interested in finding a mutual balance that is right for both sides. They want all the money all the time, to hell with academics.) This has caused a major, major rift in the groups. What you have now, at least for my area, and I have spoken with many in the Athletic Dept who agree this is an issue across the board, is that the Alumni Association is filled with an active young alumni base, and the Hokie Club is primarily the Old Guard that hosts 1 or 2 events a year and makes no real effort to grow. This HAS to change. What makes it even more muddled is that the Alumni Associations tend to have the far greater attended football game watching parties, and are also charged with hosting a Virginia Tech tailgate for every away game in their region (which they have to do if they want to retain their Outstanding Chapter statuses). This has led to a confusion where many new alumni associate Virginia Tech athletics with the Alumni Association and not necessarily the Hokie Club, an issue that is compounded by a lazy Hokie Club staff and membership which barely does the minimum to get the word out that they're even there. For our area, the laziness had gotten so bad the Hokie Club leaders in the area didn't even both to call anyone, they would just spam the area's Alumni Association email listserv (which has since been shut down) with event invites, which, at least for the most recent event, didn't even get to the group until the day after the event itself.
I have personally spoken with Whit about this. He wants the Alumni Association and the Hokie Club to work together more often. He wants the two to not necessarily be competitors with each other, and wants the two to have events where they do truly work together. Unfortunately, asking for that to happen and actually having that happen are two different things. There's too much distrust of the Hokie Club, where we have tried to work together in the past, but the HC essentially demanding a 75-100% cut of the pie for events that the Alumni Association planned and advertised for.
If you ask me, the way to go with this is to absorb the Hokie Club, at least at a regional basis, within the respective local Alumni Association chapter. The AA keeps most of the proceeds from events to fund Virginia Tech itself as well as the local Academic Scholarship, as membership to the AA is free for life, and the HC is granted access to this young, active alumni base that is already socially active. That way, suddenly, all these athletic events, like the football game watching gatherings and the away game tailgates can be sponsored or presented by the Hokie Club, they're able to get their names out there a lot better than they are now, and they'll be associated with the younger crowd to promote athletic giving from the minute you graduate from Tech. I really do think, when you dig down deep, the fact that the VTAA and the HC are run separately and almost in competition of each other is the main reason we're seeing the HC struggle as badly as it is right now.
I agree with almost every one of your points. Up until I joined this year, I had never been contacted by the Hokie Club and I am now 15 years removed from graduation. I have however had regular contact and information from the Alumni Association for that entire time. There is definitely a perception issue on who is the school appointed "representative" organization for the Athletic Department. As you mentioned, over the last ten years I have probably been to a dozen game watching parties sponsored by the Alumni Association. Not a peep from the Hokie Club at those events. Finding a way to merge these organizations and as part of the fundraising efforts, add the athletic department as a fundraising option when contacting the Alumni Association membership would probably go a long way towards getting additional donations for capital projects that support the athletic department.
Having the ability to donate $250 to Tech and decide that I want half to go to the Corps and half to the Athletic Department would probably suffice for me, but the suggestion of making your donation tied to a tangible improvement is definitely a great idea. Make it available in a web format, kind of like an Amazon for Hokie Improvements. Be able to sort by closest to goal, highest goal, lowest goal, highest school priority and other categories of information would be great. Identify potential fundraising short falls by making them change colors if they aren't fully funded by a certain date so people can easily see the items that are potentially at risk. Example would be Buying Bats for the Softball program, its January, practices start in February, and its only reached the 70% funded mark, it changes to red as an at risk goal.
One last thing I think that would be great is recognizing the entirety of a person's donation by keeping track of each person's total contribution year by year. You may only give $250 a year, but after 10 years of that, you have given $2500. Allowing people to see that the entirety of their contribution is appreciated helps to extend peoples contributions year on year. Have Lifetime Categories of contribution, along with the Annual ones. Use gemstones as the qualifiers for that. Say someone gave $10,000 so far, that gets them Emerald status, $15,000 is Ruby, $25,000 is Diamond. Just have a way of differentiating the one year gift from the overall lifetime gifts.
Yes. Show me how we're spending the money.
I get that the university probably can't go with the idea of allowing all the donated funds to be directed to specific
initiatives, though. Maybe it is possible, I don't know. But if at least if they could say, "75% of the donation will go to your intended target while 25% will go towards the general fund/engineering school/[insert high priority initiative here]," then I think I'd be pretty happy.
I do like the delineation of the funds because you are right, they wouldn't be able to complete guarantee it all goes to each goal.
I'd definitely give to a HokieStarter (or HokieGogo, or HokieTilt). In fact, I think one of the CrowdTilt founders is a VT grad.
Of course it'd have to come with a disclaimer about x% being allocated to general funds, but I'm sure that wouldn't make it any less compelling.
I thought that HC already had cumulative giving levels?
If they do, I am unaware of it, which is part of this entire general problem as a whole. Its entirely possible that they do but I haven't seen anything about it.
Yep, you become benefactors, but the levels at which you have to give are quite steep.
http://www.hokieclub.com/annual-giving.php
Yeah, I am in favor of establishing some lower levels in that program seeing the levels it currently has. Most people wouldn't be able to hit those numbers until they leave this life. I get that becoming a benefactor should be a big deal, but if the annual contribution for Orange and Maroon HC Membership is $100 than recognizing someone that has been an O&M at $100 for 25 years with some kind of status would make sense to me. Maybe take a zero off each monetary level there and make those the metal/gem donators, and then take the levels above that and make them associated with a Pylon. $10 mil would be an Ut Prosim Benefactor, etc.
if i had to guess, the Hokie Club is going to undergo a major facelift over the next few years. i wouldn't be shocked to see elements of what you shared as well as others in this thread all become reality. i'm a former donor for many of the reasons mentioned throughout this conversation, but i'm guessing changes will be made to lure people like me back as well as getting those who have never donated on board.
while we're all tossing around ideas, i would like to add that accepting monthly Credit Card payments would be a start. those of us with points programs get points on the donation, and while VT would have to cough up the precessing fee, 95% of something is better than 100% of nothing all day, every day.
They do accept monthly donations, but I think from a checking/savings account only, not credit cards.
Maybe go to 'Legacy' levels that are below Benefactors, but represent Hokies that give for x number of years in a row.
Maybe something like this
Hokie Legacy - 10 - 14 years
Orange & Maroon Legacy - 15 - 19 years
Bronze Legacy - 20 - 24 years
Silver Legacy - 25 - 29 years
Golden Legacy - 30 - 39 years
Platinum Legacy - 40 - 49 years
Diamond Legacy - 50 years and up
Maybe not gems, but I propose: Hokie Stone Benefactor. $100/yr (or some reasonably attainable amount, maybe $250 as suggested above) for maybe 10 years and you can hit this distinction.
Our campus is built with Hokie Stone. Our campus is also built upon the combined efforts of "little people" - the hardworking students, professors, scientists, engineers, etc. that embody the blue-collar spirit that pervades both the academic halls and the athletic fields.
As others have said, well thought out post!
As to the disconnect, looking back as a soon to be grad (36 HOURS!) The model I would most like to see is a combined one. As others have said, it feels good to give to the programs, or departments that you were involved most with, or to know what your money is being spent on month to month in the AD. I say why not have the HC, if they are serious about being a full part of VT and supporting the larger mission of athletics within the university, recognize commitment to other donations.
So maybe you would get 1/2 points on monies donated to other recognized VT programs like the Corps, or the scholarship fund, or your college. It would promote people who dont currently give to the HC to start as they dont have to stop their other donations in order to get points, and would allow current donors to not lose out, have to choose, or feel unappreciated for attempting to support VT as a whole.
I loved your part re: Involvement, especially how it relates to me (fellow millennial) and how they should engage us such that $250 is treated as $25,000. I'd like to know that my contribution is important and that in this tough day and age, giving that much gets you some bells and whistles.
I think that if the Hokie Club offered a small monthly donation option ($10-$25 per month, for example), they might attract a bunch more millennials. I donated $100 to the HC a few months ago, but it would have been easier for me from a budgeting standpoint to pay $10/month than $100 upfront.
FWIW, the Hokie Club should thank TKP for my $100. While I will always be a die-hard Hokie, there are a bunch of topics that I wouldn't know about (or in some cases, wouldn't care about) if I didn't participate on this site (such as the planning/designing/building of new athletic buildings, issues with fundraising, a greater background into the athletic dept, etc.).
This is for sure an option. I'm not quite sure how to do it exactly (haven't been on the website myself yet), but you can do monthly or quarterly payment options.
As for TKP's involvement, I'm with you 100%. I'm a 5th-year senior, and I didn't even know what the HC was until about a year and a half ago. Even now, when I talk to friends who are Juniors and Seniors and ask them if they know what the Hokie Club is, the vast majority of the responses are, "you mean the sandwich?" I'm personally hoping to nudge some people in the Hokie Club towards monitoring/participating in the TKP community, because I think it's a great representation of the fan base and could be an awesome resource for reaching a good chunk of their target audience: everyday people who are passionate about VT athletics and want to do their small part to see the Hokies succeed.
If joining the Hokie Club meant they would give me a Hokie Club (sandwich) Id be a member. Thats a damn good sandwich
I'm going to fight tooth and nail to have Hokie Clubs served at all Hokie Club events.
.... Aaaaaand now I'm hungry.
Just as an FYI, there is a way to give a monthly amount as opposed to a lump sum up front. It's called Hokie Matic. You can read about it here under the "Outright Gifts" section. It drafts out of your bank account each month the way you suggested. At the end of the year, the total amount you gave throughout the year counts towards your level in the Hokie Club. For example, if you give $50 a month for 12 months, that is a total annual donation of $600 which is good for Bronze status. I encourage you to check it out. When I realized this was an option a few years ago it allowed me to up the amount I donate because it became more affordable!
Whats really striking me is that there have been so many "wouldn't it be great if they _____" ideas brought up in this thread only to see a follow up showing that the Hokie Club actually does do these things. Kinda shows just how poorly the members of that organization has done in their job of communicating the different ways to give and the benefits you can get from doing so.
That organization needs an overhaul personnel-wise.
I've been preaching that for years now. I think the 'Hokie family' concept has often been an excuse to ignore the business aspects of VT athletics.
Leg up for that. I thought about that when I read the above post. They've had that option for several years, but like many other facets of Hokie Clubdom, it has remained relatively 'quiet'. It's an ideal way for those who haven't joined the Hokie Club to do so. $20/month is easy to manage, while some balk at the thought of$250 once a year.
This is exactly how I contibute. I automatically pay $20.83 each month to cover my $250 annual gift. When you join, you just have to fill out a "Hokiematic" Form to authorize the payments. That form can be found here. http://www.hokieclub.com/forms.php.
Thanks to all of you for showing how to do the automatic monthly payments!
Here's a question I have. Right now I give a one time yearly payment so I can get the benefits immediately. This is assuming they base your annual giving on the calendar year. If I changed it so that I gave a monthly payment of say $25/month, would I not be a hokie club member until the 4th payment in April of each year?
It's always been my understanding that the year is based off the previous year's donations. So for example, if as of December 31, 2013 you'd given a total of $500 over the course of 2013 (whether it be in equal monthly payments or a lump sum), you're considered to be a Bronze Hokie for 2014 and are eligible to buy season tickets for the 2014 football season. Each year, usually a few months into the year, I get a new sticker or what have you from the Hokie Club, key tags, etc. Make sense?
I'm can follow up on this to confirm but this is the way it has worked for me the past few years that I've used the Hokie Matic method as opposed to a lump sum. I had similar questions so I followed up with the HC office before I started it.
That's what I assumed and hoped. Thanks for the reply.
"...we are very driven and have large aspirations. We are never content with the status quo and we will never settle..."
Have to disagree with this opinion. It seems that they are increasingly less driven and are more willing to let government take care of them and run their lives... and consequently a large part of the increasing debt and diminishing income trends.
No moreso than in past generations.
It just seems that way because of the environment we're currently in. There aren't enough jobs to go around. The recession has caused the baby boomer generation to remain employed longer, which has drastically cut back on the jobs available to the younger generation. There's also less movement up the corporate ladders right now due to the fact this baby boomer generation is still around, preventing younger employees from moving up. This is causing salaries to stagnate, and has led to a culture of accepting what you're given, because there really isn't much of another chance right now.
Nothing worse than graduating and within a couple years being the victim of a round of layoffs and unable to find work. Happened to me in 2010. Took me a year and a half to find work, and I am not going to lie, I got lucky in doing so. Many of my friends in similar situations were unable to find anything, and either went at it on their own in a failed small business venture, or ended up having to settle for a job they were overqualified for.
Where you might call this gov't dependent (which, is a direct result from the above explanation) they are anything but lazy. Thats horse crap. Thats the same bullshit that adults were spouting off in the 70s about their pot smokin rock music listening children, and that generation turned out just fine.
The older people working longer is partially because they didn't save enough for retirement expecting to live off social security. Let the lesson to you be start investing earlier so if you want to retire at 60 you can.
Well yes... A large portion of the Baby Boomer generation spent over their means for long enough it crashed the economy. These were the ones who did not adequately save for retirement, and the issues only compounded with the recession. The ones who did save were also blindsided, and many lost most of their retirement savings before they could act. These were the people who had investment advisers who were supposed to be looking out for them, but didn't. The economy burst, and their retirement savings vaporized. There were a lucky few, who had an intimate knowledge of how the markets worked, who knew to yank their money out the minute things turned south, but for most, they had no clue til it was too late. This practically caused an across-the-board delaying of retirement for the baby boomer generation. Those that should have retired are still employed 7 years later. Those that did retire have since had to go back to work to recoup some of the retirement savings that they lost in the markets. The end result is that the more experienced employees are getting jobs while new grads are left out to dry. Its near impossible to find a job nowadays without prior experience in your field, because there's too large a market for those with experience applying for even entry level jobs, and its been this way for at least 5 years now. Thats 5 years of new grads that are finding it more and more difficult to get jobs, and the ones who do have jobs, are getting burnt out as the hopes of raises and promotions are non-existent.
This will correct itself soon enough, and when it does, there almost won't be enough people to fill the jobs opening up, but for the time being, its ROUGH.
Well yes... A large portion of the Baby Boomer generation spent over their means for long enough it crashed the economy
That's not really the reason the economy crashed.
These were the ones who did not adequately save for retirement, and the issues only compounded with the recession.
I would agree that our parents generation (I'm assuming you're a 2007 alum as well) didn't prepare themselves adequately for retirement. Employers were axing pensions (unless you had a state or fed govt job) and 401ks didnt really exist yet. The internet wasn't around to make investing easy. It was a lot harder for the common man to buy stocks and save for the future. My parent's retirement plan is the money they will make off selling the home I was raised in/moving to a lower COL area, Social Security, and some low rate CDs.
The ones who did save were also blindsided, and many lost most of their retirement savings before they could act.
Unless the bbs panicked and sold all their savings at the bottom of the market, they should be way ahead by now. I'm hoping only a small minority listened to those buy gold ads in 2010. You would have made a $#!+ ton of money if you just dollar cost averaged your investing the last 10 yrs.
This practically caused an across-the-board delaying of retirement for the baby boomer generation. Those that should have retired are still employed 7 years later.
I'm finding that many in that generation simply don't want to retire. Esp if they are in an upper management role in a good company and they really only need to put in the 40 hrs of week to make that good salary. They still have plenty of time to see the grandkids and go out on the boat on the weekends :-)
Well, yeah, it kinda is. At least not directly, but the main cause is just one of the outcomes of the out of control spending that generation got used to. The economy crashed because the subprime mortgage market popped. People who couldn't afford to pay their mortgages (who KNEW they would never be able to pay them off before they got them) had the banks come calling for their money, and they couldn't pay. This caused the banks to go haywire, the markets to plummet, and the recession we know of today. This stems from the culture of spending without saving and spending beyond your means that I was referencing earlier.
As for making that money back up. Its not quite how it works. If you see losses of 60% and then a gain of 80%, you're not exactly better off than you were before. I saw it with the money my family had invested. Just last year we finally broke even on the losses we incurred in the span of a couple months back in 2008. The market may be a lot higher overall, but thats because of new money being pumped in, not necessarily a show of how much your investments have grown. Remember, if you lose 50% and then gain 50%, its still a net loss of 25%.
True - a lot of it is tied to bad lending practices.
As far as retirement savings,
Unless your money was very heavily invested in financial sector stocks, you should be alright.
Worst case scenario - you invested a lump sum of 200K into a Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF in May 2007.
Assuming you had regular deposits of 500 dollars per month from the opening of that account until today (like you would in a 401K), you would have 365K in that account right now.
The problem is most people sold or stopped investing all together during the last 6 years.
Basically singing this the whole time:
Really? Who are you observing? Just based on me and my friends from high school, college, and those I've met since graduating (most of whom are employed, mostly consultants, engineers, accountants, a small handful in the military), we are all extremely driven and will not take no for answer. All of us routinely work long hours when necessary in hopes of being in a high position 10-20 years down the road.
I realize that a lot of us come from fortunate backgrounds and had help, encouragement and role models along the way, but when I think of my generation, this is what I think of. We're all too impatient to wait for the government to get stuff done; we'd rather do it ourselves.
Getting the US economy healthy and growing again would have a dramatic impact on the discretionary funds of potential donors. Unfortunately, that may not happen until 2017 when hopefully some competency returns to the White House. Our economy essentially shrunk in Q1 2014, and the millennials face the brunt of that. We are facing a "lost decade" similar to Japan, because of these keynesian fools in charge.
Downvoted for politics
Cut him a break; he's from DC, they don't have anything else to talk about on the hill [/sarcasm]
The Wizards are playing good ball. That's something new, right?
Depends on which game you watch.
Point made.
Economics are now politics? Interesting. So, let me try again. The economy and it's recovery are a joke, and until there are people in charge with a different take on how economics work, we'll continue to be stuck in this malaise and donations will continue to suffer. Millennials have lost tens, if not hundreds of thousands of earning potential because of this extended recession, and that will hurt Virginia Tech, who has a less established, filthy rich, alumni base.
Sure sounds like very political economics... again, read the community guidelines and please refrain from posting these sort of things.
Ah yes, the old 'Millennials won't donate because of Obama' approach, classic.
What does this even mean? Millennials will have trouble donating because of lost earning potential. It's a fact, which I assume you ignore, because apparently you still support Obama.
Whether someone does or does not support Obama should never be discussed on this site.
A) I was pointing out the absurdity of saying nothing will get better until 2017 by making a joke, along the vein of a 'Thanks Obama'. Even if he/she has a great economic policy, it's not like the next president will magically wave their hand and everything will be fixed.
B) I support the United States of America. I will always support the current president, regardless of party and economic policy because he was democratically elected. As is usual with most people, I agree with certain positions of each politician, while disliking others. And as buggzy posted down a few, politics is best discussed over a beer in person, not making charged statements over the internet.
Unfortunately, it's not absurd to say nothing will get better until we have new leadership. There's not a single shred of evidence that the economy will start growing again any time soon. There's quite a good chance it actually shrinks once the NYSE crashes at some point this year and the ACA finally kicks in fully on employers this fall.
"There's not a single shred of evidence that the economy will start growing again any time soon" gave me flashbacks to "There's not a single shred of evidence that James Johnson can bring our basketball team to success" debates a few months ago.
I have been a Hokie Club Member For many years . Dating back to the 70's when I first gave Donations to VT and very few years that I didn't . I'm Not a VT Graduate but Love VT and live in the NRV . My donation is in the $500 + range and has been for the last ten years . The reason I state all of this info is Because I think all VT Grads should Know about the Hokie Club and try and join and better Your College . I think the best source of Revenue is the Alumni and the Future of VT...Go Hokies
From The Key Play's community guidelines:
EDIT: darn, meant to respond to the above post. Sorry folks
flashbacks to the ole TSL "take it to the UWS"...
i appreciate both TSL and TKP's stance on political discussion. i love to talk politics over a beer, in person, but internet forums are no place for it IMO.
What do you mean the internet is no place for that? Everyone here is 6'4", a master of every martial art, and holds a PhD.
Not true at all. Willie Nelson still kicks my butt in GongKwon Yusul. For now, at least.
I didn't realize everyone here was shorter than Bucky and I.
I'm a Nigerian prince with some land I'd like to sell you
Now you know why I can't retire.
Damn kids with their porno and their cordless tellys...and their lazy pornos.
Great post, actually logged into comment. There were a lot of points that struck home to me and my post-grad life. I think the biggest thing there for me is the lack of transparency. Given that I don't have much money since I'm still working off my student loans and saving for a house (trying to buy one before the rates hike up!), I have no motivation whatsoever to throw my donation into a money pit. I'd feel a lot better knowing where my donation goes.
Also I'm a bit of an generational outlier, I login to facebook once a week if even, and don't have a twitter or ever plan to.
Don't sweat the mortgage rates, they won't go up substantively for years. The national housing market will be viewed as unimpressive for quite a while. This is not a political thing, it is a socioeconomic thing with lots of reasons. What you should instead be concerned about is covering closing costs, etc. As for Facebook? It keeps you updated on family,HS & college friends. Twitter? Use it for informational purposes. Follow VT people - Whit, the coaches, Bill Roth, etc. It doesn't matter if you post, it just gives you info that never makes it into the newspaper websites or even (sometimes) message boards.
"increasingly narcissistic and wealth-driven" Thats me!
gen x forever
i'm a man without a generation...born in 1979 but raised in a poorer household/community...i've got one foot with you GenXers and one with the Millenials...i'd like to think i only adopted the redeeming qualities of both groups. :)
Huge amounts of debt are really the biggest obstacle to any outreach. When you're graduating with a larger proportion of debt and have faced rapidly increasing tuition costs, only to face a shitty job market, then you're generally not happy to have the school come back to you months later asking for more money.
I agree the biggest thing the school could do would be to cultivate relationships now with poor recent graduates, to make sure people aren't completely lost. Small programs, meetups, and outreach targeted to recent grads would be great to see, instead of just feeling like high dollar donors are the only ones the school cares about. Anything you can do to get recent grads together or back on campus without making them feel like they have to donate thousands to do so.
I also think a Kickstarter-esque program of showing you where your money is going and giving alums targeted, smaller goals to donate for would go a long way. I used to work for the VT calling center, and randomly calling people saying "hey, we're building a giant new convention center and your $50 could go a long way" doesn't work. But if I could give $50 and see a tangible effect on some smaller initiative, then I'd be far more likely to give. Of course that would require some nice web development and concerted effort to put together.
Part of the fallacy, though, is maintaining realistic expectation of ROI when you are a lower rung Hokie Club member. When the reasoning of - 'We're poor recent graduates who don't have much money to donate' is used, then a quick answer of - 'Then perhaps you should budget for necessities and not attend games if you're THAT stretched financially'. On the other side, when one donates $250 annually, but expects to be treated similarly to those donating $2500 annually, they're being unrealistic. If $250 gets you certain cool perks, what do you think the $2500 guy is going to expect? Then Whit has to deal with diminishing returns on donations. It will be a delicate balancing act - attracting new donors in the lower levels, while getting those donors to maintain REALISTIC expectations. I am glad Whit is our guy, but I don't envy his task.
I don't think it's expecting a ROI or proper budgeting, it's more making people feel like their $50 a year makes a difference and get them in the habit of donating. Convince someone to donate $50 now and it's far more likely they'll donate $250 years from now and $2500 decades from now. Even if you're too poor to donate and reach the highest Hokie Club levels, it's still good to get people to chip in a little and get some basic benefit from being a Hokie Club member. Combine that with lower dollar initiatives that can be funded by lots of smaller donations instead of million dollar initiatives that require named benefactors donating hundreds of thousands, and you can get people interested in the Hokie Club and donating even if they don't have the means to put in a ton of money.
And I'm not saying that low dollar donors should expect the red carpet or one-on-one with Whit, but there should still be some outreach and perks to encourage people to donate while they're young. I'm a relatively older alum probably outside of the range discussed here, but I'd have no problem with programs targeted at less than 5 or 10 year grad Hokie Club members, regardless of donation total. Young Hokie meetups, social media outreach, etc.
We all agree that no one thinks we should not recruit smaller dollar donors more effectively, just as we also need to recruit every level more effectively. Nobody is questioning that, not questioning the recruitment of recent alums. I'll say that it IS about budgeting for the potential donor. It IS about understanding realistic ROI. It's about moving from thinking you can't afford to give $250 annually to understanding you can give $21 monthly and achieve the same result. It's about knowing that you must set priorities to accomplish that. It's about being proud to put the O&M Hokie Club sticker on your car, and being eager to increase your donations so you can put a Bronze Hokie Club sticker on your next car. It's about helping the Hokie Club help you by telling them what's important. This thread is a nice step forward.
What do you have to do and how difficult is it to set up a local alumni association/chapter? I live in Des Moines, and I know there is a local VT chapter in Iowa City (where Univ of Iowa is located) but that is a good 1hr 45 mins away. I have come across several tech alumni since moving here in '11, and the former Iowa governor (and his wife) are grads - Chet Culver.
VTAA Website: How to start an alumni chapter
That should be able to help you out. Email me at beardface07@gmail.com if you have any questions
Ok, thanks. I reached out to the alumni association via email (the one in the link you provided) and they never responded to me. I will try again. Thanks for the link.
And as I said, if you want, email me and we can talk. I am in direct communication with the people you need to speak with in Blacksburg often, so I can forward your information over to them and get the conversation started if you aren't getting anywhere on your own.
Ok, thanks. I will contact them again and if I don't hear anything in a week or two I will follow up with you via email. I didn't realize you were connected!
Are you Dr. Beardface from Scrubs?
ITS BEARDFASAY, DAMMIT!
Guess who got a call from the Hokie Club with morning? This chick. And I'm not
alumni either. Props to Whit for getting work done!
Personally, I think the economy is still a major issue. If I didn't have a mortgage that is so underwater I need SCUBA gear to sleep, I'd have a lot more disposable income to give to the Hokie Club.