For the first time in several years, I am truly excited about the direction the program is going in. So last night I went to the Hokie Club website and donated enough to be a Bronze Hokie next year. (Though this was easier to manage now that I am done with grad school.) But it got me wondering, any other TKPers join up this year or increase their giving level? Know any non-TKPers who did? I would be very curious to see next year if the coaching change stopped the falling Hokie Club membership numbers.
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I increased it - yesterday as a matter of fact.
I'm planning on joining sometime next year now that I've graduated and got a job.
I joined the day after the Fuente hire.
I joined to show my approval of the hires recently, but I also hope it helps with season tickets years from now if I explore that option. Can anyone share how it helps, and if it does, do I need to toggle anything in my account today to help me later on down the road?
Ha I think I did too, but I think I got lured in more by Whit's handling of Beamer's exit, just the humility of that entire leadership, including Bud and Fuente, I thought was outstanding, and honestly I had been planning on joining for a few years, but never pulled the trigger
Im actually trying to get more involved does anyone know the volunteer contact?
Hokie Club membership gives you priority for purchasing season tickets. Basically you get first dibs over a non-member when it comes time to order tickets for a particular season. Within the Hokie Club the priority or selection order comes from priority points. Most of your points comes from your giving level (O&M, Bronze, Golden, etc) and then from your length of continuously donating. Sometimes other things earn you extra priority points, like continuously buying tickets, buying tickets to sports other than football and that kind of thing.
Your 2015 donations set your priority ranking for 2016 season tickets.
I joined it as well.
Increased giving one level. Since Whit has come Hokie Club numbers have actually increased each year. With Fuente coming onboard I think the growth will be even bigger, the struggle will be to keep those numbers up.
I didn't know that Whit was able to reverse that trend but that is good. I tried searching Google last night but I couldn't find anything that said anything but the numbers were dropping.
I increased.
I increased my level for 2015 from Hokie to Bronze, mainly because I moved from PA to DC, so I'm a little closer to make it to Blacksburg for games. It was too tough to drive 6 hours per weekend, but 4 is doable.
I renewed this year, I will probably maintain my current giving as I have upped my giving to the College of Engineering and some other charities I annually support. I did buy a bunch of tickets to Bristol and some other away games that will bump me up the ladder.
EDIT: Anyone thinking of joining the Hokie Club and know someone already in, there is a point reward for referrals, you could help them out by having them refer you to the Club. This also moves them higher than you up the ladder, so choose wisely
I just joined this morning. Started at the base Hokie level for this year, but the direction of the FB program and leadership of the Athletic Department and Whit motivated me to get involved in some way. Next year I'd like to try to move up to at least one level.
That's the way to do it.
For people still on the fence, don't look at the Hokie Club as a way to just buy tickets. The Hokie Club provides scholarship money for the school, for EVERY sport that needs scholarship players. If money has to be pulled out of revenues to cover increased scholarship money that means less to pay coaches, less to hire other in house staff and that will mean less competitive sports teams. View this as a way to support the school. Even 100 dollars helps. Let's get the Hokie Club over 20,000 members for the first time ever.
this x100
Is it over 10k yet?
It was over end of last year.
With the total number of Hokie alums out there we should reach 20,000 Hokie Club members in a few years. If Buzz Williams and Fuente can come anywhere close to what Dresser has done with our wrestling program, the Hokie Club could reach 25,000 in a few more years.
The reason you mentioned for fans to consider joining is dead on. Support all VT sports, which helps the non-revenue sports and the marquee sports. If you start young and slowly increase your giving over the years you will reap the rewards when our football and basketball teams are playing for a national championship in the not too distant future :>}
I joined around June this year. I've enjoyed receiving the HokieSports magazine periodically.
i rejoined after a 5 year hiatus...gave enough to "buy back" the missing years so i could keep my consecutive giving back to when i first joined. Hokie Club rep was very helpful and the process couldn't have been easier. Excited for the future and glad to be back on board!
I've been thinking about it. Need my business to stabilize before I consider memberships.
I increased one level this year. I'm going to try to pick new seats for next season, as the ones I had this year were not so great. The location was good, but the people around me not so much. Or the lack of people really. There were usually empty seats and the people that were there were different for every game, and often fans of the other team. I'm cool with the other team having fans, I just don't want them near me.
Probably people who bought season tickets for the Ohio State game and sold off the rest. My guess is they won't be in those seats again next year.
For current students don't forget the student Hokie Club and for recent graduates there is a special recent graduate donation amount.
I started giving again after stopping after '11 season
I was already a member, but unfortunately we'll be moving far enough away this summer that I doubt I'll get to many games next year.
Naturally, I upped my donation and plan to buy my season tickets next year anyway. Go Hokies!
Wait I can't look for your jeep as I pass through Greensboro next season?
Doubtful. Heading back to PA, in all likelyhood.
You may see it around MB this Easter weekend, though.
I'd forgotten about this thread, but in the end I decided that I'll be going to the games this year except for a couple that I have other commitments during. Should make 4 or so by driving down the ~7 hours on Friday night and getting a room in Roanoke through Sunday (obviously longer stay for the Thursday nighter).
I joined this year, but no one event caused me to do it. It was something I had been meaning to do for a while, and I finally pulled the trigger.
Just did! Very small amount but should be able to increase a lot next year
Hey, if every Hokie alum who is a fan gave even a small amount, it would make a HUGE difference. Kudos to all who give even the minimum. And you have the right attitude - try to increase your level of giving when you can and at some point it may be more than a small amount.
I increased from Golden to Platinum. It wasn't tied to the coaching hire entirely, but that was one of the factors for me to bump a level this year rather than next year. Moreso though, I have been trying to increase my donations over time as I've gotten raises at work so that I can increase my support of the athletic department. (I graduated in December 2002, started at O&M level in 2003, and I have been bumping up one level every 3 years or so.) Realistically, this is probably my ceiling though, unless I hit the lottery or something. Theoretically when I hit 50 I'll be at the benefactor level, but that's a long way off and who knows what life will bring.
Trust me, 50 will be nipping at your heels before you know it. The longer you live, time seems to speed up at an exponential rate. You're already ahead of most givers at the Platinum level, so that is not a bad ceiling at all.
I always feel so blessed that time seems to have slowed down as I got out of my twenties and into my thirties. The last five years have felt like they lasted forever!
I joined around this time last year. Bumped my donation up to the next level after the Fuente hire - Whit has to pay for it somehow!
I watched Fuente's introductory press conference and Whit said then that Hokie Club donations don't go to pay for coaches salaries. He said it was his job to pay for that in other ways. He said that Hokie Club donations all go directly to supporting the student athletes. I don't know if that is 100% accurate but even if it is close it makes me feel better about giving money to the athletic programs.
Well, money is fungible so what he said is likely not strictly true. I think the point Whit was trying to make was that he had money on hand to pay for Fuente and staff and was not relying on a projection that he would be able to get that much money; a commitment to fiscal responsibility while also demonstrating that he'll spend money to make money.
Hokie Club money and Member numbers for 2015 compared to recent years.
Improvement, but not what you would hoped for after coaching change.
These numbers won't include people who paid in 2015 those people will be 2016 Hokie Club members.
Gotcha, thanks.
I was stunned when I saw we have less than 10k members. Feel like this is low.
It's low for a P5 university but Hokie Club has never really grown much about that ever.
My mailer from Oct 2015 shows 10,242 HC members
I rejoined this year after either having a "shared" membership with another Hokie or not being a member for a few years. The Whitt Babcock and Buzz hires were pushing me in that direction, and the Fuente and company hires made it a no-brainier to rejoin. I can't attend that many games now, so it was not about points, etc. Just wanted to do my small part to show support and say "YES!" to the recent direction of the athletic programs as a whole. I truly believe we have some great basketball and football coming in a few years. And it seems like the non-revenue sports are seeing an uptick already (e.g., wrestling and women's bball).
I am in the same boat, but I donate to help me have a chance at the away games near me. So I will be really pissed if I don't get Notre Dame tickets this year and Louisville, Michigan, and Wisconsin in the future.
ND is going to be a hard ticket to get. Every high giver is going to want those tickets.
Ya I would say that no one below golden level will be able to get tickets for this game.
I don't think the Battle at Bristol tickets will be counted in by the time ND tickets go on sale.
Definitely try and get out to the Louisville game. Fianc is an alum and former athlete there...city is absolutely amazing. We're actually getting married out there in December.
I have been a couple of times. Trip is always a blast right up until I leave 4th street. I didn't know a hangover could last more than one day
4th has actually calmed down a little bit...trying to make it a more "family friendly" atmosphere so they've moved a few of the rowdier bars upstairs and more just straight up restaurants on the street. Sully's has closed (or is closing) which blew my mind...never liked it but damn it stayed packed.
As a member only for the past 2 years, I go on hokieclub.com to make my contributions then get my status in the mail every year. My work schedule doesn't allow me to even think about buying season tickets because I'd have to miss over half. That being said, I am not aware of the exact spot where I can access/view my status and account. I tried searching around the site with no luck. Can someone help a brother out?
My understanding is hokie club website is rather dated so online viewing of current points / ranking is not possible. I heard some talk in the past year of a full revamp, but not sure of the timeline.
http://hokieclub.com/member-benefits/2015-16-members/
Your name should be on here.
Middle initial and all. I feel so old and stodgy.
Thanks, I was hoping that there was a portal where I could find a receipt for my donation for my taxes. CPA can't do CPA things = sadness.
Just email your Hokie Club contact. For some reason I didn't get my donation confirmation forms for 2015, but they were very quick to get them to me.
Do agree though... as my previous comment stated, an update to the Hokie Club website with some sort of portal is long overdue.
The website was just updated earlier in 2015, issues dealing with financial portions won't see an update until the entire university updates the system it uses.
Frank and Cheryl are merely Bronze Benefactors. Maybe someday he'll get off his butt and do something for this university and its sports programs.
Any past Hokie athletes on that list? I'm on mobile and scanned the top few tiers; didn't notice any.
Very few colleges have former athletes give money. It was discussed at length by some higher ups in the athletic dept a year or two ago.
Looking quickly I saw John Engleberger, Michae Vick, Frank Beamer, Whit Babcock, Pierson Prieleu and some Olympic sport athletes as well
Absofuckinglutely.
I want to support the University and give back to a school that gave me so much.
ecu
What about them?