Throughout the years I have often been asked, “What are the most important things that you do as an athletic director?” The last time I was asked that question, it hit me that it would be a great idea for search committees to ask experienced athletic directors that question before they go off on a tangent and make a decision regarding the leader of their program. Quite often the general public and the individuals not in the trenches see the external piece as most crucial but do not understand the importance of the internal piece. However, if the internal piece is not solid as a rock, then the external piece will eventually fall apart. I quite often hear presidents of universities and chairmen of athletic director search committees say that they want to hire a fundraiser. They need someone who can generate private gifts to help with the finances. What they don’t realize is that if the individual has a history of successful fundraising, they have been at a place that has been viewed as both effective and efficient. When I hear those comments from university presidents about hiring a proven fundraiser it always makes me cringe because the reality is, before you can raise money, you better have a solid infrastructure. Successful fundraisers will always come from situations where donors feel good about what is happening.
Before a new athletic director starts to raise gift dollars he/she better have some things in place.
1. They better have a staff that has the same commitment to work hard and understand the mission of the program as they have.
2. They better have policies and procedure in place that assure productivity and efficiency that do not hinder the department’s ability to be successful.
3. They better understand the hiring process and all the personnel management issues that are very real; everything from hiring to evaluating to firing to replacing.
4. They better be able to build an organization that is effective and fits into the culture of the department and can function within the controls that have been established by the University and the governing board.
5. They better be solid in the areas of compliance, finance, facility management, academic support, etc.
6. They better be able to create a vision and a strategy to implement the vision.
Remember people only want to be involved with organizations that are successful and viewed to be well run, organized and productive. If you do not have the six aforementioned areas solidly in place, potential donors and supporters will quickly realize the weaknesses of the department. Most importantly, university leadership needs to understand individuals and business entities will only invest their money in the form of gifts, ticket purchases, and/or corporate support if they feel that the fiscal management of a program is beyond reproach. Who would want to part with their own personal resources if they feel the place where they are investing, is wasting money, making bad decisions about the allocation of resources, or is extravagant in there spending? When presidents make the statement about fundraising I want to holler “No. Hire someone who can get the ship headed in the right direction and then people will jump on board.” Irrespective of how good a revenue generator is, if the internal piece fails, the program and the athletic department will falter and never reach the level of success that is possible.
As an athletic director, I think the 3 most important things that you do are:
1. Create the vision for organization, communicate that vision and get everyone to buy in.
2. Allocate resources based on the pre-established mission of the organization and within the structure of the strategic plan or vision.
3. Hire quality people and let them do their jobs.
We talk about these kind of situations all the time in the ETSU Doctoral program in Global Sport Leadership.
If you are looking for a key to your future as a college athletic director check out our Ed.D in Global Sport Leadership, here or contact Dr. Brian Johnston (johnstob@etsu.edu) for more information on ETSU.
About Dr. Richard Sander
Dr. Richard Sander, led Virginia Commonwealth’s athletic program for 20 years, and was introduced as ETSU’s Director of Intercollegiate Athletics in 2013. Prior to his time at VCU, Sander served as Assistant Athletic Director and was responsible for athletic fundraising at Memphis State University (now The University of Memphis). Sander earned a B.S. in Business Administration from the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga in 1968. He received a M.S. in Physical Education from Xavier University in 1974, and a Ph.D. in Education from the University of Cincinnati in 1980.
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