Selling naming rights is one of the oldest ways of generating revenue in athletics. Watch nearly any game on television and everything from the team lineups to the stadiums to the instant replays have a sponsor attached, attempting to build brand recognition throughout millions of homes. One wonders, seeing the spectacle of sponsorship nowadays, where the saturation point is for these enterprises.
University athletic departments are hungry creatures, and finding a way to continually bear the financial burden has led to the sponsorship madness one sees today. Aside from selling naming rights to corporate sponsors, though, athletic departments also have the opportunity to appeal to alumni boosters in a similar fashion. While the motivation is different for an individual donor as opposed to, say, Papa John’s or All State, the chance to put one’s name on something meaningful is a major opportunity for universities to entice gifts. In fact, by appealing to individual alums who could rarely expect to have a stadium branded in their name, universities can offer much smaller but more voluminous items, allowing for virtually no limit to the opportunities to give (and receive).
Two schools in particular made news with their name-related fundraising this past week. Villanova University received a $1 million pledge from Howie and Diane Long. In honor of this generosity, Villanova football’s defensive player of the year award as well as a new weight room will now be named after hall of fame football player Howie Long, who is an alumnus of the university. The University of Pittsburgh also made headlines recently with a new crowd-sourced fundraiser aimed at alumni boosters. By donating at GoFundMe.com, Pitt supporters can have a part in dedicating a locker in the school’s new football facility. While the actual name associated with the locker will be a more general “Proud Pitt Alumni,” enthusiasm for the project remains high, with nearly half the goal being reached in the first seventeen days.
Not everyone who wants a stake in their alma mater can pledge millions or even thousands of dollars, and this creative use of internet crowdfunding allows even the smallest donors to feel connected to a physical part of their university. This will surely appeal to young alumni, who perhaps can’t give as much as their more established elders; instead, by pooling the donations of many towards a common but concrete goal offered by a university, those donors who might not have felt they were making a contribution have a tangible item to signify their support.
However, this doesn’t happen without the savvy of a university recognizing that naming rights are an invaluable resource to entice donors not just in the upper financial echelons, but of all levels. By offering lower-tier or crowdfunded opportunities for alumni to make a personalized mark on a university’s campus or particular sports program, schools have the chance to grab young alums whose resources are especially scarce and build a relationship for future giving. While there are only so many lockers and awards that can bear the names of committed alumni, for the time being the opportunities for universities at smaller levels of giving far outstrip the big-ticket items and allow for the personal connection between an institution and those who are a part of it.
Feature image via Gofundme.com
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