Dave Paulsen

[GSII]

TOC said that? What a f**k nut.

 

[GMUgemini]

"I don't want you to direct your donation. You have to trust I will spend it wisely even though the track record says otherwise. I don't like big donors."

Welcome back Tom O'Connor. How have you been?

I thought non-targeted athletic donations were Merten's fault? I seem to remember we had this problem with the last practice facility and it was Merten who nixed the idea of a targeted campaign.

 

[gmutd127]

I love the continued essays of why Brian doesn't donate anymore. Who cares

After seeing all of the recent posts, I'm right there with you. My guess is that with the large donation some type of demand was made.

I don't want the type of donor that requires input on how the program is run (unless, as someone mentioned earlier your donating enough to actually fund the entire project). I'd rather have the guys that know what they're doing run the program, as opposed to a guy like me on a message board, who has no clue.

I donate because I care about the program, not because I expect something in return. I wont stop because someone made a mistake in hiring or because they wont do what I think they should do when it comes to decisions running the program.

 

[gmubrian]

After seeing all of the recent posts, I'm right there with you. My guess is that with the large donation some type of demand was made.

I don't want the type of donor that requires input on how the program is run (unless, as someone mentioned earlier your donating enough to actually fund the entire project). I'd rather have the guys that know what they're doing run the program, as opposed to a guy like me on a message board, who has no clue.

I donate because I care about the program, not because I expect something in return. I wont stop because someone made a mistake in hiring or because they wont do what I think they should do when it comes to decisions running the program.

Yep, I was real demanding. I expected that they respond to my request for season tickets. I expected they would follow up on promises to schedule meetings. I guess I was too demanding.

 

[MasonFanatic]

If you want to donate to a specific facilities project like the basketball practice facility or the baseball stadium, you should contact Jennifer Montgomery, Director of Development, 703-993-3217 or jmontgo2@gmu.edu. Making personal contact is a good way to ensure your money goes to the right place, rather than trusting a computer with the entire transaction.

 

[Jack Strop]

Yep, I was real demanding. I expected that they respond to my request for season tickets. I expected they would follow up on promises to schedule meetings. I guess I was too demanding.

I buy my season ticket online via my account. Is there a secret concierge service that I am unaware of?
Were you trying to put together a special deal for lots of seats?

What meetings do you want and what is to be discussed? Why do you desire such "meetings"?

It sounds as if you were too demanding. You give donations to the program then go watch the games and support the team. I really don't know what you're looking for from the AD. It appears that you're seeking some sort of preferential treatment. Obviously, expectations are not being met. If so, then one solution is to modify your expectations.

 

[GSII]

Pretty sure that's what gmubrian was doing. Then they let Coach L get away, then they hired The Virus. People who give a shit load of money (six figures and above) can say a few words to the AD if they want to. They can also stop their donation if people within the AD arent doing their job. Imo, you have to treat your boosters right. Just like in a business, they are paying customers.

 

[gmubrian]

I buy my season ticket online via my account. Is there a secret concierge service that I am unaware of?
Were you trying to put together a special deal for lots of seats?

What meetings do you want and what is to be discussed? Why do you desire such "meetings"?

It sounds as if you were too demanding. You give donations to the program then go watch the games and support the team. I really don't know what you're looking for from the AD. It appears that you're seeking some sort of preferential treatment. Obviously, expectations are not being met. If so, then one solution is to modify your expectations.

Jack, I will respond to your accusations and I have highlighted key points to help you understand it this time around. I apologize to everyone else on here for the long winded reply, but I don't appreciate being accused of something I have not done.

I have never requested a meeting, I didn't want any meetings and I still don't want any meetings. After they did not follow-up on my inquiry about season tickets (which they have acknowledged dropping the ball on, so stop trying to make this out as if I was being too demanding) I went away quietly. I did not reach out to them. They had seen me at a game where I was a guest and spoke to my wife briefly. She responded to their question about why I wasn't coming to games regularly.After that, they requested I meet with them, I obliged. I discussed it with senior level personnel in the AD, at their request, not mine. After meeting with them I decided and informed them that I was no longer interested in donating and/or buying tickets at the current time because I wasn't convinced the athletic department was headed in the right direction. THEY proposed that I meet with BE to address my concerns. I said I'd be glad to hear BE out. The meeting never happened. After a couple months of waiting, I decided I was no longer interested in even discussing the topic with them. They didn't even follow up with me until more than six months later, coincidentally, after I posted something on here about the issues... My expectations used to be that if I reached out to the athletic department, or was told something was going to be scheduled, that it would be followed up on. Silly me for having such high expectations and being so demanding.

You should be relieved to know, as far as my relationship with Mason at this point, I have zero expectations. I couldn't possibly have lower expectations of Mason. I did not request season tickets this year. I have no plans to become a season ticket holder again or even purchase tickets to any Mason games, for that matter. I have no plans to make any significant donations now or in the future, and will likely stop even making the token donations I have made the last couple years. I had only made those to keep my Patriot Club priority points accruing, but, if I am not buying tickets, there is no need for that any longer.

Am I cynical or critical of AD activity (or a lack thereof) at this point? Yes, I am. It comes out of a love for the Men's basketball program and a desire to see it succeed even if I am no longer there in person. I have a concern that, while we have a great coach, that the athletic department may not be keeping up to support him and the basketball program as well as it could. I hope I am wrong. I hope BE and the rest of the AD raise a ton of money and build the basketball program a practice facility that is the class of the A10 and can afford to take charter flights to every away game, and any other improvement that may help the team be the best team in the A10.

Hopefully that clears it up. If you and ticket office guy stop accusing me of doing something I have not done, I'll stop posting about the season ticket debacle of 2015.

 

[Pablo]

http://sidearm.sites.s3.amazonaws.c...16/11/11/16_411_AllianceMag_final.pdf?id=5264:

PATRIOT CLUB DONORS AND DOLLARS:

FY16 Donors - 1,159

FY16 DONORS GIFTS AND PLEDGES - $1.26 MILLION

 

[Pablo]

Mason Basketball Retweeted
Tim Murray ‏@1TimMurray 2h2 hours ago
Just had a great, extended chat w/ @masonhoops HC @PaulsenDave... the turn around at Mason, going D3 to D1, & more:

https://twitter.com/1TimMurray/status/834054440122458112

 

[sleeperpick]

I am really not trying to sound like a total do&che right now but holy crap man calm down.
They screwed up on your season tickets..... they screwed up on my group of 5 season tickets too at first, but I worked with them and they fixed them (moved us back a row and over, but oh well we got over it). they even allowed an add on into the group after the first three games

I could be off base and this sounds completely ageist of me and I apologize before hand.. But there is no worse Mason fan than the moderately sized part of the 60-90 age group that wants Mason games to be silent as PVI church and wants every single penny of there's to be accounted for exactly what they want in the program. I would bet good money you fall into both categories just from the 5 pagers you right on an anonymous message board regarding your troubles. You want Mason to become this powerhouse basketball program, but you piss and moan so much to the point where you pull your donation. The donation being pulled inherently hurts the Mason basketball program which you love.
If you are one of those big donors not names Koch than yes, you should have more say and at least get treated better than the 22-25 year old range like me that donates $2000 or so to Mason basketball a year.

I am sorry the new AD and his staff have turned you off, but defending yourself and complaining on a message board does nothing. I urge you to give it one more shot especially contacting Jennifer Montgomery as she has been a huge help with any issue I have had since becoming a small donor two years ago once I graduated.

Jack, I will respond to your accusations and I have highlighted key points to help you understand it this time around. I apologize to everyone else on here for the long winded reply, but I don't appreciate being accused of something I have not done.

I have never requested a meeting, I didn't want any meetings and I still don't want any meetings. After they did not follow-up on my inquiry about season tickets (which they have acknowledged dropping the ball on, so stop trying to make this out as if I was being too demanding) I went away quietly. I did not reach out to them. They had seen me at a game where I was a guest and spoke to my wife briefly. She responded to their question about why I wasn't coming to games regularly.After that, they requested I meet with them, I obliged. I discussed it with senior level personnel in the AD, at their request, not mine. After meeting with them I decided and informed them that I was no longer interested in donating and/or buying tickets at the current time because I wasn't convinced the athletic department was headed in the right direction. THEY proposed that I meet with BE to address my concerns. I said I'd be glad to hear BE out. The meeting never happened. After a couple months of waiting, I decided I was no longer interested in even discussing the topic with them. They didn't even follow up with me until more than six months later, coincidentally, after I posted something on here about the issues... My expectations used to be that if I reached out to the athletic department, or was told something was going to be scheduled, that it would be followed up on. Silly me for having such high expectations and being so demanding.

You should be relieved to know, as far as my relationship with Mason at this point, I have zero expectations. I couldn't possibly have lower expectations of Mason. I did not request season tickets this year. I have no plans to become a season ticket holder again or even purchase tickets to any Mason games, for that matter. I have no plans to make any significant donations now or in the future, and will likely stop even making the token donations I have made the last couple years. I had only made those to keep my Patriot Club priority points accruing, but, if I am not buying tickets, there is no need for that any longer.

Am I cynical or critical of AD activity (or a lack thereof) at this point? Yes, I am. It comes out of a love for the Men's basketball program and a desire to see it succeed even if I am no longer there in person. I have a concern that, while we have a great coach, that the athletic department may not be keeping up to support him and the basketball program as well as it could. I hope I am wrong. I hope BE and the rest of the AD raise a ton of money and build the basketball program a practice facility that is the class of the A10 and can afford to take charter flights to every away game, and any other improvement that may help the team be the best team in the A10.

Hopefully that clears it up. If you and ticket office guy stop accusing me of doing something I have not done, I'll stop posting about the season ticket debacle of 2015.

 

[GSII]

sleeperdick,

gmubrian is just explaining what happened. And he is right. If you have a donor who stops coming around shouldn't you go all out to get him back? Especially if he donates MORE THAN KOCH does to the bball program? Maybe you are business savvy. If you are, I can't tell.

 

[Pablo]

sleeperdick,

gmubrian is just explaining what happened. And he is right. If you have a donor who stops coming around shouldn't you go all out to get him back?

Particularly, if you had just 1,159 donors last fiscal year. And, this evidently includes vcu fans who make a minimal contribution to the Patriot Club to be eligible to buy Mason's discounted conference tourney tickets.

 

[99 Patriot]

Since we're now reading about this for the umpteenth time I'll share my thoughts. The truth is none of us know the real story. Maybe the department dropped the ball and lost a great fan and loyal supporter or maybe Brian made a no-fly list for some sort of past behavior or incident. Who knows?

What gets to me is the timing of Brian bringing this up AGAIN. We've had 5 years of dark clouds and legitimate complaints, but you choose now when the ship is heading in the right direction to cast doubt on the future and throw cold water on a program on the rise. For what purpose? So we all know you were a victim of the athletic department's negligence? Great, I think we are all aware.

I hope whatever resolution you want to happen does, both for your personal benefit and for the benefit of these boards.

 

[GMUgemini]

Particularly, if you had just 1,159 donors last fiscal year. And, this evidently includes vcu fans who make a minimal contribution to the Patriot Club to be eligible to buy Mason's discounted conference tourney tickets.

1,159 donors and 1.24 million seem like historically on the high end for both numbers and amount raised.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Pablo]

1,159 donors and 1.24 million seem like historically on the high end for both numbers and amount raised.

Perhaps, this is the case with 240 first-time donors. But, check out what vcu is raising - http://vcuathletics.com/sports/ramFund/raf-numbers-1516.

 

[GMUgemini]

Perhaps, this is the case with 240 first-time donors. But, check out what vcu is raising - http://vcuathletics.com/sports/ramFund/raf-numbers-1516.

We have to worry about us and how we can improve our own donor base. This has nothing to do with vcu who has been ahead of us in donations for decades.

By the way, URI raised about 1.5 million in FY15 and they look like they hover around between 1.6 to 2 million historically.


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[MasonSAE4]

Getting some sort of IPTAY system going is the answer. Get to students right at graduation and get them used to a dollar a month. You'll never even notice it.

 

[Pablo]

We have to worry about us and how we can improve our own donor base. This has nothing to do with vcu who has been ahead of us in donations for decades.

Well, a good start would be treat people like Brian with more respect.

 

[gmubrian]

I am really not trying to sound like a total do&che right now but holy crap man calm down.
They screwed up on your season tickets..... they screwed up on my group of 5 season tickets too at first, but I worked with them and they fixed them (moved us back a row and over, but oh well we got over it). they even allowed an add on into the group after the first three games

I could be off base and this sounds completely ageist of me and I apologize before hand.. But there is no worse Mason fan than the moderately sized part of the 60-90 age group that wants Mason games to be silent as PVI church and wants every single penny of there's to be accounted for exactly what they want in the program. I would bet good money you fall into both categories just from the 5 pagers you right on an anonymous message board regarding your troubles. You want Mason to become this powerhouse basketball program, but you piss and moan so much to the point where you pull your donation. The donation being pulled inherently hurts the Mason basketball program which you love.
If you are one of those big donors not names Koch than yes, you should have more say and at least get treated better than the 22-25 year old range like me that donates $2000 or so to Mason basketball a year.

I am sorry the new AD and his staff have turned you off, but defending yourself and complaining on a message board does nothing. I urge you to give it one more shot especially contacting Jennifer Montgomery as she has been a huge help with any issue I have had since becoming a small donor two years ago once I graduated.

You could not have been more wrong. I am still WAY off from being in the the 60+ crowd. Wasn't quiet at games either. I was threatened to be ejected by refs once if didn't stop yelling at them, and, coincidentally, the notices on seats (at least in the VIP area) about fan behavior started appearing at the next game.

Not anonymous for me. My name has been posted on here several times. Except for the newbies on here, I feel like I know most on here from meeting in person at EBA, Richmond and even one member i met up with in Nebraska. AD employees commented several times on posts on here in the past. Mr. Ticket office guy was even able to track down my phone number and call me earlier this year after one of my posts. So, while you hide behind an anonymous profile, I have not.

If you have kids, you understand that you don't just give money to something just because you love it. Sometimes the best thing you can do is to not give it money. Hopefully the money I would have given will get attention to address things and end up getting more money many times over.

I never asked for any say. I thought that was clear from my post above. I give money to causes I believe in where I don't feel it will be wasted. I refuse to give money where I feel it will be wasted. Pretty simple concept.