Giving Day 2024

[MasonSAE4]

I always told the parking personnel that they were the reason that I'd never give any Alumni dues for all the tickets they gave me during my undergrad. Today, I broke that promise.

Don’t worry, I upheld that vow for you.

 

[GreenLantern]

We are at 99 Donations! 11 more to match CTS goal!

 

[mkaufman1]

We are now at 114 - nice work everyone!

 

[99 Patriot]

Board match came in at $695 from those who messaged/texted me. Thanks gang.

 

[gmujim92]

We are at 99 Donations! 11 more to match CTS goal!

Up to 118 now and over $88,000. Pretty respectable showing folks … usually hoops gets boat-raced by wrestling but it’s only a $10k difference this year with less than 2 hours left.

 

[gmujim92]

Actually, scratch that — wrestling is now opening a can of whoopass on every other team as usual

 

[gmujim92]

Final tally appears to be: 123 donors and $93,320 raised.

Lost to the wrestlers again but those folks are fundraisers on a whole other level.

 

[The Great PATSby]

Does anyone know how these funds are used? More specifically, are the funds raised used/exhaused within the next year? Same applies with the Patriot Club donations. I would like to see a % of these funds going towards a holding endowment that generates interest that can be used towards Atheletics in years to come.

Sorry for my ignorance if this type of information is published somewhere.

 

[MasonSAE4]

Does anyone know how these funds are used? More specifically, are the funds raised used/exhaused within the next year? Same applies with the Patriot Club donations. I would like to see a % of these funds going towards a holding endowment that generates interest that can be used towards Atheletics in years to come.

Sorry for my ignorance if this type of information is published somewhere.

Honestly, if someone set up a basketball endowment I would donate to it. I like the idea of solving our anemic fundraising by a dedicated mechanism that runs purely off interest.

 

[The Great PATSby]

Honestly, if someone set up a basketball endowment I would donate to it. I like the idea of solving our anemic fundraising by a dedicated mechanism that runs purely off interest.

I would too. Realistically, it would probably take many years to collect enough funds to generate material interest. But thats the beauty of compound interest over time. Gotta start somewhere.

 

[gmujim92]

Honestly, if someone set up a basketball endowment I would donate to it. I like the idea of solving our anemic fundraising by a dedicated mechanism that runs purely off interest.

Who’s going to manage said endowment? The athletic department doesn’t have enough staff for what it has to do now, and volunteers are running the NIL collective.

 

[gmujim92]

Does anyone know how these funds are used? More specifically, are the funds raised used/exhaused within the next year? Same applies with the Patriot Club donations. I would like to see a % of these funds going towards a holding endowment that generates interest that can be used towards Atheletics in years to come.

Sorry for my ignorance if this type of information is published somewhere.

Tony sent out an email saying the primary focus for MBB donations yesterday will be funding their overseas trip in summer 2025.

 

[The Great PATSby]

Who’s going to manage said endowment? The athletic department doesn’t have enough staff for what it has to do now, and volunteers are running the NIL collective.

It probably could be connected to the overall University endowment which is already managed. If not, just put it in low risk CD's or Bonds and let it sit which doesn't require much management.

 

[mkaufman1]

Tony sent out an email saying the primary focus for MBB donations yesterday will be funding their overseas trip in summer 2025.

That was a first. Baby steps taken to actually tell us versus generic buckets.

Hopefully next Giving Day they change it up a bit...

 

[The Great PATSby]

Another idea, Eagle Bank offers a pretty decent High Yield Savings account rate of 4.65% APY at the moment. Offer a promotion to the Mason community. If you open a savings account with EagleBank, EagleBank will donate a % of the bank's interest income from those accounts to George Mason Athletics. It's a win-win. EagleBank makes money by acquiring more funds to loan out and buy bonds while also taking a tax deduction on funds donated to Mason. Mason makes money off of the EagleBank donations. The Mason community can earn interest on their High Yield Savings account while still indirectly donating to Mason Athletics without actually having to donate money because you can withdraw those funds whenever.

So hypothetically, if I deposit $1,000 into a EagleBank Savings account. Annually, I make $40+ in a year in interest. EagleBank makes say conservatively $120+ off of a 12% personal loan minus the $40 they gave me. Which leaves $80. Eagle Bank then donates a small percentage of that $80 to Mason. Seems like everyone wins. This is obviously contingent on decent interest rates that fluctuate.

Please don't judge or criticize me. It's just an idea.

 

[GMUgemini]

Who’s going to manage said endowment? The athletic department doesn’t have enough staff for what it has to do now, and volunteers are running the NIL collective.

Who manages the current scholarship endowments? I’d assume the same people.

 

[MasonFanatic]

Tony sent out an email saying the primary focus for MBB donations yesterday will be funding their overseas trip in summer 2025.

I got a similar email for nearly every sport that I donated to in the past, each one with a specific statement like this. For example, women's volleyball will use their funds for renovating their locker room. I really appreciated seeing that kind of detail.