The Wolverine

September 2012

The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports

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in the millions, either, Rawak pointed out. A number of alums have injected amounts in the hundreds of thou- sands. Much smaller gifts all go to the same effort, she noted. "Every dollar counts," she said. It's not all about gifts that measure "Even the $5, $10, $100 gifts — it all adds up, and it all matters." This past year, Michigan's fundrais- ing efforts injected $38 million into the total, a figure that reflects both pre- ferred seat donations and other gifts. "We had a 15 percent increase in our nation with informational stops and hosting Michigan's far-flung alums. A relatively recent tour involved a West Coast swing to Scottsdale, San Fran- cisco, Los Angeles and San Diego, fea- turing Brady Hoke and John Beilein, along with new soccer coach Chaka Daley, men's lacrosse coach John Paul and women's lacrosse coach Jennifer Ulehla. Michigan is preparing for a similar Part of that involves covering the general gifts, gifts that aren't coming through the preferred seating dona- tions," she said. "We're really happy about that, because we're trying to cre- ate the sense of philanthropic culture — you're giving to give, to impact and increase experiences. East Coast swing and will continue reaching out to those who want to see the Wolverines keep climbing to the top. "Leaders and Best" sounds good in a fight song, Rawak noted, but U-M's development team is striving to make it a daily reality. That requires more than a sales pitch, she cautioned. Chrissi Rawak, senior associate athletic director for development "One of the things we're really working on is communicating to all of our generous donors, and those who have an interest, is need." than you're giving to get tickets. We're moving from transactional to trans- formation. That's really the message we're moving to deliver. "We've had a great year. It will get "That takes a bit of a different tact better, now that our development team is beginning to settle, and as peo- ple are working across the country to bring back Michigan athletics and con- nect people to Michigan athletics who are wanting to be a part of it." Getting the word out regarding the continued need requires a multi- faceted effort, Rawak acknowledged. Michigan will dedicate a section of its website at MGoBlue.com to an ex- planation of funds required and how potential donors can get involved. The development office has worked to make sure Michigan's coaches and student-athletes are also well versed in talking about what it takes to keep winning efforts going. "When I was a student-athlete here message on why," Rawak said. "Be- fore I was in this job, I was a season ticket holder. I bought tickets, and you sit in that stadium and you know what you paid for that ticket, and you see the number of people that are in there. You question, why would you need that? "Well, football revenue is half of our "It's creating a very transparent of our revenue is private support. A piece of that is the preferred seat do- nations. It is a donation, and there is impact to it. That money is going to the kids. "The true philanthropy side of it, it's just important. This next year, we're going to be working on driving that home, giving people the opportunity to really understand why and be part of the team." certainly appear to be on the rise, and that never hurts the bottom line. In addition to sold-out arenas, success in those sports tends to increase cash laid down on licensed apparel, etc. U-M projected some $4,774,000 in licensing royalties for fiscal year 2012, and came away taking in an even $6 million, a 21 percent increase over the previous year. The budgeted figure for the coming fiscal year has been bumped up to more than $5.6 million. Michigan's licensing royalties for Licensing Royalties Michigan football and basketball the past year put it fifth in the nation among its licensing agency's clients. The school has also shown a gross roy- alty total increase for four consecutive years. In short, Michigan possesses very budget, half of the money that comes in. At the end of the day, 28 percent strong resources when it comes to athletics, but has extended itself to accomplish facilities goals and sees itself as having an ongoing need in that area. To compete, Brandon insists, there is no going back. ❑ from 1988-92, no one talked about need," Rawak said. "No one talked about impact. That's a huge miss for us. "It's our responsibility. I understand why some people don't understand that need. It's because we haven't told that story. Again, it's part of the message — we've got to make sure we're transparently communicating the need." Michigan possesses very strong resources when it comes to athletics, with increases expected to continue in the future. COURTESY U-M MEDIA RELATIONS SEPTEMBER 2012 THE WOLVERINE 67

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