CF Announcement: Operation FANdamonium

Jeremy · 12-01-2006, 07:11 PM

CF Announcement: Operation FANdamonium

I wanted to announce the beginning of a new focus for the site and it's members... "Operation FANdamonium" (name is temporary).

It is with this focus that we will create a new way for members to give any level of gift to go into a large donation that will then be given to ISU in one lump some. The idea of this mission is to get as many "small" donations as possible so that we can show people that any amount of giving is worthwhile and beneficial. Whether you have $5 or $500, it all makes a difference in the end.

We are working on getting some goals and figures in place and will have a formal announcement in the next couple of days on all of the details. I am reaching out to members to be prepared to help ISU in any way possible. I know it's the Holiday Season so let's dig deep and show everybody how much we appreciate the new focus on success and fan unity. Hopefully this mission is successful and we can start a quarterly campaign to keep the donations flowing.

We realize that some people can afford to give hundreds or thousands of dollars at a time, but we believe that most of the fan-base can't. Those are the people that have never been targeted before and only because it takes more effort to reach out to them. It's too bad that people forget that the majority of the fans are the hardest working people that don't have the resources to be vocal or giving for whatever reason. ISU is such a great University to be a fan of for that reason, hard working individuals that never waver in their support, as monetarily light as that might have to be sometimes. Are we less of a fan because we can't give thousands of dollars a year? We would venture to bet that we're ten times the fan most big-time donors could ever claim to be. After all, most of the time the empty seats at non-conference or other "meaningless" games are those in the "high-ticket" spots.

It takes people of all shapes, sizes, colors, backgrounds, ages and monetary level to be as great of a fan-base as ISU's is. Why not let everybody have their voice heard in an equal forum? That's why we're here. If you can get corporate matching for giving through work, please do so. If you can only give $5, $15, $25 or $50 at a time and feel you have nowhere else to turn, why not help the cause anyways by joining the CF FANdamonium Donation Drive? We all matter, it just takes each of us to step up.

Thank you,
Jeremy

TheHelgo · 12-01-2006, 07:33 PM

Sounds like a great idea. Probably most interesting to those who cannot yet affort to join the NCC. Way to go Jeremy!

guitarchitect7 · 12-01-2006, 08:27 PM

CF is growing so much everyday, and has become very popular over the Cyclone Community that this only makes sense. Plus how sweet would it be that a free Cyclone based web site donates money to help the University.

Cyclonepride · 12-01-2006, 11:36 PM

That is a great idea. Any specifics on where the money would go, like the Gridiron club, just to the athletic department in general?

Kyle · 12-01-2006, 11:40 PM

Is anyone going to shave their head or kiss an animal or something if we get x amount of dollars? Someone should volunteer.

Not it.

Cyclonepride · 12-02-2006, 12:00 AM

Don't ask for volunteers for animal kissing, Husker fans come on here every once in a while, and they won't charge to do it.

ericlambi · 12-02-2006, 12:29 AM

Sounds good . . . go big with the goal. Let's make this thing happen.

ajk4st8 · 12-02-2006, 12:00 PM

You dont expect to donate this money to collect any sort of NCC benefit right?

Angie · 12-02-2006, 12:36 PM

Originally Posted by Cyclonepride

That is a great idea. Any specifics on where the money would go, like the Gridiron club, just to the athletic department in general?

We had discussed either the NCC or just straight to the athletic department - we just wanted to do it big in the name of CF. I'll let Jer or the site member who came up with the idea get into the specifics, but the main idea was to see if we could get everyone's little contributions to become one big one. Everyone can only donate so much - students, for example, probably can't afford as much as someone out of school. This way they could donate whatever they could afford. I think we were hoping to make this a recurring thing.

Originally Posted by ajk4st8

You dont expect to donate this money to collect any sort of NCC benefit right?

Nope, nobody is looking for any free parking passes or anything out of this. It's meant solely to benefit ISU athletics.

WahlsClone · 12-02-2006, 01:44 PM

Just some constructive criticism here.

I don't see why this makes any sense for someone who can donate at the minimum level.

For those who have a company match, donating the money through CF would actually reduce the amount of money the Athletic Department receives since there is no way your company would recognize the donation. And good luck proving the donation went to ISU if you deduct this from your taxes and get audited.

Also, if the money is donated through CF, then this website effectively becomes a booster. At that point, any contact with a recruit becomes a violation.

Angie · 12-02-2006, 01:51 PM

I understand your point, WahlsClone - I don't think we were thinking of anything that big. This was more for people who wanted to donate $10 or so, or maybe those who wanted to donate anonymously. I don't think Jeremy has a tax ID or anything (I may be wrong), we were just trying to organize some of the people who wanted to give. We would definitely encourage people who have company matching to donate through traditional means, since that would get more money to the program (which is the end result that we all want!).

WahlsClone · 12-02-2006, 01:59 PM

Jeremy did say $5 or $500.

I know some people group together and donate already in order to attain a higher membership level. It just get's a bit tricky when you do reach a level that has benefits.

For those that can only donate $5 or $10, it's a good idea.

Jeremy · 12-02-2006, 02:05 PM

Originally Posted by WahlsClone

Just some constructive criticism here.

I don't see why this makes any sense for someone who can donate at the minimum level.

For those who have a company match, donating the money through CF would actually reduce the amount of money the Athletic Department receives since there is no way your company would recognize the donation. And good luck proving the donation went to ISU if you deduct this from your taxes and get audited.

Also, if the money is donated through CF, then this website effectively becomes a booster. At that point, any contact with a recruit becomes a violation.

You make a few good points and here are my answers.

1. If your company matches, then go through them. This isn't a replacement by any means to any normal way of giving. BUT most people don't take advantage of doing any kind of giving and this is one way to get casual fans to give when they otherwise wouldn't take the time or if they don't feel they have a better way to make a contribution.

2. I have already said that I have become a booster and that there is no contact with recruits at any level. I have not contacted a recruit directly since April when I decided I could afford to give money to ISU and when I decided I had no interest in contacting recruits since I simply don't have the time. I will admit I'm a booster and have no plans whatsoever of making any direct contact with recruits. I know the regulations and what I can and can't do, and I would argue that a lot of reporters and people that do contact recruits sometimes cross the line and I don't want to be one of them. It only takes one slip-up to cause a lot of problems.

3. I'm not doubting your questioning at all as I answered what you wrote, but I do want to point out that this mission is with good intent and is not the only way I would encourage people to donate. I understand, being only 24 and building a family, that sometimes it's easier to give small amounts more often than a bigger donation once. I'm in the NCC but I know a lot of people that would be more interested in giving $10, $25 or $50 at a time rather than $100 or more that the NCC is really meant for.

Thanks for the comments and hopefully the answers will help others out as well.

Jeremy

Jeremy · 12-02-2006, 02:07 PM

Originally Posted by WahlsClone

Jeremy did say $5 or $500.

I know some people group together and donate already in order to attain a higher membership level. It just get's a bit tricky when you do reach a level that has benefits.

For those that can only donate $5 or $10, it's a good idea.

You posted when I was writing that. I apologize for questioning you as you seem to understand the point of the mission. It's not a replacement to normal giving but rather to introduce new fans to the donation process. Hopefully people would then graduate up to giving larger amounts when possible or they desire to.

candg4ever · 12-02-2006, 05:21 PM

Any method of raising additional funds to benefit the athletics dept. sounds great to me. I'm a NCC member and take advantage of the matching gifts program. I'm pretty sure not everybody does, but there really isn't any way to find out who and encourage them to do so. Maybe a flyer from JP to get them to at least check it out. At most places, even large corporations, it's pretty easy to do. Even so, there's probably a couple/ three times a year I could throw a little more in the kitty for such a great cause. If we want to run with the big dogs, we've gotta be able to keep up with the pack, and that, as with anything else these days, starts with strong financial backers. It the long run, a little could turn in to a lot.

I can't make it for the Iowa game to meet other CF members, but will be there in spirit. Maybe in the spring someone could check out interest in a picnic/party/fundraiser at some park in Ames b4 and/or after the spring scrimmage. It would be cool to be able to put a face with some of the names that post here. Just a thought.