an "investor" mentality the other day in a post and think that is appropriate (along with your shareholder mindset). Several folks in the athletic department mentioned doing that type of meeting (more than one annually actually) with donors a few years back. Unfortunately, it didn't get much traction with Whit. Whit is just not comfortable doing that type of communication. But because of the uncertainty, mounting questions, state of college athletics/how we plan to attack, we desperately need more outreach/communication regarding strategy, needs, and priorities. Not less. As far as donor information goes, we don't have close to 10,000 donors even giving at the $1,000 level, much less being able to divert anything over that amount to NIL. We don't even have half that number of donors giving at that level. And we probably actually have 20-21K actual HSF donors. But we have several thousand giving at a $25 level (including several thousand students). There is certainly nothing wrong with that, but just stating that to show the depth of our annual fund donors. But do like the appeal of asking for funding NIL with sports we choose to be competitive with. As far as shifting HSF dollars to NIL, we just need to make sure we can cover the $15M plus annual scholarship fund bill first and foremost. That is the primary goal of the annual fund. We typically bring in $18-$19M now through the annual fund (including club seat premiums). Then we raise another $2M plus in sport specific giving each year. Sport specific dollars moving forward will be able to be used for NIL, and do count for Hokie Club priority points. So, could we divert anything over our scholarship bill to NIL? Maybe so, assuming other areas are covered financially (or is it robbing Peter to pay Paul)? Unfortunately, the idea of forcing anyone with NIL of $250K or more paying their own way is not legal, nor would it help. You would just be eating into that net NIL if you turned around and made them pay a $50-$60K annual scholarship bill. Understand the thought though. I am in favor of becoming as lean as possible to divert the dollars to support success. Trimming unnecessary staff, maybe even cutting some sports, but being smart as to how we invest moving forward. To your point, the "old way" of doing business is over. Let's pick 6 sports, or so, and roll with proper investments. We may need some new folks to help devise a real strategy. And selling that to our people is vital. We just can't avoid conversation, hide from the issues, and fail to communicate. If we want our supporters to help, we have to tell them how and how it will actually help. Thanks for your post and idea. Thinking outside the box will be crucial moving forward. Happy Thanksgiving!!! ** Edited by VTScoop at 11/28/2024, 8:29:37 PM