You have to have a well-thought-out plan to raise money and let people see the end game AND feel like they make a difference. If you do so, you may be able to shake loose some dollars that would have not been given otherwise. My wife and I are prime examples. After some of the changes in Hokie Club giving requirements in the past years, I became disenchanted with the Hokie Club and decided that we would give the Hokie Club the absolute bare minimum donation to get what I wanted (in terms of seats, parking, etc.) and not one penny more. I believe my friend @Saret calls that a "transactional relationship." Then I became involved in softball and got to know Coach D'Amour and the young ladies on the team and we have ended up giving above and beyond those minimum requirements. I believe others on this board may have also given dollars to softball program that they had not otherwise planned I think this is especially true when you factor in the fact that sport specific giving only helps the donor on cumulative giving points, but not on seat giving minimums. For the record, we have raised over $130,000 for the softball program on this board over the last two years. And that is without a well thought-out, glitzy program. Just an old guy with a keyboard giving people a reason to give and hopefully letting them know they make a difference. I will repeat - those dollars were raised without a "formal" fundraising plan. Is it crazy to think about what could happen with a formal, focused program?