"There is some mistrust regarding distribution of the dollars that are sent directly to the Hokie Club and whether they actually increase the dollars budgeted to the softball program. Some donors have bluntly told me that they will not give directly to the Hokie Club for that reason." I've likened the HC to United Way, which says you can give directly to one charity, but that is disingenuous. Giving via Chip gives me comfort that those donations are going to SB in addition to their budget. For the same reasons, my donations for wrestling go to SERTC. I give the minimum required premium donations to the HSF to ensure I get what I want, and nothing more. Additionally, my wife give a lot of items to Chip for his auctions. To us, Chip is a god send. My wife and I love what he and Bonnie do.

You and your wife are very special people and greatly appreciated!!!!

Then they take it to the Hokie Club office.

end and then it goes back to Softball. I didn't think there was any direct way to give softball Money.

As one donor says "I've likened the HC to United Way, which says you can give directly to one charity, but that is disingenuous. Giving via Chip gives me comfort that those donations are going to SB in addition to their budget." The United Way "model" is that you can designate to one charity but they allegedly juggle the money behind the scenes so that the overall budgets stay the same. The Hokie Club has assured me that doesn't happen but "perception is reality." In our current, clunky process, Pete and Bill know their budget (X) and they know what has come in thru me (Y) so ultimately they have X+Y to spend. No way for anyone to juggle the numbers.

Bill reconciles the checks to the spreadsheet, takes the funds to the Hokie Club, and reconciles the credits to the softball account to the spreadsheet/funds received. There have been errors on the Hokie Club side over the years.

bold here but I think you would agree that there is NOTHING wrong with holding any entity responsible for money that you donate to them. It's good business to know that the money you donate actually goes where you want it to go, where you designated it to go, to be used where you wanted it to be used. Letting Pete and Bill know the amount of money coming from a specific source is just good business especially when the amount is substantial. and I believe we can all agree - six fricken figures over the years is substantial.

During softball's NCAA run in 2021, we started the "Poppin It" Challenge as a way to add a little spark to the postseason. We managed to raise $21,000 which I thought was an amazing number and speaks to the generosity of the TSL family. In 2022, we started a season-long challenge ("Ten for the Win") and raised $65,000+. Then it was Dollars for Dingers in In 2023 ($44,641), and the TSL Challenge last year ($44,000). Together, all the fundraising that we done has raised over $260,000 as you can see in the chart below. At some point the Hokie Club started their own version of pledge per stat, which is awesome. Done properly, their outreach is significantly more broad than mine, and I simply want to see that the softball program gets as much money as they can. I have always said that I am not in competition with the Hokie Club, but sometimes it seems I am viewed that way from their perspective I have even considered stopping my fundraising efforts entirely, but have not done so for two reasons. 1. There is some mistrust regarding distribution of the dollars that are sent directly to the Hokie Club and whether they actually increase the dollars budgeted to the softball program. Some donors have bluntly told me that they will not give directly to the Hokie Club for that reason. The Hokie Club insists that the dollars do get to the softball program, but I am not willing to walk away from any softball program dollars so I keep going. On that very topic, my fundraising is clunky - donors make their checks to the "Virginia Tech Athletic Fund - Softball" and send them to me and I gather them together and deliver them direct to Coach D'Amour. He therefore knows these dollars that I have given him are in addition to his established budget and therefore his available funds increase accordingly. 2. Some folks want to show the impact that TSL has to athletics and obviously the dollars that come thru me are almost all TSL related. The TSL giving also enables additional chatter on the boards...i.e. "those home runs just cost me $50." I think we make giving fun. Again, I am NOT in competition with the Hokie Club, but I do want the softball program to get every single dollar possible. I even serve as an Ambassador during the Giving Days and Triumph Together drives and there's been another $92,000 that has flowed through those channels. So bottom line....give however you want. The important thing is to give!!!!!!

scheme for a while and for most of the sports. Chip’s program provides accountability for what’s actually received and turned over to Bill Old (softball director of operations), plus Chip provides info on how much is actually received through “his” events. Another item is you won’t know how much the program actually receives from the HC Stats Pledge as the athletic department historically does not disclose this info publicly. Also, notwithstanding a FOIA request, I doubt you will know how much money softball raised in a fiscal year unless Softball releases that amount. Also, for Chip’s events you still get Hokie Club credit for donations. One other item, the Hokie Club does not do auction events, where Chip does.

I really appreciate all your support over the years.

as to whether folks should donate this “new” way or whether it is still best to just send checks directly to him, earmarked for softball, as we have done in the past. Chip may be able to inform as to whether this apparently new linkage w the Hokie Club has any potential pitfalls or if it is all peaches and cream.

The Hokie Club provides a nice easy way to give with their credit card process. Unfortunately, I'm clunky and require checks (or Venmo or Paypal).