DRC: Common fans are the foundation for UNT's program. Can it hang on to those it has, find new ones?

Brett Vito · August 7, 2020

Part I of a two-part series on the state of the North Texas athletics department in the wake of COVID-19 with info on season ticket sales, key donors' stance on giving large gifts in the future, one donor's plans to contribute to a significant project and Wren Baker's take on the importance of growing support for Mean Green athletics.

Edited August 9, 2020 by Brett Vito

Brett Vito · August 8, 2020

MeanGreen_MBA · August 8, 2020

It is true that UNT needs a higher donor base. Other schools have a huge base of supporters. While things are moving in that direction, it seems to me the strategy was to just ask the current base to step it up year after year.

I can’t wait for the day we enough supporters at a mid level to cover what is needed. That is where the top donors can make a difference for BIG projects and hires.

NorthTexasSportsNetwork · August 8, 2020

10 minutes ago, MeanGreen_MBA said:

It is true that UNT needs a higher donor base. Other schools have a huge base of supporters. While things are moving in that direction, it seems to me the strategy was to just ask the current base to step it up year after year.

I can’t wait for the day we enough supporters at a mid level to cover what is needed. That is where the top donors can make a difference for BIG projects and hires.

I completely agree. I remember I think last year, we were near the bottom of donation money and hopefully people realize that this team has the talent and we need it!

emmitt01 · August 8, 2020

“UNT’s recent success brought Cozort and his family back after they gave up their tickets during Todd Dodge’s tenure...I told Rick after he hired Dodge that I couldn’t do it anymore,” Cozort said. “I couldn’t come and watch us get beat by 40.”

I still don’t think people understand just how damaging the Dodge tenure (and allowing it to last as long as it did) was for us. I know a LOT of people who came on board during the Dickey era and are still around...I also know a LOT whose fandom ended during Dodge.

KRAM1 · August 8, 2020

I have been saying this for several years now. And, it actually flows down to those giving at or near the $5000 annual level. There is donor “fatigue” at UNT and it is real. The same folks get called time and time and time again every time there is a need. And, the well is beginning to run dry. For way too long the attitude around UNT has been “let those guys do it”, and it is beginning to show. I realize it is easier for our advancement folks to just go to the folks they know will help rather than to do the heavy lifting of finding new donors or asking the “smaller” donors to step up. For too long many potential donors and non-donors have ridden the backs of those who do donate. I get it. Why donate when you can keep your cash and let others carry the water for you? UNT grads play love to complain about “the only time they talk to me is when they need something”, so I’ll just not respond at all excuse. And, it is a very whiney fan base as well. Every excuse under the sun is used to justify why they don’t donate...you cannot create a new excuse that a UNT grad hasn’t used. And, this goes for the academic side as well as the athletic side.

Our advancement folks are tired of hearing the same excuses over and over again, and it is one reason they just opt to go back time and time again to those who will give. We have the very best group of advancement people across the entire university we have ever had, and they are setting donation level records. But, they are UNT records which are really very small compared to universities our size. None the less, progress is being made. It just needs to continue. If alums and fans want the progress to continue, more folks at the $1000 plus level need to be created. Folks need to step up and increase levels and new donors must be found. Or, we stay where we are...

I will say...and did so to a college dean just this last week when discussing donors...I don’t care how much ones gives...not my business...I just care IF they give. If people just started to give at any level and increased their donation annually as they could, what a big difference that would make. Read Brett’s article and look at how few donors we actually have to the MGSF at any level. That number is disgraceful for a University our size...and yet, it is a record number. Only a bit over 7,000 season ticket holders (and that includes corporate buyers) for a 30,000+ seat stadium (also a record number)...also a disgrace for a University our size.

So, it is a tad hypocritical to hear all the “We should do this or that’s”, “we should be in a better conference”, “we should get P5 teams to come to Apogee”, “we should add baseball”, “we should recruit 4 and 5 star players”, and on and on and on. And the “Wren should do this or that”, “Seth should hire this guy or that guy”, “Seth should recruit nationally”, etc., etc. All these things take cash...and lots of it.

No admonishment to the folks here as this board Is composed of folks who do give and of many who have increased their level of donation over the years. This board represents the most diehard of UNT fans who have stuck by the program through think and thin, and many on here give at the $1000 plus annual level already. And, yes, some on here are facing that donor fatigue as they are called upon time and time again.

This is a good read from Brett. Although he does quote one guy who pretty much abandoned UNT for another local university. Sort of odd to quote him, but he is a UNT grad and maintains his Club seat so I guess he’s legit. But, that’s Brett. He just couldn’t resist even though he had plenty of others he could have called for that quote.

will things change? Will new folks step up? Can we find some “big” ($1,000,000) donors to replace or add to the “big five” that Mr McNatt refers to in the article? Don’t know, but do know there are plenty...plenty...of very successful UNT grads “out there” that have the resources to do so. Our advancement folks just need your help (and mine) in finding them and bringing them to the table.

Thanks to everyone here who does donate, do buy season tickets and do support UNT...you are part of the solution and I salute you. Please help UNT find new supporters just like you!

xyresic · August 8, 2020

I’d like to see advancement eat a bit more of their own cooking. A few of the top administrators have donated large amounts to athletics and academics. With out naming names advancement has not. Things like that and Graham donating 25 bucks to the mean green club back in the day tend to ruffle my feathers a bit.

I get that everyone’s financial situation is different but I think it makes it harder to get others to commit when they see things like that.

When I am donating at a much higher level than people getting paid hundreds of thousands of dollars by the university it gives me pause. As Mark said the culture is changing and there will be bumps along the way - while we are setting records there is much room for improvement.

Edited August 8, 2020 by xyresic

meangreen11 · August 8, 2020

18 minutes ago, xyresic said:

I’d like to see advancement eat a bit more of their own cooking. A few of the top administrators have donated large amounts to athletics and academics. With out naming names advancement has not. Things like that and Graham donating 25 bucks to the mean green club back in the day tend to ruffle my feathers a bit.

I get that everyone’s financial situation is different but I think it makes it harder to get others to commit when they see things like that.

When I am donating at a much higher level than people getting paid hundreds of thousands of dollars by the university it gives me pause. As Mark said the culture is changing and there will be bumps along the way - while we are setting records there is much room for improvement.

Amen!!

TCC Mean Green · August 9, 2020

I believe in the following to increase donor level.

1) The alumni association works very limited with athletes Download the UNT Alumni app...no mention of athletes in any way. We have the Pavilion during football games. Most universities have the alumni center next to the football stadium and they Work Together!

2) How many universities call their donor arm a “Scholarship Fund?” P5 schools have a athletic “foundation “ which is a separate non-profit organization. All or most of the money goes into the foundation and that’s how they get the facilities. Are we at that point? No, but we have never tried it. The Scholarship Fund me sounds like a high school. The idea is “perception” is everything.

Just my 2 cents worth. GMG!

DeepGreen · August 9, 2020

29 minutes ago, TCC Mean Green said:

2) How many universities call their donor arm a “Scholarship Fund?” P5 schools have a athletic “foundation “ which is a separate non-profit organization. All or most of the money goes into the foundation and that’s how they get the facilities. Are we at that point? No, but we have never tried it. The Scholarship Fund me sounds like a high school. The idea is “perception” is everything.

Boom!

I’ve suggested the same thing on this very board! Why name it a “scholarship fund” and not the “North Texas Athletic Fund”, or “Foundation”? Words can have different meanings to different people.

emmitt01 · August 9, 2020

12 hours ago, DeepGreen said:

Boom!

I’ve suggested the same thing on this very board! Why name it a “scholarship fund” and not the “North Texas Athletic Fund”, or “Foundation”? Words can have different meanings to different people.

I have never thought about this, but it makes sense. How small time is your athletic department if you have to fund your scholarships through a donation arm?

UNTX · August 9, 2020

I believe we changed the name of the Mean Green Club due to provisions in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. The law impacts what qualifies as charitable giving, and the way the Club was structured would’ve rendered our contributions non-deductible for tax purposes. That’s why it’s now billed as a scholarship fund, and advertised as such, so that we get to keep the tax write-off.

RBP79 · August 9, 2020

So how many season tickets have been sold this year...7000? What was it last year? I only know one person for sure that has paid for his tickets.

If NT sold 7000 season tickets during the dreaded COVID19 pandemic I think that would be outstanding since it seems many on this board have continually stated there will be NO football season.

To much turmoil at the moment and too many questions evolving around college athletics. Turn on the bilge pumps and hang on.

Brett Vito · August 9, 2020

8 minutes ago, RBP79 said:

What was it last year?

It's in the story, chart at the bottom.

wardly · August 9, 2020

I have been a UNT fan since my freshman year of 1961, and began contributing financially when I could afford too, which was back in the Fry era. I was on the UNT Foundation Board in the early 90's, and learned what a shoestring operation our Athletic Department was. During the Nelson/Dickey eras the amount I donated to athletics was laughable, yet it got me on team flights,sideline passes, and seating in the AD's box. I told Conner Myers that I hoped the amount of money I donated was not worthy of a call from Wren, and achieved my goal.One thing Wren has been able to do is land a few whales who can put a large number of zeros on their checks, as well as keep existing donors. However, he has been unable to expand the number of small donors [bunts and singles] to a meaningful number. Historically UNT does not have a history of alumni giving from the masses. Part of that probably is due to the large number of teachers and musicians who graduate, and with few exceptions have limited disposable income. I don't know what the answer is, but I would think it might start with freshman orientation where students should realize that it is a privilege to attend UNT, and that they owe something back to the University , similar to the AGGIE $100 Club. For my small part I told the Athletic Depart to keep the money I paid for my two club seats, that at my age I would not attend any games if played, and increased my donation by 10%. We all need to do what we can, no more, no less. GO EAGLES !

Side Show Joe · August 9, 2020

I think the athletic department has a few things working against them. All would agree that Wren and Seth have elevated North Texas football in the 4 years they have been here. There really is no question about that. But, I think the glaring issues are that we have yet to win a conference title. We are also still chasing LA Tech despite having more to sell and twice their budget (I know I'm tired of LT making us eat humble pie). And, the last issue is that the athletic department has not done a better job of vetting us donors.

I have already stated that I increased my donation this year because of COVID-19. And, I understand the position of the big money donors too (although I wish they didn't state it publicly in the local paper). Like most on this board, I am a smaller donor, and I am limited in what I can give. But, if Wren or someone on his administrative team called me directly, and asked for an additional $100 donation so they could get those exercise bands for the athletes, I would have got my check card out and given him a $100. Would it have covered the entire cost? No. But, I have to believe there are 49 other smaller donors that would do the same. It may have taken 75 calls to reach the $5,000 needed. But, that is the kind of person to person engagement that will help grow our athletics. The small donors can't help if no one reaches out to us. Donors like me will never be able to give at the level where are names will be on the side of anything, but if the athletic department does a better job of identifying those that will do a little more when it is needed, it might go a long way towards keeping our larger donors from feeling like no one else cares.

I think the "Scholarship Fund" (and I also agree it should be changed to the "Mean Green Foundation") should inquire if a donor would like to be listed as an additional "small gift" resource, that the department could reach out to no more than once a year in the event of an emergency for an additional contribution of no more than $100. Not everyone is in a position to make that commitment, but I think there is a segment of our fan base that would step up if the department actually reached out and explained the need.

Edited August 9, 2020 by Side Show Joe

RBP79 · August 9, 2020

1 hour ago, Brett Vito said:

It's in the story, chart at the bottom.

Unfortunately, I've reached my 3 free articles for the month. Sorry your paper want let you put these articles on the board for free.

GrandGreen · August 9, 2020

All teams have major donors. I expect most are not planning major gifts at a time when we do not even know when the next game will be.

NT and most teams predominantly exist because of students fees and that is were the danger lies. A reduction in those amounts, ether because of lack of students or a revolt by the students who may not be willing to pay fees for games they can't even see, is the big danger.

If the fall season is cancelled, I would expect a lot of coaches to be out of jobs. Why for example, should NT pay Littrell close to 2 million to basically recruit?

Schools can always hire coaches assuming they have a program to hire them for.

Edited August 9, 2020 by GrandGreen

TripleGrad · August 10, 2020

3 hours ago, GrandGreen said:

If the fall season is cancelled, I would expect a lot of coaches to be out of jobs. Why for example, should NT pay Littrell close to 2 million to basically recruit?

Schools can always hire coaches assuming they have a program to hire them for.

If the 2020 season is canceled, there may be many programs that never restart, especially G5 and below. Would the student body as a whole really care if football, basketball, volleyball etc left? Would the majority of UNT grads? How many can name the current conference?

untjim1995 · August 10, 2020

42 minutes ago, TripleGrad said:

If the 2020 season is canceled, there may be many programs that never restart, especially G5 and below. Would the student body as a whole really care if football, basketball, volleyball etc left? Would the majority of UNT grads? How many can name the current conference?

The reality is that the vast majority wouldn’t care if they all were gone. Whats hard about UNT Athletics and it’s support is that for decades and decades, Dentonites loathed its existence, as did many of the UNT Family of faculty, administration, and the student body. Your best hope of getting a larger base of season ticket buyers and supporters will be grads from the last 5 years than those from the previous 50. We have won more than we have lost, beaten teams people know about, and generated more media coverage in DFW than ever before with that punt return in Arkansas. There are students who actually love the Mean Green AND have seen us win while in school. These people will be the big donors down the road—the RV years just produced a whole bag of nothingness as the years went on and wiped out so many potential fans. And that drop down to 1-aa for 12 years in 1983 was a nuclear bomb, killing off fans of the program from the 60s thru the 90s.

What UNT needs badly at this point, is to win the conference and a bowl game in the same season. We did it once in the SBC in 2002. And the SBC was a joke to the college football world back then. CUSA today probably isn’t looked at real highly now, either, but we need to win a conference championship in football and then win a bowl game over a solid team to turn potential fans into steady fans, steady fans into diehard fans, and diehard fans into mega donors. That’s the only path we have not been able to enjoy the fruits of since 2002.

cogido · August 10, 2020

2 hours ago, untjim1995 said:

And that drop down to 1-aa for 12 years in 1983 was a nuclear bomb, killing off fans of the program from the 60s thru the 90s.

Worst decision ever made by North Texas. You can still smell the smoke damage to this day.

meangreen11 · August 10, 2020

9 hours ago, untjim1995 said:

And that drop down to 1-aa for 12 years in 1983 was a nuclear bomb, killing off fans of the program from the 60s thru the 90s.

This one 100 percent correct. Has anyone ever explained why in gods name this decision happened?

SilverEagle · August 10, 2020

7 hours ago, cogido said:

Worst decision ever made by North Texas. You can still smell the smoke damage to this day.

I suppose. But anyone who loves to watch football wouldn't have noticed a whole lot of difference in the game being played on the field. There was a lot of really good football played during that era......and the band was almost as good as it was in previous eras.

Quote

This one 100 percent correct. Has anyone ever explained why in gods name this decision happened?

Many times. I think that Dallas Green and GreyEagle could give you a pretty good summary.

Quote

I have been a UNT fan since my freshman year of 1961, and began contributing financially when I could afford too, which was back in the Fry era. I was on the UNT Foundation Board in the early 90's, and learned what a shoestring operation our Athletic Department was.

.....and if you had tried to contribute BEFORE the Hayden Fry era you would have been told that there was no fund/foundation/club set up for such a thing. Because (for the umpteenth time) Dr. James Carl Matthews forbid it! Not only for athletics, but for any sort of giving back to the University.

The UNT Endowment fund was established in 1972, during the "Jitter Nolan" era. It is currently at 210 million. By contrast, the University of Houston (established 1927) started their endowment fund in 1937, and it is currently @ 959.8 Million.

Edited August 10, 2020 by SilverEagle

wardly · August 10, 2020

18 minutes ago, SilverEagle said:

I suppose. But anyone who loves to watch football wouldn't have noticed a whole lot of difference in the game being played on the field. There was a lot of really good football played during that era......and the band was almost as good as it was in previous eras.

Many times. I think that Dallas Green and GreyEagle could give you a pretty good summary.

.....and if you had tried to contribute BEFORE the Hayden Fry era you would have been told that there was no fund/foundation/club set up for such a thing. Because (for the umpteenth time) Dr. James Carl Matthews forbid it! Not only for athletics, but for any sort of giving back to the University.

The UNT Endowment fund was established in 1972, during the "Jitter Nolan" era. It is currently at 210 million. By contrast, the University of Houston (established 1927) started their endowment fund in 1937, and it is currently @ 959.8 Million.

Correct. He would not allow any alumni association, especially one for athletics. I know we hate that we dropped to 1aa, but it was either that or drop football, We had no money. In fact, the only way Nolan kept the football program afloat during the Fry era was to transfer dedicated non athletic donations to the athletic department which got him fired and nearly imprisoned . The majority of funds illegally transferred were from those donated specifically to build a new music building. I became aware of this in the early 1990"s when I served 3 years on The Foundation Board, which was formed not only to generate giving but to clean up what had been donated. We had people giving us small dedicated donations that we tried to transfer to a general fund with the donors approval. Also people were giving us junk just for the write off. If memory serves we turned down the offer of a motor boat. I cannot stress enough what an underfunded athletic depart we have had for decades.

SilverEagle · August 10, 2020

20 minutes ago, wardly said:

Correct. He would not allow any alumni association, especially one for athletics. I know we hate that we dropped to 1aa, but it was either that or drop football, We had no money. In fact, the only way Nolan kept the football program afloat during the Fry era was to transfer dedicated non athletic donations to the athletic department which got him fired and nearly imprisoned . The majority of funds illegally transferred were from those donated specifically to build a new music building. I became aware of this in the early 1990"s when I served 3 years on The Foundation Board, which was formed not only to generate giving but to clean up what had been donated. We had people giving us small dedicated donations that we tried to transfer to a general fund with the donors approval. Also people were giving us junk just for the write off. If memory serves we turned down the offer of a motor boat. I cannot stress enough what an underfunded athletic depart we have had for decades.

Hmm, it was uglier than I thought.

Anyway, my point in responding to this issue is that not donating to the athletic department is (sadly) the only long tradition that North Texas has. And it's because of our CULTURE. Someone has to change the culture before we can establish that broad mid-ranged donor base.