Thoughts On Unt And A Stadium Fund

[LAZER]

I have to admit that I am one of the students that originally came to UNT because I could not get into UT. As a result I busted my butt my first year at UNT and made the grades so that I could transfer to UT starting my second year. I applied to UT and was accepted. However, I decided I did not want to leave UNT it had became more important to me than UT could have ever been. I am currently a senior and I must admit there have been many times I wanted to pack my bags and leave UNT. I did not want to leave because I disliked UNT, I wanted to leave because I was fed up with an apathetic student body that showed no interest in their school and showed no desire to improve it. It angered me that so many students were okay with accepting UNT as a "commuter school" or a small time liberal arts university. By passing the referendum the students have now proved to me that I made the right decision in stay at UNT. The significance of the vote passing is so much larger then the stadium or even the AD in general. The significance of the vote passing is about a shift from having "potential" to actually capitalizing on that potential. I am not talking about a better FB team, I am talking about building a better UNT. The attitude of students for many years has been that UNT is nothing special. So many students leave UNT to never come back, donate, or even think about thier univeristy. Remind me, how many alumni live in the DFW? I do not remember but I know it is huge. How many of those alumni actually give back to UNT? How many have come back to thier alma mater? How many of them have even thought of UNT? The overall attitude on campus that caused these alumni to not care about THIER university is changing. This is the begining of a new era for UNT. An era where students show pride in thier university. An era where students truly feel the "green" in them. I truly believe that in a few years the students will start to believe the saying "once a member of the mean green nation always a member of the mean green nation." This is just the begining folks, things are changing and I cant wait.

As a student I have done my part to make this stadium get built. I have been encouraging nearly every UNT student I know to vote yes for the stadium for atleast 2 months now. Flyer and many other students have done what I have and much more (specifically flyer, thanks for eveything you have done to better UNT!). During the last few hours I have seen many posts by the alumni members of this board stating they want to contribute to the stadium now. There is a great deal of momentum going now because the stadium vote passed. Will harry or one of the other admins please set up a paypal account for a stadium fund like flyer did for the student vote campaign? This account could be left open for a couple of months and then GMG.COM as a whole could make a contribution to the stadium. Lets capitalize on the momentum we have gained from the passage of this vote! If I had more then 50$ a week of spending cash I would be right thier donating with you. Unfortanatly, I don't and thats why this school needs you the alumni to actually make a real effort and get this stadium built. I know many of you donate to UNT and I appreciate it but I know many of you do not donate anything. Many of you complain about the AD not asking for your small time donations, well this is your chance. All of your donations together could be large! We the studetns have provided all of you with something you have been wanting for many years. IT IS YOUR TURN!!!! Show your appreciation for what the students acomplished this week and bring your half of the deal.

PLEASE Harry or one of you admins do not let this idea die like all the other times it has come up. Please try and capitalize on the momentum we have gained from this vote. Show the students that it is not only them that cares about the future of UNT!

Edited October 19, 2008 by LAZER

[LAZER]

Please if you are one of the alumni that posted earlier tonight that you wanted to give money to UNT post on this thread. I want to show Harry and the other admins that we are really serious about this. If you are one of the alumni that always post that they do not ask for your small time donations post on this thread. Stop talking and start making a difference!!!!

[Rudy]

Ill give what I can whenever the opportunities arise.

Edited October 19, 2008 by Rudy

[JesseMartin]

I'm in. I've tried like 4 or 5 "donation threads" so far and nobody else seems to care. With a couple of exceptions, most of us on here aren't rich enough yet to donate tens of thousands alone, so I proposed a gomeangreen.com stadium fund, so that as a group we can put together a chunk big enough for at least a couple of lockers to be named after our group.

I'm also still in to chop off my pinky if it will raise a few million for the stadium.

[eulessismore]

I'm in. I've tried like 4 or 5 "donation threads" so far and nobody else seems to care. With a couple of exceptions, most of us on here aren't rich enough yet to donate tens of thousands alone, so I proposed a gomeangreen.com stadium fund, so that as a group we can put together a chunk big enough for at least a couple of lockers to be named after our group.

I'm also still in to chop off my pinky if it will raise a few million for the stadium.

Dude, that's crazy talk! No pinky guillotining yet has raised anywhere near that kind of money! Honestly, people from UNT have become millionaires in recent years by becoming really good at photoshop.

[Smitty]

Dude, that's crazy talk! No pinky guillotining yet has raised anywhere near that kind of money! Honestly, people from UNT have become millionaires in recent years by becoming really good at photoshop.

Not anyone I know.

[Got5onIt]

I'm in for a donation. I'm hoping the athletic department does something like BUY A BRICK for teh new stadium.

[emmitt01]

I said I would double my MGC donation and I will...I just think I'll kick the additional half each year into a stadium fund.

[DeepGreen]

Lazer, I hear what you are saying. A donation on behalf of GoMeanGreen.com is a great idea and I'm in for that too.

What our AD and Administration must do as soon as the BOR and Tx Legislature approve the athletic fee, is to immediately begin putting out the "new stadium donation/committment packets" to all Alumni. I've been waiting on this since the talk of a new stadium/Fouts refurb was first mentioned several years ago. It's in the universities hands now to get this ball rolling. My "check writing" hand is ready. Let's Roll!

Edited October 19, 2008 by DeepGreen

[TIgreen01]

What our AD and Administration must do as soon as the BOR and Tx Legislature approve the athletic fee, is to immediately begin putting out the "new stadium donation/committment packets" to all Alumni. I've been waiting on this since the talk of a new stadium/Fouts refurb was first mentioned several years ago. It's in the universities hands now to get this ball rolling. My "check writing" hand is ready. Let's Roll!

Yep, me too....and I can pretty much guarantee that I can now talk a couple others from the office into giving as well.

[FanofUNT]

I have know idea if this would work, but Facebook and LinkedIn both have UNT Alumni sites. Could we post information about the new stadium? maybe a paypal account on the UNT Alumni Facebook site?

[JayDub]

I said I would double my MGC donation and I will...I just think I'll kick the additional half each year into a stadium fund.

I said I would finally get around to joining the MGC if it passed...and I will as soon as I get my bonus check next month.

Edited October 19, 2008 by JayDub

[akriesman]

I'm in for a donation. I'm hoping the athletic department does something like BUY A BRICK for teh new stadium.

I second this. The "buy a brick" or "donor wall" strategy always seems to work really well. It is one thing to have personal pride in contributing to a new stadium fund. But, having your name etched in the structure adds an extra sense of pride and feeling of ownership. And, it is something to tell your kids or grandkids about someday, when UNT sports grows to the level it should for a 30k+ university.

I have no doubt that every alumni here on the board will contribute to the stadium cause. But, I am anxious to see what RV and the others have planned for a coordinated drive effort.

Personally, I don't think there is an immediate need to rush into funding here at GMG. I would rather wait for a more coordinated effort that will result in larger donations. The support will come when needed by the university.

Just my opinion on the matter.

[MDH]

Great idea BUT, don't use a Paypal account...they hsouldn't get 3% of our donations. Set up a bank account somewhere or something...

[UNTLifer]

Are stadium funds tax deductible?

[FirefightnRick]

Great idea BUT, don't use a Paypal account...they hsouldn't get 3% of our donations. Set up a bank account somewhere or something...

Lazer has an excellent idea, however the AD will be doing exactly as he has suggested. The part that GMG.com can play in it is have a very LOUD, VISIBLE link to it pinned at the top of the board. And I am willing to bet the AD will be working closely with the Admin's to do just this.

Rick

[JesseMartin]

Yes, stadium funds are tax deductible.

What about the admins on the board setting something up on here so we can all throw $$ in? Think about this...if each of us gives even 5 or 10 bucks every paycheck, by the time they're putting the "little details" on the stadium in early 2011 (like naming small stuff, plaques, etc), we would have a ton...let's say there are about 200 of us regularly active on here. 200 x 5=1,000 every 2 weeks or 26,000 per year. With 5 bucks each every two weeks from 200 of us, depending on the "naming rights" deadline, we would have between $60,000 and $75,000 to donate!!!

[Lurker]

Something that I have proposed multiple times to Advancement that never seems to get any response is the "monthly pledge". I'm always told its too small of a gift to consider. They are only interested one time gifts of five figures or more.

I went to a small private college - it was about 1000 students when I graduated and about 1300 now. Each year, they ask all alumni to make a "loyalty fund" pledge. It's a small gift each month by bank draft that goes to a specific fund if requested, or in general, to the loyalty account. They ask everyone to make at least a $10 per month pledge. The fund pays for certain projects around campus and generally raises at least $100,000 undesignated gifts each year - this at a very small college. How's it working for them? Their endowment fund according to 2007 numbers was $54.7 million - UNT's is $92.6 million. Keep in mind this college is only a fraction of UNT's size.

How much money could UNT raise if they simply asked everyone to send $10 a month? 1,000 doing that would mean $10,000 a month and $120,000 a year. And there are 200,000 alumni just in the DFW area.

Just do it. Don't wait for Advancement. Just make sure Advancement knows what it is for so they don't put it in "general funds".

[LAZER]

I agree with most of you that we should not give 3% away for using paypal. Paypal was just an example. I just want a very accessible way for all the alumni to be able to donate a little here and there for the coming year or so. I bet in about a year the money would be a huge amount. Maybe a direct link on gmg.com? I know many of you care about UNT and wive give all that you could. An account set up by gmg.com would go directly to the stadium not to all athletics.

Harry/Admins PLEASE DO NOT LET THIS IDEA DIE YET ANOTHER TIME!!!!! Take some action and make it happen! I would set something up but most of you would understandably not trust a random student like me with your money. You all trust GMG.com because you know they want the best for the program. That is why I am asking Harry and the admins do act on this idea!

Like I said in my original post, we the students did our part now it is your turn! Keep this thread going and everyone who is actually interested in the idea please make a post that says so. If we keep this thread going long enough by showing support I am sure Harry and the admins will not ignore the idea!!

[UNTflyer]

I would say that it would be best to give to the stadium fund run by the AD. This fundraising will kick off next month.

[3XNTGRAD]

I know that the university will begin a massive capital campaign in the near future, so they will be asking for your money.

Just an addendum to this concept:

Why does anyone have to wait to be asked before donating?

You know this process has started - so make your donation and designate "Football Stadium Fund" on it right away.

[GreenAlums]

There are over 100K UNT Alumni in the DFW area.

[JesseMartin]

Well, we could each give a one-time gift of $5 and then send the rest as a lump through gmg.com...then we'd get a bump in the rankings and still get some gmg.com lockers!

[KRAM1]

I'll donate...

GO MEAN GREEN!

[Cerebus]

I'll have to check on this, but I am not sure that if you give gmg.com money, and then gmg.com donates that money, that it counts as a charitable donation for you.

If aren't concerned about the tax benefit, then its a good idea. Of course, you could always give a large donation that you want the tax credit for directly to the university, then we could take a collection of smaller donations online.

Also, there is no free money handling, if we don't pay paypal, we pay whatever credit card processing company we use.