Christopher Asa returns to the podcast after almost five years in between episodes (Ep. 161). In that time, he's worked for MiLB at the Montgomery Biscuits, the ACC's Florida Seminoles and with the Florida A&M Rattlers. Asa's role with FAMU oversees revenue generation for ticket sales, fundraising and overall external relations. Asa talks about the challenges as well as the successes of working at a HBCU, especially when it comes to the impact on student-athletes of working at FAMU. Asa shares his story of tweeting NCAA critic Jay Bilas about a FAMU "money game" against Arkansas, and the positive impact it had on how donors viewed the FAMU transportation fund. Twitter: @ChrisAsa1
Dr. Brett Burchette has become a fixture of Drexel's campus life; Burchette has served as a member of the sports management faculty, as an associate athletic director for development and now as executive director of the overall LeBow College of Business fundraising initiative. Burchette recounts the advice provided by a sitting athletic director, who brought him into athletic development, and then into the third party marketing arm of Nelligan. Burchette talks about relationship building, especially with his past students, and how to engage campus alumni. Twitter: @BrettBurchette
Dedan Brozino represents how truly community development can continue the legacy of a rich college football tradition. As executive director of Pasadena's Rose Bowl, Brozino focuses on stadium upgrades within the historical confines, including ways to build support through various civic and philanthropic initiatives. Brozino talks about his past roles at CSU Long Beach as a Sr. Associate Athletic Director, and the differences between serving on a college campus to now selling a college football venue. Twitter: @DedanBrozino
Some of the best experience in sports can happen in a virtual cuisinart, as Tim Rice can attest from his time at San Jose State, where he had to fundraise in a time that saw a drastic amount of change for the university. Now at Northern Illinois University, Rice talks about the lessons learned at campuses where the money is tight, and you have to be continually creative in order to build new revenue streams. Rice talks about why his current title at NIU, Sr. Assistant Athletic Director of Revenue Generation, is vitally important in order to ensure clarity with donors and prospects for the importance of creating new economic streams for the student-athlete experience. Twitter: @TJRice
The end of this episode probably has one of the largest "drop the mic" moments recorded from all of the guests on the Tao of Sports. Sr. Associate Athletic Director Bill Lansden discusses the greater financial landscape of college athletics, where even in the Power 5 Conferences, there are have-nots, and may end up being less sports in order to financially compete with the upper, upper echelon. Lansden has been in several scenarios where fundraising is not only a component, but crucial to making up the shortfalls left by bad media rights estimations, coach departures, and even sports being eliminated such as at the University of Alabama-Birmingham. It boils down to a complex discussion with donor intention, as well as where college fundraising overall is potentially headed. Twitter: @BillLansden
If there's one person who can own a room simply by walking into it, Wayne Stickney has that title outright. Long Beach State's Sr. Associate Athletic Director for Major Gifts & Revenue Acquisition, "The Stick" talks about how to engage donors from the lowest giving levels and earn their trust enough to build a base of solid support through a multi-level, multi-year engagement. Stickney discusses some of the ways that he has learned to embrace change, as well as handle expectations of those above him with the realities of financial gift support when it comes to the budgetary process. Stickney chats about his overall vision for athletics as a community relations tool, as well as how he views the professional development of those he supervises in the department. Twitter: @Styckrunner
From ticket sales to development, Michael Espada charts his course for how he sells both the immediate buy and the long term ask in college athletics. Espada shares his insight into the development process, including the length process of major gift fundraising. But that doesn't mean that Espada has forgotten his roots, going back to helping form one of the first in-house ticket models for college athletics. Espada talks about the challenges of getting administrators on board with paying a commission-structure, as well as initiating sales in renewal cycles. Twitter: @82Nole4Life
The art of running a fundraising club is different at the Division III level, as Dan Bolsen can relate, especially when it comes to getting $100 gifts that matter and fully involving legendary coaches in the fundraising asks. Bolsen shares his experiences as a non-alumnus during his budding tenure at Milikin University and fully admits that a lot of his donors are also donating to large DI programs. Bolsen talks about how the development process works at a smaller school, where pounding the pavement goes hand-in-hand with gaining the trust as well as respect of those donors. Bolsen also discusses his experiences helping run a family farm, and what values he has taken from that daily to his current position. Twitter: @DanBolsen
The role of a development officer when creating the relationship is one of Coleman Barnes' main assets to a campus athletic department. At Miami University in Ohio as an associate athletic director, Barnes lays out his vision of what great stewardship of donors should look like. Barnes discusses several of the key components in terms of developing a metric that works for development officers, as well as ensuring that the relationship building isn't merely "party planning" but actual transition toward a gift-making decision. Barnes shares his view on the pending budget issue regarding the IRS tax benefit for annual fund gifts, especially if the practice goes away, and how that may affect athletic departments across the country. Twitter: @ColemanBarnes
Understanding the goals of the University of Denver in athletics takes extra time, since their values are deeply rooted in their mission statement toward student-athletes. Their success isn't as common place as one might think, as lacrosse's 2015 national championship, 7 NCAA Titles For hockey, and 22 for skiing. This means Ryan Peck must pay close attention to fostering each of those priorities in terms of development and external affairs, especially with an across-the-board mentality toward unique sports and their branding opportunities. Peck discusses how the Denver brand is pushed out into the community, as well as ways that he fosters dynamic relationships with alumni over the giving choices that they make. Part of it also becomes a discussion on why Peck has an Associate Vice Chancellor title instead of the common athletic department ones, specifically to provide a continuity across campus in how each person is perceive and their role in the community. Twitter: @Ryan_Peck