Phone a thon

[Galway Eagle]

call me a few years after graduation

Haha I'm already on year five ill be long gone when you're getting calls. But ill leave a memo to hit you up. 

[Eldon]

I think what they should do is base it upon what they gave previously plus about a 10% upgrade.  Very easy to calculate.

The worry when they do something like that is that you might be leaving money on the table, and while that might be true, you also have to worry about coming off like you are unsympathetic to their actual capabilities.  Also you want to have callers that have had some success because it builds up their confidence, etc.

Definitely valid points.

I'd be curious to hear Keefe's opinion/experience on fundraising.

[ChicosBailBonds]

Wonder if he did this at Indiana? Maybe it worked well and that's part of the reason the school was cool with giving him a massive, amortizing $16 million buyout (reported to and by the masses as a max of $8 million).

Nonetheless, I think it's a good idea to have student-athletes make some calls.. when I've had season tickets at other schools I think I've always gotten such a call.. each year.. not a player from the specific sport, but a scholarship athlete.. "hi, just calling to say thanks for supporting our athletics programs, really appreciate it.. have a great day"

Of course, I look at it more as, "cripes, why are you wasting my time.. calling for no reason", but I think the average person does appreciate it.

For some of us weirdos, calling right after a big win would be smart. If some dork would have called me after Jimmy Butler's shot at St. John's and said, "hey! did you see that shot?!!!! Can you spare a little cheddar to help student-athletes like JFB?" I might have wired a small fortune over to MU.

Still waiting for the docs.  I spoke to Indy Star guy I know and another IU beat reporter, they know nothing about it.  Not saying you are wrong, but as they both said it would be pretty stupid to say something publicly like that which is easy to track down.  Love to see that documentation from you guys.

[Jay Bee]

Still waiting for the docs.  I spoke to Indy Star guy I know and another IU beat reporter, they know nothing about it.  Not saying you are wrong, but as they both said it would be pretty stupid to say something publicly like that which is easy to track down.  Love to see that documentation from you guys.

Commit to your take.

You'd see documentation then either say, "well, I still don't believe it", or say "well, it's no big deal. So what."

You emailed the AD when someone said a comment was made on a private plane trip.. and posted his response on this message board. Why wouldn't you do the same in this situation. "Hey, I hear that the $8MM buyout was really the amount that Crean would owe you guys.. but, the amortizing amount started at $16MM for you guys if you early terminated him. Is that right? And it's approximately $14MM as of today? I'm sure it can't be because that would be pretty stupid of you to say what you said publicly. Plus, I checked multiple people "that would know" and they didn't. But, wanted to confirm straight from the horses mouth so I could correct these crazies!"

Looking forward to an update! Glad to have gotten the update on the Indy Star writer and another beat writer. Pretty interesting.

[chapman]

I gotta figure, like me, most people hate being asked over the phone.  Even those who are inclined to give, just hate being put on the spot.

$300 does seem high, unless your list of calls are alums whose kids are already out of college.

Agree with all.  Asking for that amount for that age group seems way too high.  $50 or $100 would at least be reasonable, unless they can provide some data to back it up, i.e. if I ask how much it's suggested I donate and they tell me the median donation for my age group is $300 I'd be more inclined to give than if it was some imaginary figure. 

And also agree that phone calls suck.  I screen out numbers I don't recognize, and even though I now recognize the MU donation seeker number now they've got to get me to decide to answer when I know full well who's calling and what they want.  TBH, I rarely if ever get e-mails from MU (and certainly not from students), and I think the only snail mail I get is the MU magazine and maybe one very generic donation request each year.  So since I don't really feel spammed currently, I'd actually be receptive to seeing more of that as mail/e-mail from MU gets opened by me. 

Also, I don't recall, but if you order single game tickets online or merchandise from the Spirit Shop, is there something that asks you to add a donation?  An add-on donation when you're already buying something should have a pretty high success rate.

[Lennys Tap]

Still waiting for the docs.  I spoke to Indy Star guy I know and another IU beat reporter, they know nothing about it.  Not saying you are wrong, but as they both said it would be pretty stupid to say something publicly like that which is easy to track down.  Love to see that documentation from you guys.

Why waste time with flunkies from the local rags? If your boy Fred will weigh in on TC's travels and conversations I'm sure he be delighted to set this straight.

[Sir Lawrence]

$300 does seem high, unless your list of calls are alums whose kids are already out of college.

KB, all of my kids (4) are out of college, but here's the thing.  I get calls from their high schools, AND their colleges.  My problem is that I know the callers are kids who need the money, and if they do a decent job with the call, I usually donate. 

I agree with most of the comments regarding $300, however.  For recent grads, why not start at $50, and scale up $50 each five years out. 

[ChicosBailBonds]

Why waste time with flunkies from the local rags? If your boy Fred will weigh in on TC's travels and conversations I'm sure he be delighted to set this straight.

He has already weighed in.  The burden of proof is on the person accusing, in my opinion.  I'm not going to run to Fred every 10 minutes, especially with the amount of made up crap here.  Is this one made up, who knows, but enough has been to pick and choose your battles.

[warriorchick]

About ten years ago, we got a all from University of Chicago (jsglow's grad school) and the student asked for $1,000 right off.  I burst out laughing. I got the impression that it wasn't the first time that happened to that poor kid.

And Boxer, my daughter is one of those "glorified cab drivers."  Odds are she has hauled your drunk ass around on at least one occasion.  And by the way, it's one of the best-paying student jobs on campus, especially when you work your way up to supervisor like she has.

[Jay Bee]

He has already weighed in.  The burden of proof is on the person accusing, in my opinion.  I'm not going to run to Fred every 10 minutes, especially with the amount of made up crap here.  Is this one made up, who knows, but enough has been to pick and choose your battles.

"Let me pick my battles. OK, some guy said a comment was made on a private airplane... let me run this one past my guy Fred..."

If/when you admit that the facts are as I say, will you expound on your thoughts? To date I think you've just said "it would be pretty stupid", "it would be surprising", etc... inferring that you think it would mean your guy intentionally misled people (that's your stance - not mine).

Meanwhile what I asked in the first place was what you thought about the buyout amounts and them being in heavy favor of Crean... including your thoughts relative to the buyout provisions in the UCLA/Alford contract that you were so disgusted by.

You still have not answered.

[Galway Eagle]

Not to be "this guy" because I hate Crean and the Chicos that has an alter to Crean as much as the next guy but can we stick to the phone a thon? I mean really this isn't about Crean/IU/Chicos/scoophaters/anything else other than me asking for some pointers.  So please I don't think I'm asking much.