Please understand what I mean when I say we make the campaign public at the 50 percent mark. Even after we hit the 50 percent mark, we always continue to pursue the leadership type gifts and the five to eight-figure gifts. You've probably read and heard that 5 percent of the people fund 95 percent of a project and that's been historically true. It takes 1,000 people donating $1000 to equal a single $1 million gift. But if we can get both, then we have $2 million. Right?
As for the value of renderings.... Yes, they help but we have always had leaders who are willing to commit gifts to projects based on needs even before we have renderings. Our meetings with those leaders are to explain the need and if they agree with the need and choose to be a part of the solution, many are willing to trust and commit even before we have the details on what that facility will look like. I guess that's why we call them "leadership gifts". We have $7 million committed thus far and could well have $20 million committed by December with or without renderings.
As I've said in previous posts, I expect we'll have a clear direction and renderings long before then. Renderings will certainly help.
If you care to know the truth, check the financial statements. Page 17. FSU athletics ran at a $(25.4)MM operating loss in 2016, compared to a $2.3MM operating profit in 2015. That loss was driven largely by a massive increase in salaries, and a drop in ticket revenue. The operating loss was covered by a large inflow from Seminole Boosters.
The article attached in the thread, which is actually 2015-16 Fiscal year, is showing a combination of the Athletic Department and Booster financials. The athletics department and the Boosters do have separate accounting systems but reported the combined to the NCAA which is typically what is reported by USA Today. When asked by the Democrat or Warchant, we use the combined accounting.
The deficit of 2015-16 was covered in detail by Ira in a Warchant story (I am researching on the site). He met with our accountants and he did a good job of reporting what they told him.
NJNoles, I also want to make it clear to everyone on here that there is no "Magic Wand". Seminole Boosters collects ticket priority dollars on behalf of the athletics department. (This money is a large part of the transfer). At schools, where their Boosters are within the athletic department, there is no need for a transfer as it comes directly into the budget. There are many schools structured like we are so you have to always be sure you are looking at combined financial statements.
Her father and 2 brothers attended UF and are Bull Gators, thus, she was dissuaded from setting up her endowment with FSU after her invention of Spanx and deciding late in her college of choice (only attended FSU for 3 years) to honor the Family Code.......
I was in charge of Dunlap Champions Club project so I have accurate knowledge and will share it. As for College Town, my knowledge is not as detailed so I’ll share my opinion there.
We were able to secure an $85 million bond to build the Dunlap Champion Club, fund $7 million worth of renovations to skybox windows and AC and fund more than $20 million worth of much overdue repairs and maintenance to Doak Campbell Stadium.
This is a good example of a revenue-producing facility being able to fund other projects.
We pre-sold enough seats to give banks confidence to loan the money and showed a profit in both the first and second year on the club, including covering the cost of all the other improvements. So the club revenues accomplished our most-pressing need to fix Doak and still turned a profit.
As sales increase, and the profit increases, it increases our capacity to transfer that profit to athletics which is another objective. We are continuing to sell seats as season tickets so we will have more profit in year 3 than in other years. And we have about 1500 more seats available so we have the opportunity to grow that even more.
We also compensate athletics for the seats given up to build the project and for season tickets for seats sold so their ticket revenue from the south endzone is better than before.
The numbers I’ve shared do not include major gifts donated either to the club itself or to other athletics facilities as a result of cultivation within the club. I would guess we could attribute more than $10 million in major gifts to facilities or scholarships as a result of the club.
This was one of the goals of the club. We learned from others who had built clubs that a significant percentage of their campaign donors come from within their club seat sections. The club is a great option for our donors, or their spouses, who can no longer enjoy coming to the stadium on game day. The club provides them with elevators and shade or air conditioning essential to enjoying the game day experience and staying connected to the university.
As you probably know, the club is open year round for university, community events, weddings, conference – some 3000 events each year – and is exposing our stadium to people who live in our community who are graduates of other universities. As a result of the club, many have chosen to get involved with FSU by buying club seats and joining Seminole Boosters. Nearly every time there is a major event in the club we gain new members. I haven’t tried to quantify that but should. We generate profit on those events.
We also think the Dunlap Champions Club enhances the fan experience on game day and throughout the year which is good stewardship and helps our renewal rates and provides athletics and the university with a showcase facility for recruiting and entertainment to achieve their goals.
As for College Town.
Here’s my less informed opinions, which are probably more-informed than I give myself credit for. I think College Town’s critics focus too much on the income statement and what the current year profit or loss may be. As a businessman, you have to look at the income statement but I think you make a mistake if you do not also have a broader and longer view when evaluating a new project. Here’s my thoughts:
You have to look at what College Town is doing for your balance sheet and in this case the value of our real estate holdings which have appreciated greatly as a result of College Town. We took a blighted piece of land donated to us and drove its value and the value of another 20 acres nearby up dramatically with this investment. North American Properties made it very clear they invested in the area as a result of Seminole Boosters commitment. The real estate values in the area have increased appreciably which means our unrealized appreciation on our real estate holdings have grown significantly (perhaps as much as $50 million or more). This unrealized appreciation will one day benefit our scholarship endowment, a portion of which was invested in College Town as part of diversified stock/real estate investment strategy. If and when we sell CT the proceeds will increase our scholarship endowment which allows us to transfer more money to athletics each year to offset scholarship costs. So this is a real investment that is growing and some day will be appreciated more than it is today.
Seventy percent of our season ticket holders live a long way from Tallahassee, so while the team performance and schedule are critical, Seminole Boosters has always believed we need to create a Friday-Sunday experience so our fans have a good reason to make the long drive and to help justify the two-night minimums. As you visit Athens, Georgia, Boulder, Colorado, Madison, Wisconsin or just about any new professional stadium, you see these great mixed use entertainment districts adjacent to the stadium to extend the experience. We never had that at FSU and our fans let us know it. Now we do and we will continue to activate the area in new and interesting ways for the demographic who is looking for that experience.
It would be short sighted not to include what College Town has meant in generating and retaining ticket sales, Booster annual and major gift contributions in the financial analysis.
As a FSU Direct Support Organization, our mission is to enhance the university as well as to provide funding to athletics. College Town was the cornerstone for enhancing a blighted and dangerous side of campus. The area is now home to more than 4,000 students and will welcome a Publix store this fall and new boutique hotel in the near future. When I first came to visit FSU in 1971, my soon to be father-in-law was driving me through the area and noted: “This area could use a damn-good fire.” If he were alive today, he probably wouldn’t like parts of CollegeTown but I’m fairly certain he’d agree it’s a huge enhancement.
Yes. Sorry for the length...
I was in charge of Dunlap Champions Club project so I have accurate knowledge and will share it. As for College Town, my knowledge is not as detailed so I’ll share my opinion there.
We were able to secure an $85 million bond to build the Dunlap Champion Club, fund $7 million worth of renovations to skybox windows and AC and fund more than $20 million worth of much overdue repairs and maintenance to Doak Campbell Stadium.
This is a good example of a revenue-producing facility being able to fund other projects.
We pre-sold enough seats to give banks confidence to loan the money and showed a profit in both the first and second year on the club, including covering the cost of all the other improvements. So the club revenues accomplished our most-pressing need to fix Doak and still turned a profit.
As sales increase, and the profit increases, it increases our capacity to transfer that profit to athletics which is another objective. We are continuing to sell seats as season tickets so we will have more profit in year 3 than in other years. And we have about 1500 more seats available so we have the opportunity to grow that even more.
We also compensate athletics for the seats given up to build the project and for season tickets for seats sold so their ticket revenue from the south endzone is better than before.
The numbers I’ve shared do not include major gifts donated either to the club itself or to other athletics facilities as a result of cultivation within the club. I would guess we could attribute more than $10 million in major gifts to facilities or scholarships as a result of the club.
This was one of the goals of the club. We learned from others who had built clubs that a significant percentage of their campaign donors come from within their club seat sections. The club is a great option for our donors, or their spouses, who can no longer enjoy coming to the stadium on game day. The club provides them with elevators and shade or air conditioning essential to enjoying the game day experience and staying connected to the university.
As you probably know, the club is open year round for university, community events, weddings, conference – some 3000 events each year – and is exposing our stadium to people who live in our community who are graduates of other universities. As a result of the club, many have chosen to get involved with FSU by buying club seats and joining Seminole Boosters. Nearly every time there is a major event in the club we gain new members. I haven’t tried to quantify that but should. We generate profit on those events.
We also think the Dunlap Champions Club enhances the fan experience on game day and throughout the year which is good stewardship and helps our renewal rates and provides athletics and the university with a showcase facility for recruiting and entertainment to achieve their goals. As for College Town.
Here’s my less informed opinions, which are probably more-informed than I give myself credit for. I think College Town’s critics focus too much on the income statement and what the current year profit or loss may be. As a businessman, you have to look at the income statement but I think you make a mistake if you do not also have a broader and longer view when evaluating a new project. Here’s my thoughts:
You have to look at what College Town is doing for your balance sheet and in this case the value of our real estate holdings which have appreciated greatly as a result of College Town. We took a blighted piece of land donated to us and drove its value and the value of another 20 acres nearby up dramatically with this investment. North American Properties made it very clear they invested in the area as a result of Seminole Boosters commitment. The real estate values in the area have increased appreciably which means our unrealized appreciation on our real estate holdings have grown significantly (perhaps as much as $50 million or more). This unrealized appreciation will one day benefit our scholarship endowment, a portion of which was invested in College Town as part of diversified stock/real estate investment strategy. If and when we sell CT the proceeds will increase our scholarship endowment which allows us to transfer more money to athletics each year to offset scholarship costs. So this is a real investment that is growing and some day will be appreciated more than it is today.
Seventy percent of our season ticket holders live a long way from Tallahassee, so while the team performance and schedule are critical, Seminole Boosters has always believed we need to create a Friday-Sunday experience so our fans have a good reason to make the long drive and to help justify the two-night minimums. As you visit Athens, Georgia, Boulder, Colorado, Madison, Wisconsin or just about any new professional stadium, you see these great mixed use entertainment districts adjacent to the stadium to extend the experience. We never had that at FSU and our fans let us know it. Now we do and we will continue to activate the area in new and interesting ways for the demographic who is looking for that experience.
It would be short sighted not to include what College Town has meant in generating and retaining ticket sales, Booster annual and major gift contributions in the financial analysis.
As a FSU Direct Support Organization, our mission is to enhance the university as well as to provide funding to athletics. College Town was the cornerstone for enhancing a blighted and dangerous side of campus. The area is now home to more than 4,000 students and will welcome a Publix store this fall and new boutique hotel in the near future. When I first came to visit FSU in 1971, my soon to be father-in-law was driving me through the area and noted: “This area could use a damn-good fire.” If he were alive today, he probably wouldn’t like parts of CollegeTown but I’m fairly certain he’d agree it’s a huge enhancement.
Also, it's beyond pathetic that there are so many sackless lemmiwinks who bought into the previous coach's lies hook, line and sinker in regards to the Boosters "poor" management of funds.
None of those losers once complained about the Champions Club or College Town - both of which have been irrefutable successes - until last fall/winter.
The man worked relentlessly behind the scenes so that he'd never have to honor his FSU contract for more than a year at a time, but now all these clowns take him at his word on something so obviously full of ***?
Poor Jerry, having to deal with those idiots every day.
Blakely created an endowment at UF?
ReplyDeleteNot sure honestly.
DeleteAlso, it's beyond pathetic that there are so many sackless lemmiwinks who bought into the previous coach's lies hook, line and sinker in regards to the Boosters "poor" management of funds.
ReplyDeleteNone of those losers once complained about the Champions Club or College Town - both of which have been irrefutable successes - until last fall/winter.
The man worked relentlessly behind the scenes so that he'd never have to honor his FSU contract for more than a year at a time, but now all these clowns take him at his word on something so obviously full of ***?
Poor Jerry, having to deal with those idiots every day.
Jerry does a great job. Even though it is difficult, I think he does a valuable service communicating the Booster position.
Delete