WESTERN STATE COLLEGE of COLORADO ATHLETIC DEPARTMENT FUND-RAISING POLICY. Updated: December 10, Drafted by: Greg Waggoner, Athletic Director

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1 WESTERN STATE COLLEGE of COLORADO ATHLETIC DEPARTMENT FUND-RAISING POLICY Updated: December 10, 2008 Drafted by: Greg Waggoner, Athletic Director Clarification This policy is specifically designed for Western State College of Colorado Athletic Department. WSC is very unique, as it is a 4-Year state college of approximately 2,500 students located in the community of Gunnison, Colorado with approximately 6,000 residents. Gunnison is located in a remote high mountain valley approximately 35 miles West of the Continental Divide at an elevation of 7,703 feet in elevation. WSC is the highest 4-Year college or university in the world and competes in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) and the NCAA Division II. The WSC gymnasium and football bowl and track are the highest 4-Year Collegiate facilities in the world. Gunnison is located 200 miles Southwest of Denver and it takes a two-lane highway through mountains, canyons and mountain valleys to drive from Denver. Gunnison has the coldest average temperature in the continental United States and it gets 20 to 40 degrees below zero on a regular basis for extended times in the winter along with significant snowfall. Gunnison is geographically isolated and one must drive at least one hour to get to any community of similar or greater size than Gunnison and it is over 2 hours from a community of 100,000. Colorado funds their higher education at or near the bottom compared to other states. Most coaches and administrators involved with intercollegiate athletics would agree that it is ideal for a coach to be able to concentrate on coaching, especially at the NCAA D-II level. If fund-raising were to take place that it would take place by the administration and the institutional foundation and the coach would have minimal duties relative to these endeavors. Most would also agree that an assistant athletic director for Development (in the athletic department or in the development office) and an assistant athletic director for Marketing (Central Office Staff) be in place to conduct these necessary tasks, as fund-raising is a reality of all sport related programs today. This document, the Model Athletic Department document drafted by the NCAA Division II Athletic Director s Association and adopted by the NCAA D-II President s Council and the NCAA D-II Management Council, also addresses the need for fund-raising infrastructure.

2 However, this policy outlined below is best applied in a smaller athletic department where fund-raising is an absolute necessity, and the Central Office Staff is minimal. However, components of this policy can be modified to fit any level of athletic department fund-raising. With that said, WSC has only two Assistant Athletic Directors. One of them is primarily in charge of Internal Operations and Compliance. This includes budget, and day to day operations. The other Assistant Athletic Director is the Senior Woman Administrator (SWA) and is in charge of all home events, coordinating three major fund-raising events, booster club liaison, over-sight of some equipment and laundry personnel, SAAC, and coordinating with our high level corporate partners for their half-times at their designated branded event. The Athletic Director at WSC, in addition to daily A.D. duties, is in charge of cultivating and signing all corporate sponsorships, most booster club functions, and all development work including, but not limited to capital campaigns, endowments, planned giving, deferred gifts, annual funddrives, new facility fund-drives, etc., etc. Purpose The primary purpose is to raise additional funds for scholarships, salaries, equipment, travel, facilities, etc. in an effort to compete with our larger, better funded competitive peers, thus also improving the co-educational value and experience of the studentathlete at WSC. Fund-Raising does not have to be a burden. It is a necessity, so finding positives are important. Part of the benefits and purpose of this policy and the functions of fundraising are coeducational in nature and some are practical in nature. 1. When student-athletes, graduate assistants, and young professionals interact with people in the networking, friend raising, fund-raising, public relations, external relations business, this raises their skill level in many dimensions and helps to brand and market them as individuals and also their individual programs. It also keeps alumni, fans, boosters, students, community, etc. all connected in a more personal and positive fashion. 2. In the spirit also of #1, fund-raising in many dimensions makes for a form of Community Engagement and there is substantial overlap. 3. When student-athletes are highly involved with fund-raising and meeting boosters, fans, alumni, community members, etc., it helps them to better understand how the athletic department depends on the funds and support of these people. This is helping to cultivate the philanthropists and donors of tomorrow for our programs, as well as other causes this person may deem worthy to support in their community. This is part of the process in Making the Champion Leaders of Tomorrow.

3 Background The Western State College (WSC) Athletic Department is highly engaged and dependent upon fund-raising in order to compete with our competitive peers in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) and the NCAA Division II. WSC Athletics raises nearly half of the overall budget and that compares to an overall average in the NCAA D-II of 24%. We may be the highest in percentage in the NCAA D-II, but considering the size of our overall budget, institution and community, it is likely the top in the nation. This is conducted with less overall central office support staff than the competitive peers, as well. Our total annual amount of private/enterprise funds WSC Athletics raises is between $1.4 Million and 1.9 Million annually for each of the past four-plus years. These funds have been between in excess of $600,000 annually for over twelve years. Elements of Success There are several reasons for the success of WSC Athletic Fund-Raising including, but not limited to: - A high quality product that our community, alumni, fans and boosters believe in and support well - An aggressive approach and a lot of hard work and commitment by every sector of the athletic department including student-athletes, coaches, central office support staff and our booster volunteers - Creative and multi-dimensional approaches to fund-raising that includes: o Annual fund-raising through Corporate Partner Campaigns, Mountaineer Athletic Association (MAA), and special events for general athletic fundraising. o Capital Campaigns, planned gifts, endowments, and the like that seek sources from the alumni and friends of Mountaineer Athletics, as well as grants. These campaigns are for facilities, and sport specific endowments for scholarships, etc. o Sport Specific fund-raisers that include annual fund-drives, sport specific fund-raisers, summer athletic camps, etc. o Central Office and sport specific enterprises such as gate receipts, program sales, concession sales, other advertising revenue, game guarantees, grant requests, NCAA revenue, etc. o All programs benefit from general athletic fund-raising o High level communication, coordination and cooperation in order to maximize net gain in private fund revenues for the athletic department

4 and to minimize saturating any individual, individual business or demographic The Western State College Foundation is also very aggressive and successful in fundraising for the institution at-large. All policies outlined there and the communication and coordination components are also practiced by the athletic department with the WSC Foundation and the Executive Director so we are not stepping on the same donors at the same time and/or asking for a dime when the other department may be cultivating much more. I. General Athletic Fund-Raising Expectations The following list outlines the expectations of all WSC Athletic full-time employees regarding general athletic fund-raising. These expectations are part of every WSC Athletic full-time employee job description. Moreover, this group effort is part of the cooperation and teamwork necessary to continue to conduct such successful fundraising, which is something we have become critically dependent upon. Since these expectations are a directive and since all programs benefit from sport specific fundraising, failure to engage fully in these activities and produce results may include any one or more of the following: - Individual employee discipline - A specific program may have general athletic private funds reduced from the specific program allocation, resulting in a budget reduction to that program Here is the list of expectations for all full-time WSC Athletic Department employees for general athletic department fund-raising: Things Athletic staff members can do throughout the year to make the annual MAA fund-raising drive and other fund-raising initiatives successful: Providing scholarship Thank you letters from coach and student-athlete (corporate and WSC Foundation endowed) Provide Thank-a-thon volunteers and follow through with them Provide Tenderfoot lists to Loretta when requested

5 Provide volunteers to the annual auction dinner and other such special events Purchasing from the corporate sponsors or at least giving them the opportunity to bid on our business Thanking corporate sponsors, and interacting with them whenever possible. Also, getting your student-athletes to interact with them whenever possible Continuing to give back to the community you personally, and your student-athletes/program through community engagement and service Be sure to obtain prior approval for all sport specific fund-raisers (see Section II below) Be sure you are aggressive in nominating and applying for scholarships for your student-athletes from the scholarship list each spring when the scholarship list comes out (this is critical) Thank any and all volunteers any way and every way you can think of as often as possible. Make them feel noticed, appreciated and very much a part of the Mountaineer Family. This includes volunteers specific to your sport and those helping the athletic program in general Demonstrate WD-40 outreach to the WSC campus community as much as possible (you, your student-athletes, your program) Do your part to help us keep WSC Alumni Athletic data bases accurate by sharing contact information regarding alumni you come across

6 Write and cultivate and communicate with the alumni of your program on a regular basis. Be sure to copy Greg in on your correspondence with your alumni Be sure you and your student-athletes participate actively in such activities as the letter jacket presentation ceremony and other such requests Adhere to the letter and the spirit of # 8 below in Section II of Sport Specific Fund-Raising Thanks! This is a team effort! While it is mandatory for all full-time WSC Athletic Employees to participate in general athletic fund-raising, for the athletic department fund-raising to be truly successful and sustain that success over time the individuals must be committed and enjoy that element of their job. It is something that each individual ought to engage in far beyond the minimum expectations and engage unprompted with enthusiasm. II. Requirements and Expectations for Sport Specific Fund-Raisers (including summer athletic camps) The Western State College Athletic Department not only highly encourages sport specific fund-raising, it requires it. All sport programs at WSC conduct sport specific programs. Some programs have been more aggressive and some less aggressive. However, even with institutional fund-raising and general athletic fund-raising, our individual sport programs cannot compete on a consistent basis with our competitive peers unless they also conduct reasonably aggressive sport specific fund-raising activities. When this level of aggressive fund-raising activity is taking place at a small institution, among more than one department and sub-programs and in a small community with a finite alumni base, it is critical that high level communication, coordination and cooperation take place. Teamwork is an absolute necessary ingredient. Consequently, the following requirements and expectations are in place for all fund-raising activities within the Western State College Athletic Department:

7 1. All fund-raisers must be approved by the Athletic Director PRIOR to beginning any implementation of a fund-raiser. This approval must take place PRIOR to any commitment on any level including, but not limited to any mailings, printing, advertising, promoting, contracting, expending, collecting revenue, etc. All of the specifics must be in place and in writing for the fund-raiser to be approved. 2. All attempts must be made by sport specific fund-raising to target demographics that are not already being targeted for other fund-raisers, whether sport specific or general athletic. 3. All funds must be accounted for within an account set up in the Western State College Foundation. All expenses and revenues must be accounted for. All revenues must be deposited in the WSC Foundation. All checks must be made out to the WSC Foundation. At no time may a check be made out to a person (including a student-athlete and/or a coach). All cash revenue must be accounted for and deposited in the WSC Foundation. The only exceptions to this are outlined in # 4 and # 5 below. 4. All summer camps must adhere to the WSC Camp Model Policies and Procedures. These revenues and expenditures are operated through an account set up as a Western State College account in the accounting office in Taylor Hall. All revenues and expenditures must be operated though these accounts. All revenues must be deposited in these accounts including cash revenues. All checks must be made out to Western State College for that specific camp and at no time shall a check be made out to an individual. 5. All Raffles must adhere to the State of Colorado Secretary of State Raffle laws and WSC Athletics raffle policies. For further information on these see the Assistant Athletic Director for Internal Operations and Compliance or their designee. 6. As with any successful endeavor, it is critical that fund-raisers are planned well ahead of time with high organization, coordination, communication and follow-up. All commitments made relative to any fund-raiser must be honored. 7. All fund-raisers must meet NCAA Rules and Regulations and all funds collected must be for a specific program or the athletic department. At no time may any private funds be solicited or collected for any individual student-athlete for any purpose. For any questions regarding # 7 see the Assistant Athletic Director for Internal Operations and Compliance. 8. All communication regarding fund-raising (or otherwise) from anyone, including a coach or student-athlete, must be in the context of a need for the program, but without sending signals that the athletic administration or the WSC administration does not fairly support any specific program or individual. All communication must send signals that all programs at WSC are similarly challenged with regard

8 to adequate resources, but this challenge is not a result of unfair treatment in any way. All sport programs conduct sport specific funding to meet their full needs. Furthermore, all programs (including the program in question) receive funds and benefits from general athletic fund-raising. It is absolutely critical that the full spirit and intent of # 8 be carefully adhered to by everyone. KEEP MAKING THAT MOUNTAINEER MAGIC AS WE MAKE CHAMPION LEADERS OF TOMORROW