Confidence in you JP

[cyfan92]

Sure sounds like from the conversations I've had with people in the know.. They are already fielding questions from higher-mid and high level donors about what they need to give in order to secure great tickets for football season in 2021.

I believe there are some interesting tax changes from The CARES ACT and other COVID legislation that may make giving more generous for the athletic department

 

[BCClone]

Sure sounds like from the conversations I've had with people in the know.. They are already fielding questions from higher-mid and high level donors about what they need to give in order to secure great tickets for football season in 2021.

I believe there are some interesting tax changes from The CARES ACT and other COVID legislation that may make giving more generous for the athletic department

I have another kid going to ISU next year so I can drop a ticket and bump my donation in that situation. Although I’m concerned about a kid graduating and losing that seat if they want one.

 

[NWICY]

I have talked about this in an older thread. When A&M was in the B12, they started a Century Club encouraging all alumni to donate $100 to the AD. It worked, many did and I swear 1/4 of the cars I would se in Houston had their CC sticker. We need a similar club and reach out to casual fans.

I'm pretty sure we had a century club a few yrs ago but it went away, under the theory everyone was going to pony up more. Not everyone had the extra dollars to do that. Unfortunately not everyone has the resources to donate big dollars.

Edit reading further in the thread maybe the century club still exists.

 

[SECyclone]

Maybe. But it’s also just as likely that some day, Matt Campbell is having a bad day and he looks around and sees that 2/3 of the Big 12 is making more money than him and it frustrates him. We know he is different but he’s not a robot. And 99.999% of people aren’t going to turn down a raise they feel they are deserved.

All that said, I trust JP to do his job and get Campbell what he needs.

We have seen the money that is given to him in raises. He could have taken 90% of it but he takes some and makes sure the rest goes to assistants. Money isn’t his driver. Especially living in Iowa.

 

[SECyclone]

Sure sounds like from the conversations I've had with people in the know.. They are already fielding questions from higher-mid and high level donors about what they need to give in order to secure great tickets for football season in 2021.

I believe there are some interesting tax changes from The CARES ACT and other COVID legislation that may make giving more generous for the athletic department

Really good seats will be slim pickings unless the donations levels for seats jump and people aren’t grandfathered in. Which I believe people will be.

 

[Cydkar]

You have to make sure you are incentivizing small donors particularly those that maybe can’t go to games. Making them understand what their even small contribution adds. Say you get 50,000 people to donate $50. That’s $2,500,000 right there. I don’t think we are properly recruiting those types. When people can’t hit the $100 mark which is the lowest category they just don’t donate because they don’t understand how that helps.

We want to encourage current donors to do more but the big gains are going to be getting a lot more small donors.

Give them a "I helped retain Matt Campbell" window sticker.

 

[TheHelgo]

All the confidence in the world for JP in getting this done, and I do think a more targeted effort at smaller donations from out-of-staters that may not have much desire/ability for tickets would be a good idea. I think the hard core fans already do this, but some nudging for $50 or so from alums that have not donated for a while would make sense.

Regarding CMC and timing: I'm currently not worried at all, but if we get to Thursday without hearing something, that may change a bit.

 

[Sigmapolis]

We have seen the money that is given to him in raises. He could have taken 90% of it but he takes some and makes sure the rest goes to assistants. Money isn’t his driver. Especially living in Iowa.

I agree with you Campbell doesn't seem to be all about money and he seems to want to upgrade facilities and to keep his assistants well-paid before he worries about making sure that he is well-paid.

I think your point about COLA in Iowa is kind of specious for somebody at his level of income, however. Yes, the cost of living is important for, say, an upper-middle class family making $100,000 per year when choosing between the typical suburban home being $300k-$500k in the Midwest (to round upwards) versus being $800k+ around Washington, DC or Boston with a much longer commute, to boot. Campbell makes enough money where these incremental differences in cost of living are not going to be the thing that makes it or breaks it for him. They can afford whatever.

If anything, you should look at the top marginal rate on state income taxes.



A coach making $5 million per year in Iowa is going to have to pay roughly $426,500 in state taxes.

A coach in Texas or Florida isn't going to have to pay *anything* in state taxes.

A couple years of that difference easily obliterates any difference in housing costs. Housing costs are not the concerns of millionaires like it is for the upper-middle class... tax arbitrage starts to matter more.

Iowa is actually relatively uncompetitive on that front.

 

[ISUCyclones2015]

I wonder where JP is with beer sales and the revenue generated?

Looking at the numbers Purdue did 400k in 2018 and Ohio State did 1.2M the same year. I think we'd be in between those based on our attendance in normal years.

Throw in another 200k for basketball maybe? That's a million in extra revenue and we'd only get 40-50% back in profit. So 500k? I guess that would pay for the assistant's pay raises.

 

[theshadow]

I'm pretty sure we had a century club a few yrs ago but it went away, under the theory everyone was going to pony up more. Not everyone had the extra dollars to do that. Unfortunately not everyone has the resources to donate big dollars.

Edit reading further in the thread maybe the century club still exists.

It still exists, but the most popular tangible perks like FB parking and MBB seating went away due to a finite number of spots/seats and increased giving at higher levels.

 

[ISUCyclones2015]

There has to be some elegant way to do $100 for 100 years of Jack Trice. If we're not plastering that logo across the country in 2023 with some sort of donation drive attached, we're dropping the ball.

 

[beentherebefore]

Campbell seems to me to be the type of coach who is generally happy with his pay, but he seems more interested in making sure he keeps his staff (read that as "wishes the staff makes more"--and a good bump in pay for assistants is a big deal for those assistants) and has the tools needed (facilities) to maintain a winning program. I believe our current University administration is on board for these things way more than they ever were in the past.

This is a great time to be a Cyclone!

 

[CysRage]

Sure sounds like from the conversations I've had with people in the know.. They are already fielding questions from higher-mid and high level donors about what they need to give in order to secure great tickets for football season in 2021.

I believe there are some interesting tax changes from The CARES ACT and other COVID legislation that may make giving more generous for the athletic department

Does anyone know if the Cyclone Club qualifies for the $300 CARES act deduction? I hope I didn't miss the 2020 deadline. Anyone knowledgeable that can shed some light? Thanks!

 

[gbjames5]

Does anyone know if the Cyclone Club qualifies for the $300 CARES act deduction? I hope I didn't miss the 2020 deadline. Anyone knowledgeable that can shed some light? Thanks!

I got an email saying that since we rolled our tickets from this year to 2021, therefore not using any services this year, the Cyclone Club donation was tax deductible for 2020.

 

[beentherebefore]

You can now make your 2021 Cyclone Club donation online. Just did mine. I always like to make the donation early to stretch out the payments. Upped a donor level, too.

Go Cyclones!

 

[nrg4isu]

I just joined the cyclone club (dipping my toe in for now) for the first time ever. I'm out of state or would otherwise be a season-ticket holder.

Here's a few things I'd say:

1) I hope ticketmaster isn't scraping a ton off of each dollar, but I suspect they are
2) Marketing for the cyclone club is completely missing its mark for me. I'm an 05 grad and have lived out of state since 08. I'm a big enough of a follower and earn enough that I could/should have been a donor (at a lower level) for years by now. Thinking FB/Twitter ads would be a really good start here. If I can get a ton of targeted ads for t-shirts, etc, why haven't I seen one for joining the cyclone club?
3) I agree with much of what's been said above - I don't really need anything in return for my donation, but it would be really cool to know how many people are donating at each level, or have some sort of goal that we as a fan base can try to reach. (either number of donors, dollar amount, points etc)
4) Even when I made up my mind that I was going to donate in some fashion, the website did a pretty poor job of explaining my options and even letting me know what to expect after I donated. I got a confirmation email that ticketmaster got my money, but that's it - not exactly an engaging experience. A "form letter" from JP that says welcome to cyclone nation would have been plenty, but instead I got a receipt with a cyclone logo on it.
5) I really hope the athletics department doesn't stuff my mailbox with snail-mail. It's an expense that is 99% a complete waste for my generation and younger. Emails are a hell of a lot cheaper and far less annoying.

 

[cycloneworld]

I just joined the cyclone club (dipping my toe in for now) for the first time ever. I'm out of state or would otherwise be a season-ticket holder.

Here's a few things I'd say:

1) I hope ticketmaster isn't scraping a ton off of each dollar, but I suspect they are
2) Marketing for the cyclone club is completely missing its mark for me. I'm an 05 grad and have lived out of state since 08. I'm a big enough of a follower and earn enough that I could/should have been a donor (at a lower level) for years by now. Thinking FB/Twitter ads would be a really good start here. If I can get a ton of targeted ads for t-shirts, etc, why haven't I seen one for joining the cyclone club?
3) I agree with much of what's been said above - I don't really need anything in return for my donation, but it would be really cool to know how many people are donating at each level, or have some sort of goal that we as a fan base can try to reach. (either number of donors, dollar amount, points etc)
4) Even when I made up my mind that I was going to donate in some fashion, the website did a pretty poor job of explaining my options and even letting me know what to expect after I donated. I got a confirmation email that ticketmaster got my money, but that's it - not exactly an engaging experience. A "form letter" from JP that says welcome to cyclone nation would have been plenty, but instead I got a receipt with a cyclone logo on it.
5) I really hope the athletics department doesn't stuff my mailbox with snail-mail. It's an expense that is 99% a complete waste for my generation and younger. Emails are a hell of a lot cheaper and far less annoying.

Good post. I was talking with a friend about this over the weekend - how to get more out of state donors. There really is no reward for doing it other than you are supporting your school and program . For some, this may be enough but why not add some "easy" perks - a group zoom call with Matt Campbell for new donors, a car decal showing you are a donor, some trinket (mug, tervis, etc) for donors. With the tax write off gone for most, we should be thinking outside the box to get new money in the door, especially because of COVID.

 

[MeanDean]

You can now make your 2021 Cyclone Club donation online. Just did mine. I always like to make the donation early to stretch out the payments. Upped a donor level, too.

Go Cyclones!

I did today as well. Was not able to upgrade but since I was whammied in 2020 I was not able to contribute at all last year - first time I missed since 2012. I felt really bad about that especially knowing how much it was needed. But reality was real. Glad I'm able to jump back aboard this year.

And I love the idea of contributors getting a sticker, "I HELPED KEEP CAMPBELL AT ISU" Kind of a "FU" to all those pundits who were so sure he was gone.

 

[MeanDean]

Does anyone know if the Cyclone Club qualifies for the $300 CARES act deduction? I hope I didn't miss the 2020 deadline. Anyone knowledgeable that can shed some light? Thanks!

The way my tax guy explained it you can deduct if you're not getting ticket options/upgrades as a result of your donation level. I donate but can't do season tickets because I'm out of state for half the season. So in my case it's allowed. Anyone with real knowledge feel free to correct as necessary.

 

[TheHelgo]

anyone else like me and waiting to finalize their donation level until after the CMC announcement? I fully intend to continue, but am looking to increase if we get some good news.