Athletic Fundraising: An In-depth Analysis of the Challenges Faced and Strategies Utilized in the NCAA Division II Athletic Landscape
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17161/jis.v15i1.15609Keywords:
athletic fundraising, Division II, intercollegiate athletics, stakeholder theoryAbstract
In the current economic environment, state appropriations to higher education are continually decreasing, with cuts in state aid resulting in universities undergoing significant financial cuts (Mitchell et al., 2017). In particular, National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division II athletic departments have been seriously impacted. The Division II structure requires athletic programs to depend on private, charitable contributions, brought in through organized fundraising activities. This study used the previous athletic fundraising literature and stakeholder theory (Freeman, 1984) to guide 14 semi-structured interviews with Division II athletic fundraisers, representing a wide range of universities. The purpose of this exploratory study was to identify the major challenges that individuals who fundraise for Division II athletic departments face as well as the strategies that are being used to overcome those challenges. This study also aimed to identify the role that stakeholders played in athletic fundraising and how stakeholder claims of power, urgency, and legitimacy guided the fundraising process (Mitchell et al., 1997). Theoretical and practical implications are also advanced.
Metrics
Downloads
References
Baade, R. A., & Sundberg, J. O. (1996) What determines alumni generosity? Economics of Education Review, 15(1), 75-81.
Boenigk, S., & Scherhag, C. (2013). Effects of donor priority strategy on relationship fundraising outcomes. Nonprofit Management & Leadership, 24(3), 307-336.
Brunette, C., Vo, N., & Watanabe, N. M. (2017). Donation intention in current students: An analysis of university engagement and sense of place in future athletic academic, and split donations. Journal of Issues in Intercollegiate Athletics, 10, 78-100
Corbin, J. M., & Strauss, A.L. (2008). Basics of qualitative research: Techniques and procedures for developing grounded theory. Sage.
Covell, D. (2004). Attachment, allegiance and a convergent application of stakeholder theory to Ivy League athletics. International Sports Journal, 8(1), 14-26.
Covell, D. (2005). Attachment, allegiance and a convergent application of stakeholder theory: Assessing the impact of winning on athletic donations in the Ivy League. Sport Marketing Quarterly, 14(3), 168-176.
Creswell, J.W. (2012). Qualitative inquiry and research design. Choosing among 5 traditions, (3rd ed.). Sage.
Denzin, N.K., & Lincoln, Y.S. (2005). The Sage handbook of qualitative research, (3rd ed.). Sage.
DeSchriver, T. (2009). Recession emerges as formidable foe for college sports. National Forum: Phi Kappa Phi Journal, 89(3), 14-16.
Division II partial-scholarship model. (2016, December 19). Retrieved March 23, 2018, from http://www.ncaa.org/about/division-ii-partial-scholarship-model
Feezell, T. (2009). Adding football and the" uses" of athletics at NCAA Division II and Division III institutions. New Directions for Higher Education, 148, 65-72.
Freeman, R. E. (1984). Strategic Management: A stakeholder approach. Pitman.
Fulks, D. L., & National Collegiate Athletic Association. (2019.) Revenues & Expenses, 2004-2019. NCAA Division II Intercollegiate Athletics Programs Report.
Gladden, J.M., Mahony, D.F., & Apostolopoulou, A. (2005). Toward a better understanding of college athletic donors: What are the primary motives?. Sports Marketing Quarterly, 14(1), 18-30.
Hertel, N. (2019, December 10) St. Cloud State University cuts football and golf, adds men’s soccer in 2020. Retrieved from https://www.sctimes.com/story/news/2019/12/10/scsu-st-cloud-state-football-golf-teams-eliminated-title-ix/2634708001/
Humboldt State University (2018, July 17). University announces football decision. Retrieved from https://hsujacks.com/news/2018/7/16/general-university-announces-football-decision.aspx
Huml, M. R., Brown, K. M., & Bergman, M. J. (2020). A deficiency of donors or an abundance of barriers? Title IX fundraising challenges from the perspective of athletic department fundraisers. Journal of Intercollegiate Sport, 13, 48-68.
Huml, M. R., & Cintron, A. M. (2021). Stakeholder status in the identification, prioritization and management of college athletic donors. Sport, Business and Management: An International Journal. doi: 10.1108/SBM-09-2020-0085.
Katz, M., Pfleegor, A., Schaeperkoetter, C., & Bass, J. (2015). Factors for success in NCAA Division III Athletics. Journal of Issues in Intercollegiate Athletics, 8, 102-122.
Kim, S., Kim, Y., & Lee, S. (2019). Motivation for giving to NCAA Division II athletics. Sport Marketing Quarterly, 28(2), 77-90.
Ko, Y.J., Rhee, Y.C., Walker, M. & Lee, J. (2014). What motivates donors to athletic programs: A new model of donor behavior, Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 43(3), 523-546.
Lincoln, Y.S., & Guba, E.G. (1985). Naturalistic inquiry. Sage.
Martinez, J. M., Stinson, J. L., Minsoo, K., & Jubenville, C. B. (2010). Intercollegiate athletics and institutional fundraising: A meta-analysis. Sport Marketing Quarterly, 19(1), 36-47.
McEvoy, C. D., Morse, A. L., & Shapiro, S. L. (2013). Factors influencing collegiate athletic department revenues. Journal of Issues in Intercollegiate Athletics, 6, 249-267.
Morse, R., Mason, M., & Brooks, E. (2018, September 09). How to use the 2019 U.S. News Best Colleges Directory. Retrieved from https://www.usnews.com/education/best- colleges/articles/how-to-use-the-directory
Miles, M.B., & Huberman, A.M. (1994). Qualitative data analysis. Sage.
Mitchell, R. K., Agle, B. R., & Wood, D. J. (1997). Toward a theory of stakeholder identification and salience: Defining the principle of who and what really counts. Academy of Management Review, 22(4), 853-886.
Mitchell, M., Leachman, M., & Masterson, K. (2017, August 23). A lost decade in higher education funding. Retrieved from https://www.cbpp.org/research/state-budgetand-tax/a-lost-decade-in-higher-education-funding#_ftn27
Mitchell, M., Leachman, M., & Saenz, M. (2019, October 24). State higher education funding cuts have pushed costs to students, worsened inequality. Retrieved from https://www.cbpp.org/research/state-budget-and-tax/state-higher-education-funding-cuts-have-pushed-costs-to-students
Park, C., Ko, Y. J., Kim, H. Y., Sagas, M., & Eddosary, M. (2016). Donor motivation in college sport: Does contribution level matter? Social Behavior and Personality: An International Journal, 44(6), 1015-1032.
Plinske, P.M. (1999). Athletic fund rising: A detailed analysis of N.C.A.A. division III member institutions (Publication No. 9944386) [Doctoral dissertation, University of Minnesota]. ProQuest Dissertations Publishing.
Popp, N., Barrett, H., & Weight, E. (2016). Examining the relationship between age of fan identification and donor behavior at an NCAA Division I athletics department. Journal of Issues in Intercollegiate Athletics, 9, 107-123.
Salancik, G.R., & Pfeffer, J. (1974). The bases and use of power in organizational decision-making: The case of universities. Academy of Management Executive, 5, 61-75.
Shapiro, S. L. (2010). Does service matter? An examination of donor perceptions of service quality in college athletics. Sport Marketing Quarterly, 19(3), 154-165.
Shapiro, S. L., Giannoulakis, C., Drayer, J., & Wang, C. H. (2010). An examination of athletic alumni giving behavior: Development of the former student-athlete donor constraint
scale. Sport Management Review, 13(3), 283-295.
Shapiro, S. L., & Ridinger, L. L. (2011). An analysis of donor involvement, gender, and giving in college athletics. Sport Marketing Quarterly, 20(1), 22-32.
Stark-Mason, R. (2019, March 09). Division II regionalization review comes to end. Retrieved from http://www.ncaa.org/about/resources/media-center/news/division-ii-regionalization- review-comes-end
Steadland, J.C. (2015). Higher education governing boards and stakeholder governance of intercollegiate athletics (Publication No. 10005071) [Doctoral dissertation, University of Minnesota]. ProQuest Dissertations Publishing.
Stinson, J. L., & Howard, D. R. (2008). Winning does matter: Patterns in private giving to athletic and academic programs at NCAA Division I-AA and I-AAA institutions. Sport Management Review, 11(1), 1-20.
Suchman, M. C. (1995). Managing legitimacy: Strategic and institutional approaches. Academy of Management Review, 20(3), 571-610.
Torres, R. (2020, September 23). ‘We’re praying to all things sports’: Division II, III college athletic programs absorb financial blow of pandemic. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Retrieved from https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/local/milwaukee/2020/09/23/smaller-college-athletic-programs-absorb-financial-blow-pandemic/3404337001/
Walker, A. G. (2015). Division I intercollegiate athletics success and the financial impact on universities. SAGE Open, 5(4), 1-13.
Wanless, L., Pierce, D. A., Martinez, J. M., Lawrence-Benedict, H. J., & Kopka, N. (2017). Best practices in athletic donor relations: The NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision. Journal of Applied Sport Management, 9(3), 24-37.
Welty Peachey, J., & Bruening, J. (2011). An examination of environmental forces driving change and stakeholder responses in a Football Championship Subdivision intercollegiate athletic department. Sport Management Review, 14(2), 202-219.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2022 Andrew Hanson Hanson, Jon Welty Peachey
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Copyright is held by the authors.
