Why do we have such limited funds?

[huskyinfl]

It's simpler than that. Poor alumni relations. They don't do a good job at keeping normal people in the loop and do a horrible job cultivating relationships with the whales.

 

[superjohn]

We do not seem to be alone....

In part because of massive guaranteed money owed to coaches and the lack of home-run candidates to fill openings, a long list of schools that could have made changes decided to instead stand pat, including Texas A&M, UCLA, Arizona State, Texas Tech and Connecticut.

Lack of home-run candidates, lol. We currently have the worst coach I've ever seen. Forget about a home run, I would be perfectly happy with a bunt single.

 

[Fishy]

Lack of home-run candidates, lol. We currently have the worst coach I've ever seen. Forget about a home run, I would be perfectly happy with a bunt single.

There are home runs in little league, too...

 

[FDNY99]

We do not seem to be alone....

In part because of massive guaranteed money owed to coaches and the lack of home-run candidates to fill openings, a long list of schools that could have made changes decided to instead stand pat, including Texas A&M, UCLA, Arizona State, Texas Tech and Connecticut.

Good group for sure...only difference between that group and UConn is that while the offense is non-existent there at least some sign of defense.

 

[sdhusky]

So I was recently talking to some of my Midwest friends and a Southern friend about what a nightmare situation UConn is in and to a man they all said well your coach obviously should have already been fired. They couldn't wrap their heads around how UConn which in their words is a "big name brand" "everyone knows UConn" could possibly not have the money to buy out a cr@p coach and hire a good one. They said "Why don't you have big money people stepping in to fix things, where are the big UConn donors. . . . . . Connecticut is such a rich state why aren't any of them donating money?" They all thought I was crazy trying to explain how the money just doesn't seem to be there. It's a question I've always had, where are the big money people? Surely we have some grads who made it Big, the state is full of people with enormous wealth. Why have we never tapped into that?

@CTMike didn't come through on the lottery

 

[EdgewoodNHV]

#1 Northeastern families with an exuberant amount of money tend to not send their kids to UConn.

(Rest of post unquoted for brevity's sake.)

I agree with much of your post, though I do think the times are changing. When I was there, from 2000-2005, a kid I knew in the Comp Sci program was the valedictorian of his school. Smart kid. I went to school with a lot of very smart UConn students in the School of Eng.

These are kids who grew up and couldn't afford schools like Northeastern or Wesleyan, but could afford UConn. And they have good jobs, but they're only in their mid-30's. They have money, but not "buy out a football contract" money.

I do think, however, some of them are bound to make it big. And UConn is only getting harder to get into. While also remaining a very realistic choice for kids who are suddenly thinking about the student debt they're going to be saddled with.

Does this help us now? No. But I think in 20ish years, it may well be that UConn has a lot more big money donors than it used to. Or maybe that's just wishful thinking and we'll all be mildly successful computer engineers tailgating at sad football games. I'm not Nostradamus.

 

[J187Money]

(Rest of post unquoted for brevity's sake.)

I agree with much of your post, though I do think the times are changing. When I was there, from 2000-2005, a kid I knew in the Comp Sci program was the valedictorian of his school. Smart kid. I went to school with a lot of very smart UConn students in the School of Eng.

These are kids who grew up and couldn't afford schools like Northeastern or Wesleyan, but could afford UConn. And they have good jobs, but they're only in their mid-30's. They have money, but not "buy out a football contract" money.

I do think, however, some of them are bound to make it big. And UConn is only getting harder to get into. While also remaining a very realistic choice for kids who are suddenly thinking about the student debt they're going to be saddled with.

Does this help us now? No. But I think in 20ish years, it may well be that UConn has a lot more big money donors than it used to. Or maybe that's just wishful thinking and we'll all be mildly successful computer engineers tailgating at sad football games. I'm not Nostradamus.

This exactly. It is almost like the University started over in 1990 in many ways. This is going to take some time. Anyone that was on campus during that time (I was there from 89-93) knows that what is there today was just starting then. At that time, there was ZERO reason to give any money to the school.

 

[BlueandOG]

I don't think it reflects on the reputation of the school (good to very good to excellent for the past 20+ years) or the wealth of the alums (there are many millionaires among the ranks of UCONN alums). The problem is UCONN does not have a football culture. The schools where a wealthy donor or two will buy out a coach have strong traditions in football. If Bobby D was coaching men's basketball at UCONN, I think we would have a better shot at getting alums to pay to buy out the contract.

 

[J187Money]

I don't think it reflects on the reputation of the school (good to very good to excellent for the past 20+ years) or the wealth of the alums (there are many millionaires among the ranks of UCONN alums). The problem is UCONN does not have a football culture. The schools where a wealthy donor or two will buy out a coach have strong traditions in football. If Bobby D was coaching men's basketball at UCONN, I think we would have a better shot at getting alums to pay to buy out the contract.

Not really - I've put the numbers up here before, but there are less donors to the Athletic Department (including the 231 people that gave less than $100) than there are members to the Boneyard.

UConn Athletics 2016-17 Donor Guide - see page 18.

The fact that I am one of the top 358 donors to the program and I don't even give that much (relatively) - just shows that we have not built a culture of giving. That is all hand in hand with alumni relations / etc - which the school was notoriously bad at until recently. Things are moving in the right direction - if anyone had told me 15 years ago that we would have raised money for the hoops center and all of these other projects with private money - I would have dismissed it out of hand. But all of the big money donations have gone to capital - once the facilities are built, there may be more money laying around to fire coaches, etc.

 

[CTMike]

@CTMike didn't come through on the lottery

 

[UConnJim]

I don't think it reflects on the reputation of the school (good to very good to excellent for the past 20+ years) or the wealth of the alums (there are many millionaires among the ranks of UCONN alums). The problem is UCONN does not have a football culture. The schools where a wealthy donor or two will buy out a coach have strong traditions in football. If Bobby D was coaching men's basketball at UCONN, I think we would have a better shot at getting alums to pay to buy out the contract.

I don't agree. UConn alumni are not big donors to UConn or the athletic department. Why? There has been no focus on fundraising at UConn. It's why the endowment is so low. This seems to be changing, but it will take years to turn it around.

 

[Husky25]

Outside of UCLA do you think UConn shoukd be in this group? I think not.

All 4 of those schools, other than Connecticut, are in P5 conferences. Me thinks you have it backwards. As in one of these things is not like the others.

 

[Dream Jobbed 2.0]

Because we spend a lot of money on sports, but are in a conference that pays about $1.4M in television rights fees?

We spend a ton more than Houston, so just stop there. Our revenue without the subsidy is greater than their revenue with a massive subsidy.

If you want to be like Houston, you need to at least realize what Houston is.

Houston is the buddy making $40k a year with $25k on his Target card and $976 in the bank but he drives a Benz and lives in a 2500 sq ft house.

 

[Husky25]

In CT for years, and still may be, UConn was a backup school to all the well respected New England private schools. There just may not be the big donors available as they went to other universities. If you grow up in Alabama you dream of going to University of Alabama as they have far fewer Yales, Wesleyans, Trinitys etc in their backyard to choose from.
A possible explanation?

The average applicant accepted at Alabama would have a hard time even applying to UConn, whereas the Average UConn applicant would be accepted to Tuscaloosa, sight unseen. Plus, Alabama as a state (On Average) is in the bottom 5 in the Country in education. Plus, aren't some flagship universities in the Midwest and South required to accept state applicants? So not only are the surroundings apples and oranges, the two are drawing from different barrels of apples.

Alabama Qualifications of Enrolled Freshmen
Average GPA 3.66
SAT Math 557 average (490-610 range of middle 50%)
SAT Critical Reading 555 (490-600 range of middle 50%)
SAT Writing 540 (480-600 range of middle 50%)
ACT Composite 27 average (22-31 range of middle 50%)

UCONN Qualifications of Enrolled Freshmen
Average GPA Not reported
SAT Math 634 average (590-690 range of middle 50%
SAT Critical Reading 600 average (560-660 range of middle 50%)
SAT Writing 550-660 range of middle 50%
ACT Composite 26-30 range of middle 50%

 

[pnow15]

So I was recently talking to some of my Midwest friends and a Southern friend about what a nightmare situation UConn is in and to a man they all said well your coach obviously should have already been fired. They couldn't wrap their heads around how UConn which in their words is a "big name brand" "everyone knows UConn" could possibly not have the money to buy out a cr@p coach and hire a good one. They said "Why don't you have big money people stepping in to fix things, where are the big UConn donors. . . . . . Connecticut is such a rich state why aren't any of them donating money?" They all thought I was crazy trying to explain how the money just doesn't seem to be there. It's a question I've always had, where are the big money people? Surely we have some grads who made it Big, the state is full of people with enormous wealth. Why have we never tapped into that?

All the rich people are cheap liberals.

 

[pnow15]

The issue is culture. UC Jim said it best compare UConn and Houston's boards...they told Herman money was no object that they were willing to pay any amount, UConn can't compete with that. UConn needs to function like the type of university it wants to be not the type of university it is, and that starts with leadership.

And also no oil wells.

 

[Dream Jobbed 2.0]

I work with a lot of UConn grads (teachers) they always talk about getting hit up to donate and their response is "UConn has too much of my money already. " or "that school has so much money they don't need mine." I know people who buy tickets/gear and think that's their contribution. There is a misinterpretation of the school's funds among alumni not just outsiders. They need to get it ingrained in them as students that it is important to donate. I think it's Mizzou that has some catchy slogan and all their alumni contribute 5 dollars a month or something to the endowment. If you have 100,000 living alumni that's $500,000 A MONTH. That's how you build a billion dollar endowment not 2 or 3 big donors.

 

[John]

I work with a lot of UConn grads (teachers) they always talk about getting hit up to donate and their response is "UConn has too much of my money already. " or "that school has so much money they don't need mine." I know people who buy tickets/gear and think that's their contribution. There is a misinterpretation of the school's funds among alumni not just outsiders. They need to get it ingrained in them as students that it is important to donate. I think it's Mizzou that has some catchy slogan and all their alumni contribute 5 dollars a month or something to the endowment. If you have 100,000 living alumni that's $500,000 A MONTH. That's how you build a billion dollar endowment not 2 or 3 big donors.

I wonder too if, because the state government is such a fiscal mess, if people feel that donating to UConn is akin to pouring money down that black government hole.

 

[HuskyHawk]

I work with a lot of UConn grads (teachers) they always talk about getting hit up to donate and their response is "UConn has too much of my money already. " or "that school has so much money they don't need mine." I know people who buy tickets/gear and think that's their contribution. There is a misinterpretation of the school's funds among alumni not just outsiders. They need to get it ingrained in them as students that it is important to donate. I think it's Mizzou that has some catchy slogan and all their alumni contribute 5 dollars a month or something to the endowment. If you have 100,000 living alumni that's $500,000 A MONTH. That's how you build a billion dollar endowment not 2 or 3 big donors.

The $5 a month is a smart approach. I think it's important to remember that the very wealthy in New England, still tend to favor private schools. While UConn has made strides in that area, it's not the top dog in the region. Let's not pretend that this is just "Connecticut" either. Every Ivy school is located close enough to UConn to fit inside a larger southern state. Sure, Illinois has U Chicago and Northwestern, but we've got 20 schools at that level in area roughly the size of Illinois. There is just much more competition.

Cost of living is a factor too. People in CT are paying high taxes, paying more for housing and paying more for higher education. I'm probably going to spend about $200k+ of my own money to send my daughter to college in 4.5 years. Until then she's got private High School the next four years at around $15k. The endowment generally goes to scholarships to help other people send their kids to school. As charitable giving goes, that's not high on my list. Athletic department is different, and so was the JC Cancer Wing at the Health Center.

By the way....how can any school expect any grad that still has student loans to donate? It's effectively reducing somebody else's student loans before your own.

 

[J187Money]

I work with a lot of UConn grads (teachers) they always talk about getting hit up to donate and their response is "UConn has too much of my money already. " or "that school has so much money they don't need mine." I know people who buy tickets/gear and think that's their contribution. There is a misinterpretation of the school's funds among alumni not just outsiders. They need to get it ingrained in them as students that it is important to donate. I think it's Mizzou that has some catchy slogan and all their alumni contribute 5 dollars a month or something to the endowment. If you have 100,000 living alumni that's $500,000 A MONTH. That's how you build a billion dollar endowment not 2 or 3 big donors.

But until earlier this year, despite me basically SCREAMING at everyone in the Foundation for years, you were unable to contribute any amount per month automatically by credit card. It got fixed pretty soon after I had a sit down with Newton, who couldn't believe it. The attitude at UCONN was "of course you can, it comes right out of my paycheck" - but I'm like I DON'T WORK AT UCONN so it doesn't work for me.

SCSU - I have automatic donations hitting my Amex every month
Columbia - I have automatic donations hitting my Amex every month
UCONN - FINALLY I can do it - just took years of complaining - and people wonder why they needed a change of leadership

 

[Husky25]

While UConn's donation efforts should be ongoing, Specific initiatives need to coincide with the end of the year and/or tax season. I've donated to the V Foundation in the past and currently make donate to Dana Farber for significant dollars partially because it is front of mind to claim the deduction on my 1040, but specifically because my father is a two time survivor and has been cancer free for the better part of a decade. I only make the one-time annual donation, however I get monthly mailers from both charities.

When I get a call from UConn, it is only because I recently purchased tickets.

 

[Da_Aisijimo_Gou]

I don't want calls, hard copy mailings, friendly reminder emails, etc. As with my other schools and a few community and family-related health charities, I've also just wanted to provide my credit card # to be hit up annually in late December and placed on an overkill communications' opt out list. And, be left alone other than invitations for specific activities (mentoring), events, dinner, etc. theyve been proactively informed I'm interested in participating in or attending. Along with finally killing the outdated, amateurish alumni association in favor of more professional management, the credit card change is another sign UCONN's finally joining the 21st Century.

If I want to donate more, I'll do it and I do each year. However, I definitely don't want too many reminders. Far too many other Connecticut alumni and other Huskies' fans who haven't donated deserve some relationship building. I'm all about UConn spreading the latter love.

 

[John]

I hate the Foundation cold calling constantly asking if my profile is up to date as a guise to hit me up for some cash. I'd rather a once-a-year mailing to remind me and that's it.

 

[ZooCougar]

So I was recently talking to some of my Midwest friends and a Southern friend about what a nightmare situation UConn is in and to a man they all said well your coach obviously should have already been fired. They couldn't wrap their heads around how UConn which in their words is a "big name brand" "everyone knows UConn" could possibly not have the money to buy out a cr@p coach and hire a good one. They said "Why don't you have big money people stepping in to fix things, where are the big UConn donors. . . . . . Connecticut is such a rich state why aren't any of them donating money?" They all thought I was crazy trying to explain how the money just doesn't seem to be there. It's a question I've always had, where are the big money people? Surely we have some grads who made it Big, the state is full of people with enormous wealth. Why have we never tapped into that?

Because there is no "that" to tap into.

Most people in the south and the Midwest don't understand that the mentality of public universities is different in the northeast. Virtually all of the big money people in CT have no connection to UConn.

In the south and the Midwest, it's different. State U is really prestigious in spite of what US News and World Report say.

 

[ZooCougar]

In CT for years, and still may be, UConn was a backup school to all the well respected New England private schools. There just may not be the big donors available as they went to other universities. If you grow up in Alabama you dream of going to University of Alabama as they have far fewer Yales, Wesleyans, Trinitys etc in their backyard to choose from.
A possible explanation?

Should have read this first. But it is exactly right. It's not just that you dream of going to Alabama, it's a networking thing. If you want to be a lawyer in Kansas City then your clients will trust you more with a Mizzou or a KU degree or two hanging from the wall.