Coaches Role on the Team to Win Major Gifts
Coaches Play a Bigger Role in Fundraising. Are They Ready?
Monthly Column
Focus on Fundraising
On the third Tuesday of each month, Penry’s column, “Focus on Fundraising,” delivers actionable insights into major gift trends and strategies within college athletics.
Article Summary
- Major donor investment can be a tremendous competitive advantage.
- In the new era of college athletics, coaches play an essential part in the process. Donors who give at a leadership level want to hear competitive success plans directly from coaches.
- Coaches who are confident and intentional in their fundraising approach are positioned to thrive.
“Coaches need to be fundraisers now more than ever.”
A chief fundraiser from a notable university in the Group of 6 (G6) recently shared that opinion with me, but it doesn't go far enough. Coaches need to be major gift fundraisers now more than ever.
On-field success and roster funding are linked in the new era of college athletics. And the difference between a celebrated and disappointing season largely rests on the shoulders of five to ten elite donors to fund rosters.
Major Gift Donor Attitudes in the New Era
Increasingly, the dizzying pace of industry changes has made some donors rethink their relationship with athletics. This forces athletic programs to rely on a handful of major boosters who are exhausted by carrying the financial burden each year. To make matters worse, fundraising loses its luster when the team stops winning big games and competing for conference championships.
As a result, the overdone plea from coaches to donors for “more” and “MORE” money has fallen flat as the cost to win skyrockets each year. There is a limit that even the wealthiest alumni and friends will spend on their entertainment.
Many high-net-worth individuals are more than fans writing checks for access to experiences and relationships; they are sophisticated investors. Often these donors are approached frequently with outside business investment opportunities. As athletics has evolved to a transactional model, donors appear to be increasingly applying the same due diligence process to athletics as they do to their business portfolios.
To transact at the highest level, investors must have confidence in the coaches’ vision, plan, and the people associated with executing the success plan. A high level of professional confidence is needed to justify a large investment in a coach and their program.
With that as a backdrop, this article explores how coaches can quickly sharpen their fundraising skills using four practical tips that can be immediately applied for success. The article was shaped with a mix of input from over 30 fundraising professionals, open major gift donors, and my observations.
A Competency Gap for Coaches
Through my work with clients and countless industry conversations, I’ve identified a gap that must be addressed: too many coaches dislike fundraising. That will need to change for fundraising revenue to keep pace.
Here is the reality: if a coach says they “don’t like to fundraise,” especially in this modern era, they have admitted they do not understand or embrace what it takes to win. In the modern landscape, coaches cannot simply "help" with major gift fundraising; they must evolve into a major value-added component of the process for top donors.
My theory on why coaches avoid fundraising is the same reason I avoid golf: I am not good at it. Very few people enjoy tasks that make them feel incompetent. And since I don't put in the time to improve my golf game, I don't see the results. Fundraising skills, like someone’s golf game, can be improved.
While first-time head coaches obviously need support, I have found that even veterans are not as versed in major gift fundraising as they should be in today’s landscape. Another frequently missing, but vital, ingredient in the fundraising process is for coaches to “dream big enough to inspire big gifts.” An inspiring vision is not a desirable component; it is a requirement.
Coaching the Coaches
The bottom line? Coaches need to be coached.
Fundraising is a glaring missing piece of professional development for coaches in the modern era. High-salaried coaches, with outsized personalities, often feel they should have all the answers to all aspects of the job, leading them to focus on areas of strength instead of asking for help or coaching as it relates to major gift fundraising. As an aside, often the same can be said for university presidents and academic deans.
Head coaches often enter donor conversations without the tools or the confidence to thrive. Confidence is key, but often elusive without reps. When a coach’s confidence in fundraising rises, donor confidence seems to follow.
By "coaching up" the coach in a private, more vulnerable setting, coaches can build the muscle memory required for elite fundraising. In my one-on-one sessions with coaches, we simplify and dive into seven high-impact topics. Here are four of the seven that transform a coach’s approach to difference-making gifts:
Organize Your Efforts Like Recruiting
“Treat a donor like a recruit. I could argue they are almost equally important.”
As one Power 4 chief fundraiser told me: “Treat a donor like a recruit. I could argue they are almost equally important.”
My two most influential major gift fundraising mentors, Stu Starner and Mike Holder, were both college head coaches before becoming outstanding fundraisers. They understood that an elite donor could change a program as much or more than an elite recruit. Because of this philosophy, they both were focused on difference-making, top donors.
Just like in recruiting, time is a precious commodity in fundraising. There is only so much of it. Coaches should not waste time and energy on giving level charts or benefit grids and focus on the handful of prospects capable of at least six-figure gifts. I recommend that coaches know their "Top Ten" donor list.
Another best practice is for coaches to lean on their development professionals for advice and counsel often. Coaches should remember that their success in fundraising is also the success of their development colleagues. Those who treat their fundraising colleagues with respect and appreciation seem to get the best buy-in and results.
Coaches: where to start to build a strong relationship with your fundraiser? Share information. It is as simple as that. Sharing donor information signals trust and trust leads to a mutually beneficial relationship. Communication, a key part of leading a program, must be a two-way street. Coaches must be generous in sharing updates with fundraisers via quick check-ins. Information is important to fundraisers; the major gift fundraising process is often about connecting dots with that qualitative data.
The recommended communication cadence between coach and fundraiser is, at a minimum, weekly. 30 minutes a week to strategize top donor plans will produce a good return on investment. As it relates to communication, brief 10-15-minute sync-ups are always preferred over meetings. Weekly consistency is key to coach-fundraiser effectiveness. Visit recaps, donor strategy with next steps, opportunities, top ten overviews don’t have to be drawn out. Be organized/prepared and get to the point.
Build Sincere Relationships (The "Little Things" Rule)
Coaches inexperienced in major gift fundraising often think the process requires time-consuming travel and four-hour golf excursions. That is not the case.
Building a relationship with a donor is less about spending an abundance of time with them; it is about showing that you care through small, consistent acts. The handwritten thank you card, which is an ageless, small act of kindness, has an outsized impact. As several G6 fundraisers noted, it’s about the "Happy Birthday" text, the quick call, or the prompt email reply. One $500,000 donor on the G6 level put it simply:
“I don’t have an ego to be stroked, but I care more about the program when I feel like I matter (through these small acts of kindness).”
Sincere relationships are built on small, consistent actions.
Present a Compelling Success Plan
After five years of skyrocketing roster costs, the exhausting plea to donors for “more" is a non-starter. Elite donors are not moved emotionally by the latest roster funding rumors of rivals; they want to hear how coaches intend to win with reasonable resources. Regardless of sport, donors are more curious about the competitive edge. They want a reason for optimism.
To secure a leadership gift, coaches must articulate a clear, investable vision. What is your overarching philosophy? Consider these two models of success:
Curt Cignetti’s mantra is often cited and so easy to understand. He didn't ask to outspend the field; he promised a culture where results mattered more than recruiting stars. Donors understand it instantly.
The University of Kansas’ baseball program has been outperforming its history under the leadership of Dan Fitzgerald. This year the Jayhawks hosted a regional and super regional for the first time in its history. Using a page out of Moneyball, Kansas has identified a market inefficiency: junior college transfers. By targeting an undervalued class of players, he built a winner by zigging while others zagged.
In the new, transactional world of college athletics, winning is most cited as the ultimate motivator for larger gifts. Donors need to understand the plan for success that goes beyond winning. As a top five donor at a G6 program told me:
It’s about communication. I want to know why you need the money, how it will be deployed, and why that is the most effective use of my capital. When a coach lets me look 'under the hood' at the deals being made for personnel, I feel like a partner. I’m no longer just a donor; I’m bought in.
— Top five donor at a G6 program
Coaches should actively be scanning for ways to involve their top donors. I recommend a “GM for a day” program that is a behind-the-scenes experience for top donors. As I often emphasize, involvement precedes investment, almost always.
Address Failure: When Vision Fails to Convert
What happens when a coach inspires a big gift, but the success plan and donor investment does not pan out? It happens frequently, which is the nature of competition. Do not fear failure. Every "free agent" athlete is not a home run.
First, do not avoid the donor. Avoidance of the donor is a losing strategy. It is important to remember that the best donor prospect is a previous donor who feels appreciated and informed.
Here is the reality: high-level investors understand that risk is part of the game. When roster additions fail, coaches should visit with the donor (preferably in person) and share with why it didn't work, what was learned, and the plan to pivot. In this case, the donor may not fund the next "bust," but they will respect the leader who takes ownership of the failure.
Summary
In the modern landscape of college athletics, major donor investment has emerged as a powerful competitive advantage, particularly for non-P4 programs aiming to outmaneuver resource-heavy rivals.
Securing this critical funding, however, increasingly hinges directly on the active involvement of the coaching staff. High-level leadership donors want to hear from coaches in addition to intermediaries like development professionals. Donors expect to hear strategic, competitive success plans firsthand from the coaches themselves.
Ultimately, coaches who embrace this fundraising role with confidence and clear intentionality are the ones best positioned to thrive in this new era.
