Who are the potential donors that could change Tulane athletics?

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RobertM320
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If we're trying to find people to donate money to athletics, here's a list. I'd bet a lot of these people have never been asked.

There's the obvious ones we all talk about like Jerry Springer and David Filo of course. Then there's a lot that are connected through politics, for example:
Newt Gingrich
Neil Bush
Ashley Biden (yes, she's an alum)
Amy Carter (yes, she is an alum also)
Victoria Kennedy ( second wife and widow of Ted Kennedy
Lauren Hutton?


Also Alfred Ford,,,
Alfred Brush Ford, also known as Ambarish Das (IAST: Ambarīśa Dāsa), is an American heir to the Ford fortune. He is a great-grandson of Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company.

Others:
Shannon Lee, daughter of Bruce Lee
Harold Sylvester (former athlete) movie director now

And there's a lot of alumni you just dont hear about. When I was on the Hullabaloo staff in 1978-80, Rick Lerner was on the staff as well. Turns out, he just donated $5M to the university. So you never know where the money is.

A lot of others are sports figures, although I doubt any are rich enough to be donating big money to athletics.


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RobertM320
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If any of you are from the NYC area, are you familiar with Champion Locksmiths, and also Ambassador Media, who used to publish the phone books in that area?

Both companies were started by Bradley Steitz, 1979 alum.
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None of this happens until the Tulane Administration makes a statement that athletics are important to them and they FULLY support its improvement. Without that, no one, including us, knows or sure if we are all wasting our time and money. The same applies to Dannen. If he is not getting full Admin support, neither he nor any other AD will necessarily do any better.
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Tulane administration publicly stating that they are fully committed to a successful Athletics program would simply be "audacious"
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Lauren Hutton?

Ashley Biden?


LOLOLOLOLOLOL
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MicMan wrote: Sun Nov 28, 2021 8:53 pm Lauren Hutton?

Ashley Biden?


LOLOLOLOLOLOL
Jerry Springer
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2 majority owners of NFL teams.
1 minroity owner of a NFL team.
Bicoastalwave
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The list is large and varried. Many donors are off limits to athletics unless the interest comes from the donor. There are alot of big names in LA, Chicago, Houston & NYC. Look up Steel Partners & Warren Lichtenstein
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The O'Bama Foundation just announced $100.000,000 in grants . Perhaps they have $90,000,000 lieing around not earmarked for U Chicago or Harvard .
President Fitts , B of A , it's put up or forever hold your peace time . Make Tulane ATHLETICS relevant and top 30 again .
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There are tons of Micro donors. Two come to mind Ian Bremmer and Anthony Jeselnik. Plenty more.
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RobertM320
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Bicoastalwave wrote: Sun Nov 28, 2021 10:57 pm The list is large and varried. Many donors are off limits to athletics unless the interest comes from the donor. There are alot of big names in LA, Chicago, Houston & NYC. Look up Steel Partners & Warren Lichtenstein
What do you mean by "off-limits", exactly? Does the administration give the AD a list of alums he's NOT to contact?
"That mantra is the only consistent thing that never needs to ever change for the rest of this program’s existence because that is all that matters & as long as that keeps occurring, everything will handle itself" -- Nick Anderson
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RobertM320
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mbawavefan12 wrote: Mon Nov 29, 2021 7:18 am There are tons of Micro donors. Two come to mind Ian Bremmer and Anthony Jeselnik. Plenty more.
Thanks, this is what I was asking. The people are out there, we just need to find them.

And yes, I realize the commitment has to come from the Administration first.
"That mantra is the only consistent thing that never needs to ever change for the rest of this program’s existence because that is all that matters & as long as that keeps occurring, everything will handle itself" -- Nick Anderson
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RobertM320 wrote: Mon Nov 29, 2021 7:26 am
mbawavefan12 wrote: Mon Nov 29, 2021 7:18 am There are tons of Micro donors. Two come to mind Ian Bremmer and Anthony Jeselnik. Plenty more.
Thanks, this is what I was asking. The people are out there, we just need to find them.

And yes, I realize the commitment has to come from the Administration first.
what has to happen is those who donate to "academics" have to tell the administration, "no athletic excellence' no mo' academic donations, PERIOD"...ya be surprised how fast dem academic types get their azz in gear to support athletics
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golfnut69 wrote: Mon Nov 29, 2021 8:25 am
RobertM320 wrote: Mon Nov 29, 2021 7:26 am
mbawavefan12 wrote: Mon Nov 29, 2021 7:18 am There are tons of Micro donors. Two come to mind Ian Bremmer and Anthony Jeselnik. Plenty more.
Thanks, this is what I was asking. The people are out there, we just need to find them.

And yes, I realize the commitment has to come from the Administration first.
what has to happen is those who donate to "academics" have to tell the administration, "no athletic excellence' no mo' academic donations, PERIOD"...ya be surprised how fast dem academic types get their azz in gear to support athletics
This is exactly what has to happen.
Tulane is the University of Louisiana
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anEngineer wrote: Sun Nov 28, 2021 7:52 pm None of this happens until the Tulane Administration makes a statement that athletics are important to them and they FULLY support its improvement. Without that, no one, including us, knows or sure if we are all wasting our time and money. The same applies to Dannen. If he is not getting full Admin support, neither he nor any other AD will necessarily do any better.
+100 million👍
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RobertM320 wrote: Mon Nov 29, 2021 7:25 am
Bicoastalwave wrote: Sun Nov 28, 2021 10:57 pm The list is large and varried. Many donors are off limits to athletics unless the interest comes from the donor. There are alot of big names in LA, Chicago, Houston & NYC. Look up Steel Partners & Warren Lichtenstein
What do you mean by "off-limits", exactly? Does the administration give the AD a list of alums he's NOT to contact?
That is my understanding. They don’t want to double dip and have athletics approach donors who are reliable/have existing relationships with the academic side. This may be only part of the story but I know it hasn’t made things any easier.


The real question that is supplementary to this one is how organized have things gotten regarding Tulane focused NIL organizations that have both traditional boosters and have now approached non traditional boosters. It is now fair game to pay to play- we need our own SMU style organization. Who was paying Hot Rod Williams and the boys back in the day ?
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Bicoastalwave wrote: Mon Nov 29, 2021 9:11 am
RobertM320 wrote: Mon Nov 29, 2021 7:25 am
Bicoastalwave wrote: Sun Nov 28, 2021 10:57 pm The list is large and varried. Many donors are off limits to athletics unless the interest comes from the donor. There are alot of big names in LA, Chicago, Houston & NYC. Look up Steel Partners & Warren Lichtenstein
What do you mean by "off-limits", exactly? Does the administration give the AD a list of alums he's NOT to contact?
That is my understanding. They don’t want to double dip and have athletics approach donors who are reliable/have existing relationships with the academic side. This may be only part of the story but I know it hasn’t made things any easier.


The real question that is supplementary to this one is how organized have things gotten regarding Tulane focused NIL organizations that have both traditional boosters and have now approached non traditional boosters. It is now fair game to pay to play- we need our own SMU style organization. Who was paying Hot Rod Williams and the boys back in the day ?
It is just a rumor put out there to cover Dannen's ass. As I have pointed out before any donor who wants to give to athletics who would be told they were not allowed to give to athletics would immediately tell Fitts to go fuck himself and they wouldn't be making any more donations to the academic side. As to the others that are out there and not giving it's because they never gave a shit about Tuiane athletics and never will because that is how they were indoctrinated by Tulane. Sorry but that's the cold hard truth.
BAYWAVE&Sophandros are SPINELESS COWARDS
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Small time facilities for small time programs
6-4-23:Now all of the mistakes Tulane has made finally catches up with them as they descend to CUSAAC.
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winwave wrote: Mon Nov 29, 2021 9:31 am
Bicoastalwave wrote: Mon Nov 29, 2021 9:11 am
RobertM320 wrote: Mon Nov 29, 2021 7:25 am

What do you mean by "off-limits", exactly? Does the administration give the AD a list of alums he's NOT to contact?
That is my understanding. They don’t want to double dip and have athletics approach donors who are reliable/have existing relationships with the academic side. This may be only part of the story but I know it hasn’t made things any easier.


The real question that is supplementary to this one is how organized have things gotten regarding Tulane focused NIL organizations that have both traditional boosters and have now approached non traditional boosters. It is now fair game to pay to play- we need our own SMU style organization. Who was paying Hot Rod Williams and the boys back in the day ?
It is just a rumor put out there to cover Dannen's ass. As I have pointed out before any donor who wants to give to athletics who would be told they were not allowed to give to athletics would immediately tell Fitts to go fuck himself and they wouldn't be making any more donations to the academic side. As to the others that are out there and not giving it's because they never gave a shit about Tuiane athletics and never will because that is how they were indoctrinated by Tulane. Sorry but that's the cold hard truth.
I think this is absolutely true. Further to Win’s post, how many alums who wanted to give to athletics, and were told no, wouldn’t spread the word like wildfire. I’ve never heard an alum say he/she were told to not give to athletics. How many of you have been approached by anyone from Athletics since
Dannen arrived? I used to get pinged every year during the Dickson error—especially when Travis Goff was still around.

Additionally, Tulane currently only has 3 out of 200 fundraisers focused on athletics—that’s the Gibson Hall scandal that the alums and media (Ed Daniels et al) should be focused on —-with or without Dannen. That’s what shows how little Gibson Hall cares about Athletics.
Tulane is the University of Louisiana
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HoustonWave wrote: Mon Nov 29, 2021 9:02 pm
winwave wrote: Mon Nov 29, 2021 9:31 am
Bicoastalwave wrote: Mon Nov 29, 2021 9:11 am

That is my understanding. They don’t want to double dip and have athletics approach donors who are reliable/have existing relationships with the academic side. This may be only part of the story but I know it hasn’t made things any easier.


The real question that is supplementary to this one is how organized have things gotten regarding Tulane focused NIL organizations that have both traditional boosters and have now approached non traditional boosters. It is now fair game to pay to play- we need our own SMU style organization. Who was paying Hot Rod Williams and the boys back in the day ?
It is just a rumor put out there to cover Dannen's ass. As I have pointed out before any donor who wants to give to athletics who would be told they were not allowed to give to athletics would immediately tell Fitts to go fuck himself and they wouldn't be making any more donations to the academic side. As to the others that are out there and not giving it's because they never gave a shit about Tuiane athletics and never will because that is how they were indoctrinated by Tulane. Sorry but that's the cold hard truth.
I think this is absolutely true. Further to Win’s post, how many alums who wanted to give to athletics, and were told no, wouldn’t spread the word like wildfire. I’ve never heard an alum say he/she were told to not give to athletics. How many of you have been approached by anyone from Athletics since
Dannen arrived? I used to get pinged every year during the Dickson error—especially when Travis Goff was still around.

Additionally, Tulane currently only has 3 out of 200 fundraisers focused on athletics—that’s the Gibson Hall scandal that the alums and media (Ed Daniels et al) should be focused on —-with or without Dannen. That’s what shows how little Gibson Hall cares about Athletics.
Thanks Houston. The problem we have is that a Dannen can claim that and then those he tells feel like an insider and spread his bullshit for him. Fact is they are not insiders they are dupes who have been used by coach after coach and AD after AD to spread lies that hurt our program. They'd rather believe they are an insider and be loyal to those coaches and AD's over the program. When he told this whopper somebody should have had the balls to tell him he was full of shit.
BAYWAVE&Sophandros are SPINELESS COWARDS
YOU NEED LEVERAGE TO BE PROACTIVE!
Small time facilities for small time programs
6-4-23:Now all of the mistakes Tulane has made finally catches up with them as they descend to CUSAAC.
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I believe there are kernels of truth to what BiCoastal says based on my experience. Following the "Banks wuz in" year, I contacted the athletic department to host a fund raiser for Tulane Athletics in my large city. The venue was an upscale restaurant where I rented out the entire establishment with food and drink covered. It had capacity of at least 300 or so. Willie Fritz attended, the Sailing coach attended, a couple of NFL players who recently played at Tulane attended.

I asked the Tulane coordinators if invites would be extended to all Tulane alums in my city and the surrounding area. The response was, we can only invite people who have shown interest in Tulane athletics or who have donated to Tulane athletics in the past, or anyone else that you personally know from Tulane that you care to invite. There are thousands of Tulane alumni in my city, but the invite list went to a couple of hundred. In the end, we had approx 70 people show up, which I thought was a great showing given the limited invite list. I wrote a check and a few others gave checks to the Tulane Fundraising people in attendance. It was net positive for Tulane Athletics, but just think of the potential donors, expanded fan base and funds that were left untouched because of the invite limitation.

That said, I've noticed a drop-off in effort on the athletics fundraising front over the last few years. I previously would receive visits and regular phone calls / emails seeking donations. I'm not sure if the string of bowl games built in some complacency, but they should renew the city visits outside of Louisiana including Chicago, NY, Dallas, Houston, Miami, a West Coast Venue and Atlanta. There are many 5 and 6 figure donors that can easily be mined if they put some effort into it again and the Tulane Administration removed the limitation that was mentioned above.
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Wavetrader wrote: Tue Nov 30, 2021 7:53 am I believe there are kernels of truth to what BiCoastal says based on my experience. Following the "Banks wuz in" year, I contacted the athletic department to host a fund raiser for Tulane Athletics in my large city. The venue was an upscale restaurant where I rented out the entire establishment with food and drink covered. It had capacity of at least 300 or so. Willie Fritz attended, the Sailing coach attended, a couple of NFL players who recently played at Tulane attended.

I asked the Tulane coordinators if invites would be extended to all Tulane alums in my city and the surrounding area. The response was, we can only invite people who have shown interest in Tulane athletics or who have donated to Tulane athletics in the past, or anyone else that you personally know from Tulane that you care to invite. There are thousands of Tulane alumni in my city, but the invite list went to a couple of hundred. In the end, we had approx 70 people show up, which I thought was a great showing given the limited invite list. I wrote a check and a few others gave checks to the Tulane Fundraising people in attendance. It was net positive for Tulane Athletics, but just think of the potential donors, expanded fan base and funds that were left untouched because of the invite limitation.

That said, I've noticed a drop-off in effort on the athletics fundraising front over the last few years. I previously would receive visits and regular phone calls / emails seeking donations. I'm not sure if the string of bowl games built in some complacency, but they should renew the city visits outside of Louisiana including Chicago, NY, Dallas, Houston, Miami, a West Coast Venue and Atlanta. There are many 5 and 6 figure donors that can easily be mined if they put some effort into it again and the Tulane Administration removed the limitation that was mentioned above.
Matches up with others I’ve heard from. I went to a fundraiser a few years back at a former QB’s house on the Northshore and it was strictly all previous Athletic donors invited. I think if someone wants to give to Athletics and is not considered by Tulane to be an “Athletics donor” that’s acceptable. This is different from Tulane telling Athletic fundraisers you can’t solicit “Mr Smith, Mr Jones or Ms Brown….,”. But if Mr. Smith decides to fund a new Athletic facility without being solicited then that seems to be acceptable.
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RobertM320
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Seems like we're talking about two different things here.
Is it,

1) Are academic donors being told NO, they can't donate to athletics?

or

2) Is Tulane Athletics being told not to approach any donors other than previous athletic donors?


I would find #1 very unlikely because, as winwave said, anyone that was TOLD they couldn't donate to athletics would tell Fitts to take a hike. So how do you find donors willing to donate to athletics if you can't ASK them? If its #2, then we need to find out exactly WHO is the person making that decision. Is it the Board as a whole, Fitts, or faculty within the University? We need to dig and find out, then change it.
Last edited by RobertM320 on Tue Nov 30, 2021 8:34 am, edited 1 time in total.
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tpstulane
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RobertM320 wrote: Tue Nov 30, 2021 8:33 am Seems like we're talking about two different things here.
Is it,

1) Are academic donors being told NO, they can't donate to athletics?

or

2) Is Tulane Athletics being told not to approach any donors other than previous athletic donors?


I would find #1 very unlikely because, as winwave said, anyone that was TOLD they couldn't donate to athletics would tell Fitts to take a hike. So how do you find donors willing to donate to athletics if you can't ASK them?
2. (And may include previous Athletic donors)
Basically “go find your own new donors”
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RobertM320
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tpstulane wrote: Tue Nov 30, 2021 8:33 am
RobertM320 wrote: Tue Nov 30, 2021 8:33 am Seems like we're talking about two different things here.
Is it,

1) Are academic donors being told NO, they can't donate to athletics?

or

2) Is Tulane Athletics being told not to approach any donors other than previous athletic donors?


I would find #1 very unlikely because, as winwave said, anyone that was TOLD they couldn't donate to athletics would tell Fitts to take a hike. So how do you find donors willing to donate to athletics if you can't ASK them?
2. (And may include previous Athletic donors)
Basically “go find your own new donors”
So who, EXACTLY, is telling them that? Gibson Hall, the BoT, or academics within the university?
"That mantra is the only consistent thing that never needs to ever change for the rest of this program’s existence because that is all that matters & as long as that keeps occurring, everything will handle itself" -- Nick Anderson
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tpstulane
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RobertM320 wrote: Tue Nov 30, 2021 8:36 am
tpstulane wrote: Tue Nov 30, 2021 8:33 am
RobertM320 wrote: Tue Nov 30, 2021 8:33 am Seems like we're talking about two different things here.
Is it,

1) Are academic donors being told NO, they can't donate to athletics?

or

2) Is Tulane Athletics being told not to approach any donors other than previous athletic donors?


I would find #1 very unlikely because, as winwave said, anyone that was TOLD they couldn't donate to athletics would tell Fitts to take a hike. So how do you find donors willing to donate to athletics if you can't ASK them?
2. (And may include previous Athletic donors)
Basically “go find your own new donors”
So who, EXACTLY, is telling them that? Gibson Hall, the BoT, or academics within the university?
They all answer to Gibson Hall.
I think beef is on soliciting major gifts.
Be proactive, being reactive is for losers..
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