Raising money.......

As you, my faithful readers, are aware I spoke many weeks ago about the difference in the amounts that people give to their church and sports teams. For most, money goes first to the college booster clubs and then what is left (if any) goes to the church. I’ve thought some more about it and I’ve come to realize that the colleges just flat out do a better job of raising money. Let’s look at the 3 major colleges in South Carolina and see what their booster clubs are like.

The Eagle Club: This is the booster club for the Winthrop Eagles. There are 8 levels of membership in the Eagle Club. The first four levels are Gold ($50+), Garnet ($150+), Coaches ($300+), and Imperial ($500+). Next you have the President’s Circle, which is made up of the following four levels: Golden Eagle ($1,000+), Executive ($1,750+), Scholarship ($3,500+), and Platinum ($5,000+). There is also a student club (the WU Crew) and a club for children (the Lil’ WU Crew). Each of these levels, of course, comes with their own little set of “benefits”. One mistake Winthrop makes, in my opinion, is that the benefits for Imperial and Coaches are the same… and all four levels in the President’s Circle have the same benefits. So someone giving $5,000 doesn’t receive any more benefits than someone giving $1,000. To be fair, it might be this way because there might not be anyone giving more than $500 at this time… so it might not really matter. Winthrop’s Alumni base (for the most part) is still rather small and poor compared to the other two schools we’re going to look at.

IPTAY: This is the booster club for the Clemson Tigers. IPTAY has 10 levels: Purple ($140+), Orange ($350+), Champion ($700+), Tiger ($1,400), Howard ($2,100+), IPTAY ($2,800+), Jervey ($4,200+), McFadden ($5,600+), Fike ($7,000+), and Heisman ($10,000+). Clemson also has a student club (IPTAY Collegiate Club) as well as a level for children (Tiger Cub Club) and a club for teens (IPTAY CATS). The biggest benefit (that I can see) with each level is the number of football and basketball season tickets you are allowed to buy at that level. I have to admit… this just blows my mind.

The Gamecock Club: USC’s booster club, this also has ten levels: Roost ($55+), Century/Classroom Club ($165+), Roundhouse/Tutor Teammate ($385+), Half Scholar/Book Benefactor ($725+), Full Scholar/Computer Contributor ($1,500+), Silver Spur/Meal Member ($3,300+), Garnet Spur/Housing Host ($7,000+), Golden Spur/Tuition Tier ($10,000+), Platinum Spur/Scholarship Society ($15,000+), Diamond Spur/Commencement Circle ($30,000+). Just like with the other clubs, these have different levels of benefits… although I will say for $30,000 a year I think you should get to call at least one football play on offense and defense each game. I mean really, for $30,000+ a year you can buy a state worker.

So I hope by now you see where I’m going with this. Churches need to have different membership levels! BRILLIANT! I know. Of course, you have to be careful doing something like this. You don’t want people to think that the people in the higher levels will have a better shot at getting into heaven. Well, you DO want them to think that… you just don’t want them to know that you want them to think that. Different benefits could include “priority” parking and seating, car decal, church newsletter, use of church gym, extra prayers (whoops… how did that get there?)… anyway, you get the idea. I really think this could work. If only there was a new church with a preacher bold and brave enough to implement an idea like this. If only…

We’re brought to you tonight by Nike…


Cleveland Cavs update: The Wizards (even without Harry Potter) were able to upset my Cavs 108-91 last night. The Cavs were off tonight.

Winthrop Eagles update: While there is still debate on if this is a real man’s sport or not, I have to congratulate the Winthrop men’s soccer team for winning the Big South Championship and making it to the NCAA Tournament (where they lost tonight to a bunch of spoiled rich kids. FYI… a devil by any other color is still a devil. Here’s a question… is a blue devil a liberal devil?).