The cost of losing | Sidebar: Getting a raise
Syracuse athletics is raising more money than ever. How? A more aggressive, yet welcoming approach
By Matt Gelb and Ethan Ramsey
Posted: 4/23/08, 10:28 PM EST Section: The Cost of Losing
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Nancy Cantor kept coming back to it.
It was the reason why Syracuse athletics has been able to sustain a substantial decrease in football revenues. It was how, at the same time, Director of Athletics Daryl Gross could raise the profile of his Olympic sports teams.
And even if football brings in more revenue, the chancellor thinks fund raising remains the key to operating a successful athletic department.
"They've got to generate a lot of counteracting funds," said Cantor, chancellor since August 2004. "That's why fund raising is so important, and that's why we're really glad they're doing such a bang-up job of fund raising."
Even with its most notable sport mired in a prolonged slump, Syracuse athletics is experiencing "double-digit (percent) increases in fund raising annually," said Scott Sidwell, a senior associate athletics director for development.
That's because of a change in the way donations are solicited, new benefits for donors, increased communication with other fund raising offices on campus and new sources of revenue. The thought-process: stronger personal relationships with donors will make them more eager to give money.
Syracuse raised $10.3 million in straight cash gifts in 2006, according to The Chronicle of Higher Education. SU ranked fifth among 12 Big East schools that reported data.
Sidwell said with an increase in that cash number, plus promissory pledges to be paid over a period of time, SU athletics raised more than $20 million in the most recent year.
"(That) is a significant amount of money to raise in a year," Sidwell said. "We're on pace to continue that type of growth through a variety of different programs we have in place."
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