This spring, the NVU-Johnson athletics department is hosting its second annual “Support Your Sport” fundraiser campaign. The campaign ran from March 15-29. Both the Johnson and Lyndon campuses were a part of the fundraiser.
“This year’s campaign, we raised a total of $38,949,” said Chad Copeland, assistant athletic director for communication. “It was 30% above our $30,000 goal. Our first year doing this was in 2019, and we raised a total of $17,785.”
The fundraiser is a chance for each team on campus to have directed donations for the team’s usage. Many teams use their donations for new uniforms, travel gear, equipment, and to save for away games. Donors were able to donate to specific teams to show their support. The website allowed donors to view previous donations and which donors have generated the most support.
The team that will raise the most money by the end of the campaign will receive an additional $500. This campaign is highly competitive for the teams, and many teams have raised over a thousand dollars in their donation efforts.
“For the Johnson campus, the winners were Women’s Softball and Men’s Volleyball,” said Copeland. “The winning teams received an additional $500 in their fundraising accounts. On the Lyndon campus, it was Men’s Basketball and Women’s Softball, and they received the same prize.”
The Badger’s softball team had 194 donors this year and raised $2,955. The men’s volleyball team raised $1,932 with 83 donors. The women’s volleyball team has raised over $2,000 from over 67 donors. The men’s volleyball, men’s soccer, women’s soccer, women’s softball, and men’s basketball teams have all reached over $1000 in donations.
“Fifty percent of the money raised goes directly towards the fundraising accounts for each program which they can use how they choose,” said Copeland. “The other 50% goes towards the operational costs for the programs.”
Anyone can donate to a certain team or multiple teams. This fundraiser allows for an easier way for alumni, current student-athletes, families, coaches, faculty, and staff to donate to their teams. Most coaches, like Coach Andrew Lafrenz of the women’s soccer team, have offered to match every donation. This extra support helps his team get one step closer to their goal.
“The work that our student-athletes and coaches did to spread the word about the campaign was amazing,” said Copeland.
This campaign has been very successful on the Johnson campus. Coaches and student-athletes worked hard to share this event across different social media sites. With a limited season for some sports and no season for others, the athletic department relied heavily on this campaign fundraiser to bring in funds for operational costs.