Recruiting & fund-raising: the two have more similarities than you think.

As the old coaching saying goes, "Recruiting is like shaving. If you don't do it every day, it's going to show."

The same could be said for fund-raising. If the director of athletics is not doing something about it every day, it will eventually show.

The involvement of coaches is one of the key components of the fund-raising process. While some coaches may not like it, they are usually required to play a critical role in the solicitation process.

We believe that any coach who can effectively recruit will find it easy to effectively fund-raise.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

SIMILARITIES:

1. Pool of prospects:

This is the first step in the process of identifying both the recruit and the donor.

Recruiting: Every kid participating on a high school team may be considered a potential prospect.

Fund-Raising: Every individual in the world may be considered a potential donor!

2. Qualifying the pool of prospects:

Every recruiter would like to have a Lebron James on his list of hot prospects, just as every fund-raiser would like to have Bill Gates on his. Realistically, recruits are classified by height, weight, speed, and sport-specific stats. Donor prospects are classified by affluence and their relationship with the school.

Recruiting: You look for the student-athlete who stands out both academically and athletically. We all know, of course, that certain schools will be less circumspect in their standards. Many factors come into play: Standards of school, division it plays in, strength of schedule, character of the coach, etc.

Fund-Raising: More importance is placed on the donor's relationship with the school (i.e., alumnus), tradition of school, whether the person is very wealthy but not a graduate, on whether he has or has not given before, or whether he is a person with less wealth but has a stronger feeling for the college.

3. "Ability" and "Fit:"

Every fund-raiser has encountered the ardent fan who would donate all the money he had, if he had any, or the prospect who has wanted to play at State U. all his life and is ready to be a happy walk-on but has no talent.

Recruiting: Does the recruit have the ability to play at this level? Does he have the ability to fit into the system? Is he a pretty good position player--but you already have two better players at that position.

Fund-Raising: Does the prospect have the financial ability to make a gift? Does he have substantial wealth, but not the willingness to make a gift?

4. Contact with the prospect:

This is the communication part. It is usually done through the mail. Those who respond to your mailing will be put on top of the list to receive more mail, more information, and a likely visit.

5. Research on your prospect:

Besides checking for the people who respond to your mailing, you have to be working on other ways to zero in on the key prospects--checking either their stock options or 40-yard dash times.

Recruiting: Every coach in America subscribes to a recruiting service that evaluates players.

Fund-Raising: The A.D. can check other research sources to locate qualified prospects.

6. Personal contact with the prospect:

More personal contact is made. It usually begins with phone calls and continues with more calls and then an in-person visit to evaluate athletic talent and academic abilities.

Recruiting: Contact by phone, watch the prospect play, invitation for campus visit.

Fund-Raising: Contact by phone, visit, and then invite to campus for a game or other kind of event.

7. Personal connections:

Look for a person who has a good connection to the recruit donor. Perhaps a friend of the university who was a roommate of the person you are trying to reach out to. He will give you a better chance to arrange a meeting or make sure the prospect attends a key event. Do you know the prospect's summer league coach? He or she may help you make sure your recruiting information gets read or your school stays in the running for the recruit.

Recruiting: Find influential people involved in the decision-making process (high school coach, AAU coach, parents, grandparents, etc.)

Fund-Raising: Find an alumnus or classmate of the prospect.

8. Personal visit to make the hit:

The time for the coach or fund-raiser to build his support for his case: Either give us your life for four years or give us your money. The coach tries to differentiate his program, school, and team from all the other schools--why he is the best coach for the prospect and has the program that best suits him.

The fund-raiser details the specific need the donor will fill, how a gift will affect the school, the athletic dept., and the athlete.

Recruiting: Make the scholarship offer and ask for a verbal commitment.

Fund-Raising: Seek verbal commitment.

9. Final stage:

Get the prospect to sign on the dotted line.

10. Stewardship:

Once you have the signed letter of intent, you have to continue to steward the relationship. The same is true in fund-raising--make the donor feel good about his/her gift and continue to foster goodwill.

Recruiting: Send individual workouts, clippings of team success, awards, big wins, etc.

Fund-Raising: Send clippings on the impact of the donation on the school, department, student/athlete, etc.

11. The continuous process:

The main difference at this point is that the process for recruiting covers a set time period (4-5 years). At that time, the student leaves and the process goes to work on a new student-athlete. In fund-raising, the process on the individual goes on forever.

SUMMARY

As we have indicated, anyone who can recruit should be able to fund-raise. But the real question is vice versa: Can an effective fund-raiser become an effective recruiter?

What does all this mean?

Different things:

To high school coaches: If your dream is to work your way up to college coach, you will have to work summer camps, attend clinics, do a lot of networking, and start a fund-raising group at your high school.

To athletic directors: If your coaches have any hesitancy about becoming involved in fund-raising, you should assist them. Make them understand that they are already practicing it with the press, players, and parents.

To the development directors: One 60-minute fund-raising briefing with the coaching staff can fill them with confidence and encourage them to become more involved with a fund-raising process.

By Chris Delisio, Major Gift Office for Athletics, Dayton University (OH) and Steve Fleming, Asst. Basketball Coach, Ashland University (OH)