Great to see that someone has stepped up to head up the Booster club. $50K and 250 members is a doable goal. 12 years ago we did 10K and 50 members for the Stags 6th Man. That's exactly 5 times higher.
Dear Fellow Stags Fan,
Fairfield Basketball history could be compared to a roller coaster—sometimes up, sometimes down, but always worth the ride. Some of you have actually had the chance to play for the Stags; some, like me, have watched from the stands—but all of us, one way or the other, have rejoiced in the wins, suffered in the losses, and always hoped for more success.
Today’s college athletics world is a collage of interests, sports, academics, and money. Each institution has its own priorities among the three, and each defines success in their own way. But at the end of the day, graduating players with degrees, while still winning a lot of games and a championship or two, is what it’s all about. Fairfield’s graduation rate is superb, and our win-loss record in the last ten years is excellent.
We haven’t won a championship yet in this decade, and that disappoints us all. But the effort to win is there, as are the skills of both our coaching staff and our players—with perhaps the need for just a little help.
As many of you know, our men’s basketball budget includes scholarships, salaries, and almost anything else you could think of to run a good program. Our basketball revenue helps to partially offset these costs, but not to any appreciable degree. Unless and until we can put more “fannies in the seats” or get meaningful television revenue, the University’s budget allocation will remain our only source of funding. The University continues to prioritize basketball, and Fairfield remains among the top MAAC schools with allocated resources to the program. However, moving forward, what can make the difference is YOU!
To remain competitive, and increase our success and visibility, we need to follow the lead of others and generate a meaningful alternative source of funding. All of our athletically successful peer institutions have “booster clubs,” by whatever name they’re called. The Lyons-Lademan Fund was a variation on that theme. But for those of us who love Fairfield basketball, it was not enough.
Fortunately, with the blessing and support of University leadership, as of this month we now officially have an organization, Friends of Fairfield Men’s Basketball, whose sole responsibility is to raise money for program enhancements such as recruiting, upgraded lockers, better travel arrangements, tournament play, etc., and, as we move forward, endowment. All of this can and will make a big difference to our team and our success.
I’m Bob Berchem of the Class of ’62—and I’ve been asked to serve as the president of this new organization. Like most of you, I’ve been a Stags fan since I was an undergraduate—and like all of you, I want to help in any way I can to see our team do even better. As a practical matter, the only way you can really help is by writing a tax-deductible check.
Those of us who are willing to put our money where our hearts have been will have a chance to interact more closely with the program (subject, of course, to NCAA rules compliance!). Every dollar will go directly to the program, and be in addition to—not in lieu of—the University’s continued funding commitment. You’ll be thanked in many ways, and you’ll also have a few special events each year—but, more importantly, you’ll be supporting the team you love!
If, like me, you believe that the best in Fairfield basketball is yet to come, I invite you to join me and write a check to Friends of Fairfield Men’s Basketball. Gifts of any size truly matter and participation is of utmost importance. Our goal for the 2014-2015 season is to raise $50,000 and have 250 members. This year’s program enhancement priorities are travel, for overseas and high profile national games, and recruiting.
As friends and alumni, we’ve all helped raise the University’s visibility. In today’s world, athletics—and basketball in particular— is a key vehicle of choice to raise that visibility even higher. I hope you will join me in moving up!!
Bob
Bob Berchem ’62 President Friends of Fairfield Men’s Basketball Fairfield University
Kudos to alumnus Bob Berchem '62 for heading up this effort. However, what does this mean about the existing TEAMSTAG program for Men's Basketball that was put in place last season and is on the Stag website with the same goal of $50,000 by increased financial support? There seems to be the Lyons-Lademan Athletic Fund, various team TEAMSTAG programs with different financial goals and benefits, Friends of Fairfield Athletics, Fairfield University Friends of Basketball and now this "new organization" Friends of Fairfield Men's Basketball all trying to do similar things. Before the 2014-15 season starts, is now the time to organize all these different donation/support options into a single system to support Stag Athletics with a separate or separate team Stag Booster Clubs similar to what many other schools do? At Fairfield University Athletics, Communications, Advancement and especially Alumni Relations all need to cooperate and be working together towards the same goal.
ABOUT TEAMSTAG We invite you to join this new annual leadership initiative for Fairfield University Men’s Basketball by becoming a member of TEAMSTAG. Contributions to TEAMSTAG will support a variety of initiatives, such as recruiting, equipment upgrades, and other key priorities of the program identified by Head Coach Sydney Johnson. Each gift is fully tax-deductible and restricted for use by the Men’s Varsity Basketball program. Membership is on an annual basis.
HOW DOES IT WORK? A one-time gift of $250 enrolls you as a TEAMSTAG member. As our thanks for your generosity, you will receive the following benefits: • A TEAMSTAG hat • TEAMSTAG meeting with Coach Johnson for 10-15 minutes before one home game • Your name listed as a TEAMSTAG member on the team Web page • A TEAMSTAG sticker
ADDITIONAL MEMBERSHIP BENEFITS We are always trying to find new ways to incorporate our great fans into Fairfield Men’s Basketball. At higher levels of support you will receive all the preceding benefits, plus: • Gift of $500+ = TEAMSTAG members postseason lunch with Coach Johnson • Gift of $1,000+ = Attend an open practice (up to 4 people) • Gift of $3,500+ = Game-day shoot-around • Gift of $7,500+ = Dinner for two with Coach Johnson
At each level of giving you are automatically enrolled as a TEAMSTAG member. Benefits are for one donor and one guest unless noted otherwise. This season, our goal is to raise $50,000 through the TEAMSTAG program. We need your participation! [/b] Your contribution makes a direct and immediate impact on the program and sets the standard for Fairfield Men’s Basketball. Please join TEAMSTAG today
This is great news that we finally have someone with a strong voice in the University (former trustee) being at the helm of the Booster club. The last time we had that kind of strong voice was when Bill Miles was associated with the program. I see that Berchem's law office has at least 4 Fairfield Alum working there (out of 39). Link below to the Alumni Service award that Bob was awarded a year ago.
Am I missing something?? How do you support "Friends of Fairfield Basketball" Is it simply designating mens ball thru the link in the email? When you click it says NOTHING about Friends of Mens BBall.
Confusing, great effort, but anyone have an answer for this. Is it all one thing??? VERY CONFUSING. Is this a separate initiative or Lyons Lademan with another confusing label??
Kudos to alumnus Bob Berchem '62 for heading up this effort. However, what does this mean about the existing TEAMSTAG program for Men's Basketball that was put in place last season and is on the Stag website with the same goal of $50,000 by increased financial support? There seems to be the Lyons-Lademan Athletic Fund, various team TEAMSTAG programs with different financial goals and benefits, Friends of Fairfield Athletics, Fairfield University Friends of Basketball and now this "new organization" Friends of Fairfield Men's Basketball all trying to do similar things. Before the 2014-15 season starts, is now the time to organize all these different donation/support options into a single system to support Stag Athletics with a separate or separate team Stag Booster Clubs similar to what many other schools do? At Fairfield University Athletics, Communications, Advancement and especially Alumni Relations all need to cooperate and be working together towards the same goal.
ABOUT TEAMSTAG We invite you to join this new annual leadership initiative for Fairfield University Men’s Basketball by becoming a member of TEAMSTAG. Contributions to TEAMSTAG will support a variety of initiatives, such as recruiting, equipment upgrades, and other key priorities of the program identified by Head Coach Sydney Johnson. Each gift is fully tax-deductible and restricted for use by the Men’s Varsity Basketball program. Membership is on an annual basis.
HOW DOES IT WORK? A one-time gift of $250 enrolls you as a TEAMSTAG member. As our thanks for your generosity, you will receive the following benefits: • A TEAMSTAG hat • TEAMSTAG meeting with Coach Johnson for 10-15 minutes before one home game • Your name listed as a TEAMSTAG member on the team Web page • A TEAMSTAG sticker
ADDITIONAL MEMBERSHIP BENEFITS We are always trying to find new ways to incorporate our great fans into Fairfield Men’s Basketball. At higher levels of support you will receive all the preceding benefits, plus: • Gift of $500+ = TEAMSTAG members postseason lunch with Coach Johnson • Gift of $1,000+ = Attend an open practice (up to 4 people) • Gift of $3,500+ = Game-day shoot-around • Gift of $7,500+ = Dinner for two with Coach Johnson
At each level of giving you are automatically enrolled as a TEAMSTAG member. Benefits are for one donor and one guest unless noted otherwise. This season, our goal is to raise $50,000 through the TEAMSTAG program. We need your participation!
Great question! Exactly what I asked the contact for this new organization today. Here is the response:
From: Muhvic, Marie [mailto:mmuhvic@fairfield.edu] Sent: Monday, July 07, 2014 1:59 PM To: Joseph Linnehan x2153 Subject: RE: FOFB
Joseph,
That is a wonderful question. TeamStag was a program which was implemented I believe three years ago. Unfortunately, the program was not particularly sustainable.
Therefore, we are going to a Friends Group model, whereby donations to Athletics at any amount makes one a Friend. Friends will send out regular communications, event invites, etc. Each sport’s coaching staff will set program priorities for funding, and number of members and dollar target to hit annually.
I thank you kindly for being a loyal supporter of the Stags and participating in the TeamStag program. We certainly hope that you will continue to be a Friend of Fairfield Men’s Basketball. It will be an interesting year- we are playing Duke at Duke!
Thank you for your inquiry, and please let me know if I can be of further help.
Marie
Marie Muhvic Director of Development for Athletics and Recreation 1073 North Benson Road, Fairfield CT 06824 Bellarmine Hall 314 203-254-4000 ext. 2474 203-572-3842 (cell)
I guess Lyons-Lademan is gone (for B-ball restricted gifts) and TeamStag bites the dust after three years (I knew about this past year but the other two must have escaped my radar). You can't go up until you have hit the bottom. I think we just hit it.
Last Edit: Jul 7, 2014 17:56:52 GMT -5 by sunshinestag
As I recall the various TEAMSTAG programs were started for the 2013-14 season and not three years ago. I wonder why all the TEAMSTAG information and brochures are still on the Stag website but the Bob Berchem letter is also on the website? Hopefully all will be worked out before the 2014-15 seasons start in August and a coordinated and cooperative plan for increased Stag Athletics fundraising will be in effect.
Am I missing something?? How do you support "Friends of Fairfield Basketball" Is it simply designating mens ball thru the link in the email? When you click it says NOTHING about Friends of Mens BBall.
Confusing, great effort, but anyone have an answer for this. Is it all one thing??? VERY CONFUSING. Is this a separate initiative or Lyons Lademan with another confusing label??
TeamStag was a program which was implemented I believe three years ago. Unfortunately, the program was not particularly sustainable. Therefore, we are going to a Friends Group model, whereby donations to Athletics at any amount makes one a Friend. Friends will send out regular communications, event invites, etc. Each sport’s coaching staff will set program priorities for funding, and number of members and dollar target to hit annually.....
It sounds like this new "Friends Group model" is similar to the TEAMSTAG program but without the "A one-time gift of $250 enrolls you as a TEAMSTAG member" and without the benefits (hat, sticker and your name on the webpage that never existed). If TEAMSTAG was "not particularly sustainable" then why will this new program be? I agree with reindeerfan and paulie74 that this all seems confusing (just check the Stag website) with no real simple or clear way to solicit donations and increase athletic funding. The primary target is our fellow alumni and hopefully Athletics, Communications, Advancement and Alumni Relations will all be working together this time?
Join in the conversation and be sure to sign up for the Friends of Athletics to receive all the latest news and promotions about Stags basketball.
Check out the Friends of Basketball blog and some of our events & promotions!
However, if you are interested and if you try to sign up for the Friends of Athletics by clicking the link you get this message:
We're sorry, the page you're looking for can't be found.
Did you try searching? Enter a keyword(s) in the search field above.
However if you click on "Check out the Friends of Basketball blog you will get to read Bob Bechem's July 7th letter about Friends of Men's Basketball.
Hopefully these problems will be fixed and potential alumni and fans will actually be able to sign up. A great idea but if nobody knows about it or there are misleading or incomplete web pages or somebody does know about it and can't sign up then that is a problem that needed to be addressed by someone first or by all involved.
There will be a new website for all of Friends of Athletics, and it should go live in a few weeks. As stated TeamStag will go away and its function will be a part of Friends of Fairfield Basketball.
I don't know if Lyon-Lademan will also go away, because there are people out there that want to give money to Athletics, and do not want any benefits in return...... as they want their entire donation to be Tax-Deductible.
I stressed that old content needs to be cleaned-up to avoid confusion.
I stressed that old content needs to be cleaned-up to avoid confusion. ....
Unfortunately this has been an on-going problem (incomplete information, errors, conflicting information, confusion....) with the Stag website and the former Stag website for years. Hopefully cleaning it up and preventing any confusion will be priority before the 2014-15 season starts at the end of next month. Posting Bob Berchem's letter of July 7th about the new Friends of Fairfield Men's Basketball booster club on the Friends of Athletics web page of the Stag website and then getting an ERROR MESSAGE when trying to join is confusing at the very least. Athletics, Communications, Advancement and Alumni Relations all need to have a coordinated and cooperative plan with ultimately someone in charge at some level with the responsibility to see that it is all working.
Bob and Marie are on top of it. Message from Bob Berchem
Dear Fellow Stags Fan,
Thanks to those of you who have so quickly responded to my recent email. I’m pleased to report that we already have ten “Friends” signed up, despite some technical issues with our “link” and some confusion about the status of several past programs.
To be clear, while the Lyons-Lademan Fund will continue for general athletic donations, it will no longer be involved in collecting or administering basketball contributions. Additionally, all previous men’s basketball programs such as “TeamStag” have now ended. The Friends of Fairfield Men’s Basketball is the one and only vehicle through which to make your contributions.
While we are working to resolve our computer “link” problem, you can and should feel free to write a check to "Friends of Fairfield Men’s Basketball" and send it to:
Marie Muhvic Director of Development for Athletics and Recreation 1073 North Benson Road Fairfield, CT 06824
Marie is our point guard for this program and has been working diligently to get us up and running. By the end of the week, we expect to have a single direct link available and eliminate the multi-step (and problematic) link that we started with.
Despite these minor glitches, I’m very encouraged by our initial response. Sydney and his staff are incredibly appreciative—and, equally importantly, the team is aware of what we’re doing and excited by both our effort and the possibilities available to them when we succeed. At the end of the day, they are what this is all about.
This is our chance to make a clear statement of support. I hope you’ll join me in making a contribution today and helping our guys in their quest to the top.
Best regards,
Bob
Bob Berchem '62 President Fairfield Friends of Men's Basketball Fairfield University
