Investigating Student-Donor Memberships Within Collegiate Athletics

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to discover the primary characteristics associated with offering student-donor memberships within collegiate athletics. The secondary purpose was to detail the best practices for properly implementing a student-donor membership”. Through semi-structured interviews, the unique insights of 10 NCAA Division I Power-5 fundraising and development associates were able to be explored. The results of this study produced five factors associated with student-donor memberships: structure, benefits, membership fee, communication, and branding. These findings fill a gap in the existing literature due to there being no previous research conducted on student donor programs within collegiate athletics. Furthermore, this study illustrates the common characteristics among student-donor memberships and what we already know about athletic annual funds. While no current research exists on how student-donors fit into the donor life cycle, the results of this study further the knowledge on this highly important yet under examined group.