Only 1,000 Donors Who Have Donated $100 or more
- Thread starter El Paso 1
- Start date
I wouldn’t say it isn’t working. Senter gained 1,000 more donors than the university had before. If that number is correct, maybe you could say that he overestimated the fan support within the community but I certainly believe that 1,000 new donors coming off the seasons we had in football and basketball is a big step in the right direction. Also if Dimmel and Terry can turn their respective programs around I am sure that will bump up donations as well. A major problem that this university has is the fact that they very rarely, if ever seek out alumni/the community for donations, so it’s not really impressed on people to give back to the university. I know I trashed the papers they sent me right after I graduated, and after a year or two they stopped. It never really occurred to me to give to the athletic department and I bet that a lot of alumni/fans/community members still feel the same way.
Senter is on the right track, to rebuilding this athletic department. But you can tell that he needs to educate and engage the public/fan base so that they understand that he needs them to give which is certainly not easy because Stull never did that. The mindset of the fans and public needs to be reset in a way.
Senter is on the right track, to rebuilding this athletic department. But you can tell that he needs to educate and engage the public/fan base so that they understand that he needs them to give which is certainly not easy because Stull never did that. The mindset of the fans and public needs to be reset in a way.
That can't be true because then that would mean UTEP had 0 donors before Senter arrived.
I agree it isn't an overnight fix, but I am really curious how many new donors over $100 there are since Senter arrived. Anybody that buys a silver or gold ticket automatically donates over $100.
The impression I get is that Bob Stull didn't really care for input from alumni. He didn't go after donations from them because he would have had to listen to them as part of the process. There are two sides to that mindset. One, and we have seen that at UTEP to a great extent, is that fans and alumni are alienated from the university. Two is that an Athletic Director always has to deal with rabid fans jostling his elbow at every turn. I've heard of this happening at Memphis. A colleague of mine is a Memphis alumnus and has told me that the big donors usurped the hiring process several years ago for a football coach. Took the AD out of the picture completely, which begs the question of who they should have been hiring, a football coach or an Athletic Director.
But let's hope that Senter gets us on the right track. If he can keep up the energy level and keep engaging the fans and alumni, we'll be all right. Go Miners.
But let's hope that Senter gets us on the right track. If he can keep up the energy level and keep engaging the fans and alumni, we'll be all right. Go Miners.
Stull's problem is that he didnt want to lay out a plan. His plan was trust me I know best. That especially in the end wore on and alienated the big donors. They wanted a plan on how with donations we were going to built consistent championship programs. He never had specifics and lost alot of money.
Senter is just the opposite. Hes a cheerleader. His marketing efforts come off as cheesy. He was warned when he got the job of the pot holes and land mines out there. Instead of avoiding them he stepped right in them. I'm speaking for myself but I've spoken to alot of other out of town donors, and the concensus is that we feel alienated from the University. There is a ton of money UTEP could have. However, they have to reach out and market it smartly. Know where the real money. There are plenty of alumns who want nothing more than for UTEP to have a winning football program and first class facilities. The only thing people want is a plan and to have the department ran like a d-1 program not a minor league team.
I don't mind Senter being a cheerleader now, at the beginning of his tenure at UTEP. If you feel he's being cheesy about it, suggest that he fine tune his approach, which he may do anyway as time goes on. He needs to understand what the donors want from UTEP sports. A different thought is that he may have his own agenda for what an athletic department should be. A final thought is that there may be a gap in what we all want and what we can actually afford, whether we're fans, alumni, donors or administration. But we're not getting any where by doing nothing. Better Senter makes mistakes doing something than just sitting back waiting for things to fall into his lap.
Senter is kinda feeling his way around right now. He's putting out a lot of effort and for that we all need to be grateful and be a part of the solution. He walked into a program that had been neglected for a while and he's pushing forward trying to get fans back on board. Winning will go a long way but it will be at least another year and a half before our programs start winning again. If we're giving Dimel and Terry a couple of years to succeed, we need to give Senter at least that long because he has the toughest job out of the 3.
Here it is -
UTEP says “we need more fans”
UTEP says “we need more money”
Fans are saying “just win”
UTEP says “well we need fans and money to win”
Fans are starting to call their bullshit.
COUNTLESS other teams with less money, less fans, worse facilities, in worse conferences are winning and making it happen. UTEP has consistently given a middle finger to fans over the last 25 years and then blames YOU for its shortcomings.
Fans do not win games, players and coaches do. Last year, UMBC averaged 1,155 per game. They still made the NCAA Tournament and beat a #1 seed. When was the last time UTEP beat a #1 team, in the regular season???
South Carolina St averaged 319 a game last year and they won 10 games. 1 less than UTEP; despite averaging 5,836 less fans a game.
UTEP has fans that are huge whiners and old timers, thinking about shit that happened 50 years ago. All we hear is “CUSA sucks, we belong in the MWC”, blah blah blah. If UTEP were in the MWC, their records would be even worse. UTEP has proven it can’t even compete in Conference USA.
UTEP should be giving out more to fans that have given money. UTEP has been taking advantage for far too long.
Just win UTEP. Stop with the excuses, fans are tired of it and you’re not getting our money.
UTEP says “we need more fans”
UTEP says “we need more money”
Fans are saying “just win”
UTEP says “well we need fans and money to win”
Fans are starting to call their bullshit.
COUNTLESS other teams with less money, less fans, worse facilities, in worse conferences are winning and making it happen. UTEP has consistently given a middle finger to fans over the last 25 years and then blames YOU for its shortcomings.
Fans do not win games, players and coaches do. Last year, UMBC averaged 1,155 per game. They still made the NCAA Tournament and beat a #1 seed. When was the last time UTEP beat a #1 team, in the regular season???
South Carolina St averaged 319 a game last year and they won 10 games. 1 less than UTEP; despite averaging 5,836 less fans a game.
UTEP has fans that are huge whiners and old timers, thinking about shit that happened 50 years ago. All we hear is “CUSA sucks, we belong in the MWC”, blah blah blah. If UTEP were in the MWC, their records would be even worse. UTEP has proven it can’t even compete in Conference USA.
UTEP should be giving out more to fans that have given money. UTEP has been taking advantage for far too long.
Just win UTEP. Stop with the excuses, fans are tired of it and you’re not getting our money.
I think he has the easiest job. That's why he gets paid the least out of those three.
Who is saying to get rid of Senter? I think he’s doing a good job, but his results will be based on how Dimel’s and Terry’s results are. Not getting $100 donors.
I have no problem with the way Senter has approached this job. He is trying to undo generations of damage done by lousy ADs who sat on their butts and did nothing. And because of that fans/alumni feel they need to do nothing as well, hence why we only have 1000 people donating 100 bucks.
Stull never engaged the public, never went about soliciting donations from the public or alumni. I’m too young to remember if any previous AD did anything different but I am going to assume no. All we ever saw/heard from Stull was when he was giving out Footballs and Basketballs during timeouts. I swear every week GECU and 92.3 The Fox got some signed memorabilia. I think we can all admit his way of running he Athletic Department sucks and we never want to go back to how it was run.
Stull never engaged the public, never went about soliciting donations from the public or alumni. I’m too young to remember if any previous AD did anything different but I am going to assume no. All we ever saw/heard from Stull was when he was giving out Footballs and Basketballs during timeouts. I swear every week GECU and 92.3 The Fox got some signed memorabilia. I think we can all admit his way of running he Athletic Department sucks and we never want to go back to how it was run.
Last edited:
Stull took the approach that the big money donors was all he needed and that there would always be the core 5k football and basketball fans so he didn't engage them. Senter is taking a different approach. Senter is trying to grow the base of fans, a grassroots effort. He understands/believes the big donors are tapped out or not willing to continue to throw large sums of money to the athletic department. Stull didn't like for people to come up and talk to him while he was out and about in the city, and he certainly didn't start conversations with average fans. Senter on the other hand loves talking about UTEP and his vision. He wants the average fan to be excited and doesn't mind people coming up and talking to him while he is out in public. I think Senter's approach will pay dividends.
I truly hope Senter has not excluded, alienated, or has decided not to pursue any of the big donors. Having a grassroots approach, while also engaging the big money donors is critical to the long term success of the athletic programs. The two are not, and should not be, mutually exclusive. I hope Senter has enough experience and insight to realize that.
I don’t know any big time donors, but the only reason I could imagine they would be mad is because their direct line to the top has been severed. I know this is purely speculation, but wasn’t the rumor a couple years back that the big money donors were in tight with Stull and that’s why Floyd stayed around longer than he should have? If any of that is true then they are as much to blame as Stull for the mess we find ourselves in.
I have talked to Senter and he seems like a super approachable guy who genuinely cares about UTEP athletics. The guy called me directly just to thank me for making a punk-ass ten dollar donation back in December. Can you imagine how over the moon he’d be if someone gave him a check with a several more zeros at the end?
UTEP just announced the hiring of Robert Acunto yesterday. His experience seems to be in fundraising and I assume that is what he is here to do.
"During that time he provided oversight for the athletic communications, concessions, corporate sales & sponsorships, marketing & promotions, athletic special events, ticket operations & outbound sales and video production areas. He took each revenue-generating unit to new heights, achieving record numbers in attendance and broadcast viewership, while implementing qualitative improvements in relationship building, budget management, fiscal integrity and communications planning. His vision and leadership also produced record ticket revenue, significant increases in corporate sponsorship revenue, record-setting licensing revenue, and increased exposure and visibility for the department through strategic communication efforts and coordinated broadcast opportunities"
https://utepathletics.com/news/2018...bert-acunto-associate-ad-for-development.aspx
Did we have one of these before or is it a new position? It it's new, Senter may have had a hand in this and further evidence that he's laying the groundwork for future success.
Sounds like a very good hire. Someone who has worked under Senter and obviously shares his vision and passion for what he’s trying to accomplish here. His bio says he was a “Sport Supervisior” for football and Women’s Soccer. Does anyone know what that job is, or if UTEP has ever had that position?
If the athletic department is smart, big donors, middle sized donors and nickel and dimers will all be welcome at UTEPs table. They should listen to everyone willing to help. The new guy's previous title is probably a made up name to indicate him as someone who did the leg work for the higher ups. It means hopefully that he learned a lot on his way up the departmental ladder and now has plenty of experience to do a good job at UTEP.
IMO the most alarming matter is that less than 1,000 of the season ticket sold are silver or gold.
I’m not sure on average how many season tickets are sold but I imagine it’s in the 10k range. Either we are doing very badly in season ticket sales and or the majority of them are copper/GA.
I’m not sure on average how many season tickets are sold but I imagine it’s in the 10k range. Either we are doing very badly in season ticket sales and or the majority of them are copper/GA.
UTEP probably sells a lot of Copper/GA season tickets because it is an affordable option for families.
