From lacrosse sticks to football helmets to travel expenses for 50-plus players and coaches, there’s no aspect of competing in NCAA Division I athletics that’s inexpensive. That’s why the VMI Keydet Club has set a goal moving forward: Increase support for athletic operations.
“We’re enhancing our fundraising model,” said Andrew C. Deal ’12, Keydet Club chief operating officer and Alumni Agencies chief development officer. He explained that supporting NCAA athletics typically involves three “buckets” of funds, all critical to success: Scholarships, athletic operations, and capital improvements for facilities.
Moving forward, Deal explained, the Keydet Club will build on the success of Compete to Win, its annual crowdfunding campaign for athletic operations, to increase support in this key area while continuing to emphasize scholarships and capital projects.
Like Compete to Win, which raised $308,249.34 in Fiscal Year 2024 and attracted more than 600 supporters, the new fundraising model will include an unrestricted category that can be allocated to the areas of greatest need, as well as team-specific athletic operations funds. Going forward, the Keydet Club will be working with VMI athletics to create a comprehensive vision for each program to identify areas of need and top priorities.
A key goal is to bring VMI’s athletic operations budget in line with that of its Southern Conference peers. Historically, VMI’s budget for athletic operations has been approximately $3 million below the Southern Conference average.
“The resources raised will be used to make enhancements to our programs, not to supplement the athletic budget,” said Deal. “We want to make sure we’re allocating our gifts in a way that will help us move forward across the board, collectively, across scholarships, operations, and capital improvements. The ultimate goal is to provide our cadet-athletes with a positive experience, and one that enables them to be competitive among our peers.”
Jamaal Walton ’07, newly arrived VMI director of intercollegiate athletics, echoed Deal’s commitment to strengthening support for athletic operations. “The support of the Keydet Club has been tremendous, and the enhancement of the fundraising model to support athletic operations is a game changer,” he said. “The enhancement allows our cadet-athletes to be in the best position to compete to win across the board.”
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Mary Price Development Writer/Communications Specialist
The development writer plays a key role in producing advancement communications. This role imagines, creates, and produces a variety of written communication to inspire donors to make gifts benefiting VMI. Utilizing journalistic features and storytelling, the development writer will produce content for areas such as Annual Giving, stewardship, and gift planning.
