Gamecock Club Announces New Strategic Initiatives

The Gamecock Club announced a series of strategic changes today with an eye towards enhancing customer service for donors and better positioning itself for future fundraising needs.  Informed by both the Reinvest for Success program offered to donors to choose their level of support during the pandemic-riddled 2020-21 academic year and the re-seating efforts made necessary by the improvements to Williams-Brice Stadium prior to the 2020 season, the restructuring should leave the department better positioned for more fan experience improvements in coming years.

The primary changes include:

• Developing a donor retention team and supporting an outbound sales team.
• Creating a unit dedicated to philanthropic annual fund giving.
• Launching new rental opportunities and event programming for Williams-Brice Stadium.
• Focused on business intelligence and data warehousing.
• Implementing new suite of communication tools for automation and messaging.

“I believe our changes reflect the modern functions needed for a successful annual fund and the services that our fans need and should expect,” said Steve Eigenbrot, Gamecock Club CEO and Executive Associate Athletics Director. “The overarching vision is to build deeper and more substantive relationships with our members who in turn provide unbelievable support for our programs.”

Retention and sales

Between the issues that fans may have had with attending live sporting events during the pandemic or national attendance trends for sporting events, the success and future viability of Gamecock Athletics continues to be closely linked to our ability to retain existing Gamecock Club members.  While the introduction of “Welcome Home Pricing” for the 2021 season speaks volumes to the department’s commitment to getting fans back in the stands, the addition of a retention team will aim toward launching strategic initiatives that speak directly to donor retention. 

The ability to grow the ranks of the Gamecock Club has long been heavily linked to the sale of new season tickets.  Gamecock Athletics enhanced its commitment to season ticket holder acquisition in 2014 through a very productive relationship with Learfield/IMG College Ticket Solutions who provided an outbound sales team.  Bringing the sale efforts “in-house” should account for significant savings and synergies with other fundraising and data management efforts.

New opportunities in Williams-Brice

Gamecock Athletics has also enhanced our relationship with local business partner, Southern Way, to bring online an exciting new array of exclusive dining and entertainment experiences, as well as opportunity for rentals and non-game day use of Williams-Brice Stadium.  Gamecock Club members will enjoy opportunities for discounted rental opportunities, including the new club spaces opened for the 2020 season.  Additionally, the partnership is expected to result in a variety of unique in-venue events, generating a variety of new ways to enjoy Williams-Brice Stadium from an unparalleled perspective.  For rental inquiries, fans are asked to reach out to Erica Bujak Vogel at 803-760-9190 or Evogel@thesouthernway.com.

Philanthropy in the Gamecock Club

While the outbound sales of season tickets have been a staple of the Gamecock Club’s efforts to find new members, the department is embarking on a commitment to attract new donors that are interested in supporting our student-athletes, but not necessarily purchasing season tickets. Whether it be through the support of a scholarship initiative, capital project or annual gift, the department will retain Learfield/IMG College and the services of Ross Grippin and Ben McDougald to provide heightened priority to finding news fans to engage with these opportunities.

Business intelligence and data warehousing

Gamecock Athletics has been at the forefront of investment in business intelligence since starting partnerships with SSB and Salesforce in 2017.  With the onboarding of Dan Stahl as Associate AD – Revenue Generation the department will build on these previous investments, pushing them forward via the creation of the first full-time position with a focus on business intelligence.  This increased focus and attention to business intelligence will allow the Gamecock Club to realize increased efficiencies in their membership acquisition and retention efforts.  In addition to the above, the department has made significant efforts to enhance its data warehousing and analytics capabilities, including an integration with campus development on a centralized data warehouse.

Strategic reflection

“There is no way we could have made this may moves if the pandemic hadn’t occurred. Our staff here at Carolina has been incredible and viewed the sports slowdown as an opportunity to improve.” said Eigenbrot.  “The integration of data with campus is definitely a pride point as very few universities have been able to execute, but really everything we are doing here is with an eye on making us better prepared for the future.”

During the pandemic, the Gamecock Club was successful in transitioning over $1 million in ticketing funds into donations to support the athletics department for COVID relief and retaining 89% of Gamecock Club support in 2020-21 despite all club members being eligible to take a full refund.

“Pandemic was an amazing reminder of how dedicated our fans are to supporting our student-athletes. We put a refund on the table and very few people took it – that speaks volumes to how our Gamecock Club members feel about these young men and women,” added Athletics Director Ray Tanner.

Lastly, the changes explained here leave the department better positioned for an upcoming capital campaign and a series of further improvements to Gamecock Athletics facilities focused on enhancing fan amenities.  “At the end of the day, we are in an era where fans expect more out of membership and we want to be in a position to meet that expectation, whether it is on gameday or a phone call into the office,” noted Eigenbrot.  “Our stadium project is a great foundation and a strong start, but we have to keep getting better and pushing the envelop to find a way to enhance the fan experience. We can’t afford not to, and they deserve it.”