Southeast looks to increase, consolidate incoming cash

The underlying theme of the recent review on Southeast Missouri State's athletic program is money.

The review, compiled by Carr Sports Associates and presented to the university last week, features no shortage of ways to spend money — funding scholarships, enhancing facilities, adding positions.

But now the university must develop plans to secure that money.

The review recommended that Southeast's athletic department develop an overall strategic plan and similar plans for each sport, implement zero-based and line-item budgeting, and formulate a case statement that outlines the department's fundraising needs.

But the review consistently expressed problems with Southeast's current fundraising practices, which are too reliant on each sports program launching its own efforts to secure donations.

"The continuation of this practice encourages 'donor confusion and fatigue,'" the review states.

"Unfortunately, that's sort of what we've defaulted to," said James Limbaugh, Board of Regents member and chairman of the university's athletics task force. "We had some coaches that were very aggressive, and they wanted to do their own golf tournaments and had their own fundraising techniques. The unintended consequences of that effort is that it tended to dilute the unrestricted gifts that really can be spread out for the benefit of the entire athletics program. It's one of those unintended consequences of a good practice."

Southeast athletic director Don Kaverman said the reliance on coaches to raise funds came out of necessity, since the department has only one person dedicated to athletic development.

"I think it's actually leveraged our overall fundraising," Kaverman said. "We may have had some redirection, but I think we've added to our total fund-raising."

The university during its meeting last Friday did approve budgeting for an associate AD for external affairs for the 2008-09 academic year. The position, which was recommended in the review, would serve as the liaison to the booster club, oversee development efforts and work on other marketing and promotional activities for Southeast athletics.

Bill Carr, whose firm conducted the review, said during last week's meetings that the transition from gifts that are restricted for individual sports to unrestricted efforts to benefit the entire program will take time.

"We know there can't be a culture change in that overnight," Carr said.

The review said, "Atypical of contemporary Division I programs," 50 percent of the booster club's annual gifts to Southeast were specific to programs or projects.

Limbaugh understands why some of the coaches may be resistant to that culture change, since those coaches ultimately are accountable for winning and losing.

"There are specific coaches that are really good at what they do and they have a network that is important to them financially," he said. "If I'm a coach and I've been successful raising $50,000 on an annual basis, and that's become embedded in my budget, unless I can get a commitment from the athletic director, I'm going to be hard-pressed to stop that activity.

"If you can supplement those programs for a period of time until you allow this new position to develop, that — to me — may be the long-term best benefit.

"Strategically, you have to look at new opportunities for fundraising efforts in areas that are familiar and have an overall affection and affinity with the university. Those become net new dollars for the program."

And the department has plenty of suggestions for using new dollars.