giving back to BC Cycling - - BC Cycling Alumni

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From: Karl Honerlaw <honer...@bc.edu>
Subject: Re: [BC Cycling Alumni] giving back to BC Cycling -
To: bc-cycling-alumni@googlegroups.com,
        Andrew Armstrong
 <aparmstr...@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, 04 Aug 2010 17:23:03 -0400
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To everyone who has responded, thanks for the feedback!  Let me think about this for a day or two.  But for now, any other alumni have any opinions on this?  Tom, Chuck, Greg, Johnathan, Vince, Chris, Chelsea, Amanda, Arjun, Jamie, Andre.... I really do appreciate the feedback.  It lets you know if what you are thinking makes sense and gives a different perspective sometimes.  

Karl 

 |  On Wed, 4 Aug 2010 16:14:36 -0400
 |  Andrew Armstrong <aparmstr...@gmail.com> wrote:
 |  Hey Karl and Dana,
 |  
 |  I agree with the sustainability concerns of an award / reward approach as
 |  well as with the point that it may create drama and also supports an
 |  individual rather than the entire team or program.  How would we ensure the
 |  money is there every year? etc. etc.  The real value of something like that
 |  is the consistency of it year in and year out.
 |  
 |  That's why I favor a general contribution / donation / grant to the club's
 |  general fund.  Of course this requires trusting the current club leadership
 |  to use it wisely and to enhance growth.  As the BC beanpot rep for several
 |  years and the 2005 Beanpot committee chairman I am actually against donating
 |  the money to the beanpot on BC's behalf.  At least if you want BC Cycling to
 |  benefit directly from it.  During the years of involvement with beanpot I
 |  never actually saw it pay back any money to any of the clubs from the member
 |  schools that helps put it on.
 |  
 |  Whatever you decide you may want to give the current club leadership a heads
 |  up prior to March when you said you would make the donation.
 |  
 |  One thing I have always wanted to see happen is to set-up a Cycling club
 |  foundation within the BC parameters.  Then any alumni or other cycling club
 |  donations could be made into the foundation and the club would receive the
 |  interest payments from the fund each year.  By doing it within BC then BC
 |  runs/manages/maintains the fund/foundation.  It would be pretty clean and
 |  easy for all involved and would be sustainable for the club.  As the amount
 |  in the foundation grows so too would the annual interest payments the club
 |  receives.  The challenge with this; however, is that it requires a much
 |  larger initial donation.  When I was treasurer I asked around at BC and was
 |  told that $50,000 was the minimum amount needed to start such a foundation
 |  and that that amount would be needed from the outset.  I'm not convinced
 |  that that is the exact way it's done, I think they just told me that to
 |  deter me as a student and over-state the challenges involved in setting one
 |  up.  I'd like to inquire again with BC about the requirements now that we
 |  are alumni.
 |  
 |  For example, I know the Texas A&M cycling club is currently in the process
 |  of setting up such a cycling club foundation and they are only required to
 |  get $25,000 and have five years to do so.   I suggest that we inquire with
 |  BC through their alumni and/or development offices about our interest in
 |  setting up a cycling club foundation.
 |  
 |  If we all get our act together before approaching them then we can present
 |  the development office with a plan: a group of alumni numbered X big in
 |  size, already committing to y money in initial contributions and raising z
 |  dollars over an initial campaign of 3-5 years in length to get the fund
 |  started.  If we present them with such a plan they will be more likely to
 |  say yes even if the amount is less than their normal 'cookie cutter' minimum
 |  amount.  Granted, the downside is that any initial funds would not be
 |  available to the club this year but we would have to look at it as an
 |  investment in the long term future.
 |  
 |  So...what do y'all think about that?  We could all pony up whatever we can
 |  to get started and then work in conjunction with the current club to raise
 |  the rest.  I'm sure some current club member's parents would contribute once
 |  we started raising funds and over a few years we could have a sizable
 |  amount.
 |  
 |  So, we should figure out how many alumni we have and what the potential
 |  1-year, 3-year, and 5-year giving potential is for each so we can determine
 |  our potential as a whole group.
 |  
 |  Karl, you said you were thinking of about $1,500 this spring...could you
 |  repeat that each year for the next five years?  $7,500...that's a hell of a
 |  start to a target of $25,000
 |  
 |  Can anyone else donate?  35 more people at just $100 per year over five
 |  years gets us there.  Or 17 more people at $200 per year for five years...
 |   I know that it sounds daunting but if someone else steps up with a larger
 |  contribution...we get current parents involved...perhaps older, more
 |  established alumni...and boom we're there.
 |  
 |  Thoughts?
 |  On Wed, Aug 4, 2010 at 2:05 PM, Dana Prey <djp...@gmail.com> wrote:
 |  
 |  > Hey Karl,
 |  > You can see who is on this mailing list by going to the members section of
 |  > the Google Group here:
 |  > http://groups.google.com/group/bc-cycling-alumni/members
 |  >
 |  > For contributions/rewards: I think they would be best utilized for
 |  > active/regular team members. I don't necessarily think having an inter-team
 |  > competition for one or two scholarships would be all that beneficial -- it
 |  > might create drama, and the selection criteria is subjective, and only one
 |  > or two people actually benefit in the end, which doesn't really go along
 |  > with the spirit of running a club sport. I'm also concerned about
 |  > sustainability of this type of reward -- how likely is it that there will be
 |  > this much money to give out every year? Would this only happen once? I think
 |  > consistency is one of the most important aspects of running a club team.
 |  > It's a nice and generous idea but I don't think it's sustainable long term.
 |  >
 |  > I do like the idea of reimbursing those who race -- that way the ones who
 |  > race the most are the ones rewarded. Those who are out there every weekend
 |  > should be supported, whether they're an A rider or an intro. A training trip
 |  > with some kind of subsidy is also a good idea. Promotes team bonding, gets
 |  > good training in, makes it a viable option for more team members to attend
 |  > with the additional financial support.
 |  >
 |  > Anyway, just some quick thoughts..
 |  >
 |  > Dana
 |  >
 |  >
 |  > On Fri, Jul 30, 2010 at 1:25 PM, Karl Honerlaw <honer...@bc.edu> wrote:
 |  >
 |  >> Hey BC Cyling Alumni,
 |  >> I am not sure exactly who gets these emails, but to those of you who donâ€™t
 |  >> know me, my name is Karl Honerlaw; I rode with the club all 4 years I was at
 |  >> BC, raced all four years, and was the club president my senior year. For me
 |  >> (as I am sure for most of you) the cycling club was one of the true
 |  >> highlights of my time at BC. BC Cycling helped me discover the sport of
 |  >> cycling, get involved with racing, improve as an athlete, grow as a leader,
 |  >> and was where I made some of my best friends. Probably also like most of
 |  >> you, I hope that the club can provide the same advantages to current and
 |  >> future club members as well, and hopefully improve over time.
 |  >> Even though I am no longer a member of BC Cycling, I still want to give
 |  >> back to the club. And now that I am a college grad and employed full time I
 |  >> feel I am able to make some kind of contribution.
 |  >> So, I am reaching out to past BC Cycling alumni for some advice on how I
 |  >> might best be able to do this. I would like to make a contribution that
 |  >> helps strengthen the team, makes it more competitive, rewards ridersâ€™ hard
 |  >> work, or makes being a member more enjoyable. At the same time, I donâ€™t want
 |  >> any contribution to be wasted, or have team members become overly focused on
 |  >> money.
 |  >> Just to give you an idea, I am planning on a donation of $1,000-$1,500
 |  >> that would be given in the spring (March-April).
 |  >> Here are a few ideas I have had:
 |  >> 1. Simply donate the money to the teamâ€™s general fund. This gives them the
 |  >> freedom to spend it as they wish and makes them less dependent on the
 |  >> budgeting by SOFC. However, will BC give the club less money if they have
 |  >> money from fundraising and donations?
 |  >> 2. I had the idea of creating like a scholarship/reward for the best (or
 |  >> top two) rider/s. This would be money that could only be spent to help the
 |  >> individual improve as a student (ie on tuition) or a cyclist (on something
 |  >> bike related like a new bike, a training trip, coaching, etc.). I had this
 |  >> idea as something that would keep riders motivated during the long New
 |  >> England winters, giving them another reason to get up for morning weekend
 |  >> rides and stay focused during the off season. I also thought it could add a
 |  >> little inter team competition. I envisioned that at the end of the year
 |  >> riders would submit some type of portfolio or application detailing why they
 |  >> deserve the reward.  The I, and hopefully other club alumni would review the
 |  >> various applications and make a decision. However, my concern with this idea
 |  >> is that you donâ€™t want riders (after all this is collegiate cycling)
 |  >> becoming overly focused on money.  I also would not want it to become a
 |  >> source of inter-team dra!
 |  >>  ma or conflict. I do like this idea though because I feel like it
 |  >> challenges riders to become more and more competitive, like winning (or
 |  >> placing well in a high cat road race) or going to nationals.
 |  >> 3. If BC helps host the Beanpot this year (pretty sure this is happening),
 |  >> donate the money to the raceâ€™s general fund.
 |  >> 4. Use the money to help the club put on a training trip in the spring, or
 |  >> the fall of 2011. Granted, this is not enough to cover the cost of the
 |  >> entire trip, but it would cover over half.
 |  >> 5. Reimburse riders for race fees at the end of the season.  This is
 |  >> obviously not enough to cover all fees, but it could reimburse riders who
 |  >> had top results, completed certain # of races, or some other criteria. Or
 |  >> cover race fees for certain race/s.
 |  >> These are just a few ideas I had. What do you guys think? Like I said, BC
 |  >> did so much for me I want to give back, but I want to be as sure as possible
 |  >> that whatever way I do this, it has positive results. Any feedback would be
 |  >> greatly appreciated.
 |  >>
 |  >>
 |  >> Karl
 |  >>
 |  >> --
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 |  >> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to
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 |  >> .
 |  >> For more options, visit this group at
 |  >> http://groups.google.com/group/bc-cycling-alumni?hl=en.
 |  >>
 |  >>
 |  >  --
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 |  > http://groups.google.com/group/bc-cycling-alumni?hl=en.
 |  >
 |  
 |  
 |  
 |  -- 
 |  
 |  
 |  Andrew Armstrong
 |  www.armstrongcycling.com
 |  Cell: 617-480-6705
 |  
 |  -- 
 |  You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "BC Cycling Alumni" group.
 |  To post to this group, send email to bc-cycling-alumni@googlegroups.com.
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 |
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