The Michigan athletic department's "turbulent fall ... hasn't hit the department in the pocketbook," as donations "are up" about $1.1M compared to this time last year, according to records cited in a front-page piece by David Jesse of the DETROIT FREE PRESS. Still, the number of people "donating is down -- from 1,536 to 1,238 -- a loss university officials attribute more to a big donation drive last year than any issues with the athletic department." The rise in donations comes despite the fact that there "was plenty of opportunity this fall for a big dip in money," as frustration over the way former AD Dave Brandon led the department "boiled over in October, leading to his resignation." But records show that dip "didn't happen." The data "also buttresses Brandon's reputation as a fund-raiser." Both the number of people giving to the department and the amount raised "are up significantly" since he took over in '10. The number of people giving to the department "is up 27% and the amount of money raised is up 99%" since then. The increase in total money given "shows the big-money donors are still happy with the direction the department was headed under Brandon." While the number of gifts through October is down from the same time period last year, it is "up from 1,046 in the same time period" in '12. Giving to the department "totaled $6,583,259," which is "the highest total at this point of the year in the last decade of records." UM donor Paul Robertson said of the school and interim AD Jim Hackett, "We believed in the vision for the athletic campus that [UM alum and Dolphins Owner] Steve Ross worked on with David Brandon. We are certainly concerned about our football team but are pretty impressed with the professionalism of the interim AD" (DETROIT FREE PRESS, 11/24).
