Virginia Tech AD Whit Babcock yesterday revealed plans for a "large-scale initiative designed to increase the school’s Hokie Club fundraising group to 25,000 members," according to Norm Wood of the Hampton Roads DAILY PRESS. VT "currently has 11,000 members in its Hokie Club, the school’s primary athletic fundraising arm." If VT could reach 25,000 members, it would be the "largest athletic fundraising group" in the ACC. The effort to get to 25,000 is "being called the 'Drive for 25.'” Babcock: "When we were looking at our graphs, where our donor numbers were, and all of the schools in the league, but especially Clemson, Florida State, Louisville, they’re all around 25,000, we thought ‘why shouldn’t we aim for the top?" He added that former football coach Frank Beamer will "chair the drive." Babcock said that Hokie Club membership has "remained fairly static" at around 11,000 since the late '90s and early '00s. He "cited the need to raise money for the rising cost of athletic scholarships as the primary reason for trying to increase club membership and generate more donations." VT’s 11,000 donors "rank 11th out of 15 schools in the ACC." Babcock said that the "cost of the scholarships" is about $14.5M for the 300 athletes who receive them. Babcock said that the Hokie Club "raised about" $20M last year. About $8.5M of that total was "earmarked for use in facility development or specific sports," leaving VT with $11.5M for scholarships. Wood: "That’s $3 million short of covering the cost of athletic scholarships" (Hampton Roads DAILY PRESS, 12/13). In Roanoke, Andy Bitter noted in the ACC, only Clemson and FSU "approached 25,000 members in their donor clubs last year." VT had roughly an $80M budget this year, which is "10th in the ACC and 40th among Power 5 schools" (ROANOKE.com, 12/12).
