I think there's an option out there the AD/Patriot club is not seeing. Thinking there is a big disconnect between the giving levels and what fans get in return. We need more season ticket holders and people having fun/able to connect at games.
My solution would be to create a 3rd Tier / Giving level in between Gold Room and Green Coat society. It is great we have so many Gold Room donors but I think people would actually like an option to donate more and see more of a ROI. Create a middle tier - "White" (or whatever color named we want) in between giving $600 for Gold Room and $5,000 for Green Coat. $5K a year - a lot of people can't shell out that kind of money (props to the people that do) but I've heard from multiple people they would give more than the lowest tier.... have White tier at $1,500, or $2,000, and create a whole separate White Room on the adjacent concourse or you can take the Gold Room location and use that if there's the need/has more people than Gold. This way we would have 3 locations for our prime giving peeps.
1. Gold Room - Keep it as is (focus efforts on young alumni and getting them in)
2. White Room - Elevate the beverage and food options, more tables and chairs, tv's/monitors, popcorn machine, etc. (no more cold pizza). In this room I would say offer local restaurants so the food quality will be better than the Gold Room. I would also give out parking passes. I would also throw in each member in this tier can request White or Gold room passes for 4-5 home games in a season in order to bring friends, family, colleagues, clients, etc. and show them how much fun a game can be - guaranteed this will bring in some interest for those people thinking of donating or even hopping on a mini plan or full season package deal this year or next. Would also throw in a Mason polo shirt, or sweatshirt, for this tier per donor.
3. Green Room - The high class donors can still have their place with all the current trimmings.
This will solve the overcrowding of the Gold room as I think a lot of us or people we know and go to games with would jump at the opportunity to this next tier and be able to not break the bank as there will be a payment plan. Taking a good chunk of people out of the Gold Room and them going to another room will reduce the lines to beer and food and could focus more of the Gold room to the younger crowd.
I think finding room for the White room could be done if they just look at the concourse and see where they could put it.
The goal of athletic organizations and non-profits is to get donors in and keep them contributing and eventually get them to give more as the years go on (as they become more financially stable). I think Mason is shooting itself in the foot just having these 2 tiers.... giving the very bare minimum each year when people could probably give more if they are getting more for their dollar, yet the far end of the spectrum is pretty high ($5k) that a family of 2 or 4 may not be able to afford - this is our lowest turnout tier. If you have a mid-tier.... I think a lot of the diehards and 30-40 year olds could get away with donating $1,500 for a season.
