The challenge, which ends May 31, allows former Elon student-athletes the opportunity to earn additional monetary support for their respective programs.
Thanks to a generous donation by Mike and Mary Ellen Cross of Burlington, N.C., the Phoenix Club has announced the return of the third Budget Bonus Challenge, giving former Elon student-athletes the opportunity to earn their respective programs additional monetary support.The donation will provide a total of $10,000 in budget support to the three teams that meet the criteria outlined in the challenge rules.
As in the past, the team with the highest giving percentage will win a $5,000 bonus to their budget for the 2014-15 athletic year. Also, the second place team will receive a $3,000 bonus.
But this year, there is a twist. The team that has the biggest percentage increase (in percentage points, based on last year’s results) will receive the remaining $2,000 bonus.
All gifts made by former student-athletes to Elon Athletics by May 31 will count toward the challenge. At the end of the fiscal year, the two sports with the highest percentage of former student-athlete giving and the sport with the largest percentage increase will receive a portion of the $10,000 donation in its budget. The Budget Bonus Challenge runs for the entire membership year, which began on June 1, 2013 and ends on May 31, 2014. If you have already made a gift to the Phoenix Club this year, it has been calculated in the current giving percentages.
The first two years of the Budget Bonus Challenge have helped increase the giving percentage among former Elon student-athletes from nine percent to 18 percent. If every former student-athlete who made a gift to Elon Athletics in the last two membership years (2011-12 and 2012-13) renews their support, that percentage would climb to 24 percent. That would total almost 1,000 former student-athletes making a gift this year.
Look for updates on the Budget Bonus Challenge from the Phoenix Club. Please contact Mary Alyson Touloupas in the Phoenix Club office at (336) 278-6781 or by email at mtouloupas@elon.edu to make a gift or with any questions.