New Gopher Fund Membership Program

[BigSchmidty17]

So, been a season ticket holder for over 20 years and travel to one away game and some bowl games but instead of having the away tickets to still be based on our Gopher Scores (longitivity plus donations) they created a separate program for yearly donations only. So, now being a season ticket holder means nothing to travel to see the Gophers! I've paid over $2,000 for my tickets every year...this is a kick in the nuts by the marketing team/athletics to those who have stayed committed to Gopher football. Oh and the few Gopher benefits we got (Tunnel Team, Photo Opps., Free Goldy's 5K Registrations, etc.) is also only included in the new membership program not based on Gopher Points. Who are these people they hire for marketing? Can't be Gopher fans or grew up fans?!

 

[A_Slab_of_Bacon]

I think this is basically shifting the benefits toward more recent giving.

A large number of my gopher score points are from the past and I don't think this will dramatically change what I get much.

If you're trying to engage folks who are active now ... I get it and I don't think this as the end times nor is it a terrible idea.

 

[BigSchmidty17]

I think this is basically shifting the benefits toward more recent giving.

A large number of my gopher score points are from the past and I don't think this will dramatically change what I get much.

If you're trying to engage folks who are active now ... I get it and I don't think this as the end times nor is it a terrible idea.

The prior system was still geared towards giving as fans could move up fairly quickly with giving but it gave the long term ticket holders a chance to also benefit is my issue.

You could be right that our benefits won't change much but it's really confusing with two separate programs.

 

[upnorthkid]

So, been a season ticket holder for over 20 years and travel to one away game and some bowl games but instead of having the away tickets to still be based on our Gopher Scores (longitivity plus donations) they created a separate program for yearly donations only. So, now being a season ticket holder means nothing to travel to see the Gophers! I've paid over $2,000 for my tickets every year...this is a kick in the nuts by the marketing team/athletics to those who have stayed committed to Gopher football. Oh and the few Gopher benefits we got (Tunnel Team, Photo Opps., Free Goldy's 5K Registrations, etc.) is also only included in the new membership program not based on Gopher Points. Who are these people they hire for marketing? Can't be Gopher fans or grew up fans?!

how did it change versus prior? just using donor amounts and not gopherscore?

 

[BigSchmidty17]

how did it change versus prior? just using donor amounts and not gopherscore?

There are two different programs. Gophers Score Loyalty Program and Membership Fund Program. They say your Gopher Score benefits will continue and still have an updated score. What they don't tell you is who gets priority on things like away tickets/bowl tickets as an example. Because if you donate to the new Memebership Fund Program it says you can get priority to those tickets but it also states Gopher Score will also get priority based on your score. So who gets higher priority...current year giver or yearly season ticket holders?

 

[upnorthkid]

There are two different programs. Gophers Score Loyalty Program and Membership Fund Program. They say your Gopher Score benefits will continue and still have an updated score. What they don't tell you is who gets priority on things like away tickets/bowl tickets as an example. Because if you donate to the new Memebership Fund Program it says you can get priority to those tickets but it also states Gopher Score will also get priority based on your score. So who gets higher priority...current year giver or yearly season ticket holders?

gotcha. yeah i don't donate but have season tickets (my gopher score is quite low). I've already bought my frozen four tickets so as a hockey season ticket holder, not really much it changes as it's pretty easy to get priority to the FF outside of the athletic dept. the rest of benefits I was never high enough for so was curious as to how this changes things up

 

[BigSchmidty17]

gotcha. yeah i don't donate but have season tickets (my gopher score is quite low). I've already bought my frozen four tickets so as a hockey season ticket holder, not really much it changes as it's pretty easy to get priority to the FF outside of the athletic dept. the rest of benefits I was never high enough for so was curious as to how this changes things up

Don't donate much either, except to Dinkytown Athletics now, but being season ticket holder for so long has me at like 4,000 out of 14,500 which meant priority and decent seating for away games or bowl games when I want to go. Just don't want someone to jump me who donates 1,000 this year and that's it.

Good call on grabbing the Forzen Four tickets early. Hope Gophers can make it....playing well and hope they keep peaking.

 

[forever a gopher]

I guess I'm not following the whole thing. They introduced the "Gopher score" and gave you points based on season ticket longevity, current-year giving, etc. So why roll out a revised system tied only to donations, when the Gopher score already took that into account? Does this more-or-less render the Gopher score useless? I am forced to donate for my seats, so based on the chart, my benefits don't appreciably change. However, unless I'm misunderstanding (completely possible), this seems like an unnecessary change. So they gave out benefits a few years back and are now removing them to some? Seems like a kick in the nuts to plenty of people who have paid for and sat through the many lean years of Gopher sports.

Is this in direct response to Dinkytown Athletes? I'm willing to bet the athletics department is seeing less donations now that people are donating money to DTA. Most people only have so many dollars to go around. Unintended consequences for sure.