OT: Cincinnati resident gives $2 million to Purdue football

[CaptainProbasco]

Purdue football's $2 million benefactor revealed

"The $2 million gift to Purdue’s football program was first revealed in December, when athletic director Morgan Burke announced coach Danny Hope’s two-year contract extension.

Now we know the man behind the pledge.

Meet Cincinnati resident Carl Bimel, a 1942 Purdue graduate whose career spanned nearly 45 years as business owner and consultant in the concrete business. He retired in 2004.

“There was no big attempt to get me to do it,” Bimel said Wednesday from his home. “It was more on my part.”
......
Bimel has been a member of the John Purdue Club since 1950 and developed strong relationships with former coaches, including Noble Kizer, Bob DeMoss and Jack Mollenkopf. Before the NCAA prohibited the practice, Bimel assisted the football staff in evaluating prospects."


This is the type of thing I wish would happen at UC more often. We get older, wealthier alums donating to the school pretty well, but we could also use their support with the athletic program.

[BigDaddyCornHusker]

Having lived in West Lafayette for the previous 4 years, I was impressed at what a loyal following Purdue has.

[subflea]

Honestly that kind of gift from an alumnus is pretty rare. The biggest athletic donors at most schools are people who never attended the school. There are rare exceptions like Phil Knight and T. Boone Pickens. However, much like Lindner and Sheakley being two of UC's biggest donors the last few years, it is pretty typical for large donations to come from non-alums.

[catscratchfever]

Originally Posted by subflea

Honestly that kind of gift from an alumnus is pretty rare. The biggest athletic donors at most schools are people who never attended the school. There are rare exceptions like Phil Knight and T. Boone Pickens. However, much like Lindner and Sheakley being two of UC's biggest donors the last few years, it is pretty typical for large donations to come from non-alums.

why do you think that is sub?

[#41]

Originally Posted by catscratchfever

why do you think that is sub?

Lots of reasons:

1. People become invested in their local community and giving to the "local program" can be a source of pride among peers.

2. Lots of people go to liberal arts schools or schools with no athletic programs to speak of, and want to make an impact on a larger scale.

3. For a lot of people, it starts with smaller gifts to get access or better tickets to the local team and they wind up becoming more invested in the program (as they meet coaches, ADs, ex-players, etc.) and giving more money.

[Bearcat Otto]

And UC asked them to donate while their school did not.

Happens.

[nachoman91]

UC needs to be targeting these companies.....

Fortune 500 Companies within 30 miles of UC.
AK Steel - $6.5B
Kroger - $90B
Macy's - $26B
5th/3rd - $6.7B
W&S Financial - $5B
P&G - $82B
Ashland - $8.4B
General Cable - $5.9B

To get $10M annually from these 8 companies amounts to .004% of their annual revenue.

[Bearcattitue92]

Keep in mind companies like Kroger, Macy's, 5/3, are also sponsoring the Reds, Bengals, Cyclones, Xavier Mouseketeers. There are only so many marketing dollars to go around.

[jplog]

P&G doesn't sponser much around here except the Aronoff Center. The PNC Powerstacks at GABP would make a perfect P&G Powerstacks! Oh, they do seem to be preoccupied with the money hole that is the Freedom Center as well. Strange company.

[levydl]

Originally Posted by subflea

Honestly that kind of gift from an alumnus is pretty rare. The biggest athletic donors at most schools are people who never attended the school. There are rare exceptions like Phil Knight and T. Boone Pickens. However, much like Lindner and Sheakley being two of UC's biggest donors the last few years, it is pretty typical for large donations to come from non-alums.

I believe Sheakley went to UC for a short time, though never graduated. And his dad did graduate from UC.

[nachoman91]

Originally Posted by Bearcattitue92

Keep in mind companies like Kroger, Macy's, 5/3, are also sponsoring the Reds, Bengals, Cyclones, Xavier Mouseketeers. There are only so many marketing dollars to go around.

Certainly glad that you're not UC's athletic director. UC needs to target these companies (and others) hard.

[CaptainProbasco]

Originally Posted by subflea

Honestly that kind of gift from an alumnus is pretty rare. The biggest athletic donors at most schools are people who never attended the school. There are rare exceptions like Phil Knight and T. Boone Pickens. However, much like Lindner and Sheakley being two of UC's biggest donors the last few years, it is pretty typical for large donations to come from non-alums.

I'm not sure if this is true. Most schools aren't located in big metro areas where there is lots of money from non-alums around. In that sense, UC is fortunate because we have two pools of people to draw from: those with pride in their city and those with pride in their alma matter.

If you look at ESPN's list of the 10 most powerful donors in college sports, all 10 are donating to their alma matter, despite the fact that several of them live out of state. Also I've heard that WVU's biggest donor is an alum who lives in Arizona and owns the Arizona Diamondbacks.

[subflea]

Originally Posted by levydl

I believe Sheakley went to UC for a short time, though never graduated. And his dad did graduate from UC.

Larry Sheakley did not attend UC. He has said that is why he puts his money in athletics at UC and not other parts of the school.

[subflea]

Originally Posted by CaptainProbasco

If you look at ESPN's list of the 10 most powerful donors in college sports, all 10 are donating to their alma matter, despite the fact that several of them live out of state. Also I've heard that WVU's biggest donor is an alum who lives in Arizona and owns the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Might want to look a little closer, two of them are not. The Tennessee donor went to Tennessee Wesleyan. The Mizzou donor went to Memphis State.

[CaptainProbasco]

Originally Posted by subflea

Might want to look a little closer, two of them are not. The Tennessee donor went to Tennessee Wesleyan. The Mizzou donor went to Memphis State.

Looks like you're right. I got confused by the way they formatted it.

The Mizzou guy (Bill Laurie) had a brother-in-law who went to Mizzou. You may have heard of him: Sam Walton. That's how Laurie got his money (his wife inherited $6 billion of Walmart stock). Also, his brother and his nephew both played basketball at Mizzou, so he hardly fits the mold of "local rich guy with no connection to the program."

Couldn't find a bio on the Tennessee guy.

That makes it 9 out of 10 of the biggest donors in college sports have a personal connection to the program beyond just residing in the area where the program is located or growing up as a fan.

[Binturong05]

Somewhat related to this topic is the option the State of Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles gives residents in choosing sports teams logos on license plates. Something like $25 of the upcharge to get the logo goes to the school and is a tax deductible donation.

When I'm down in Cincinnati I see a handful of C-Paws scattered among a few Xavier and Miami Univ license plates along with the Reds, Bengals, "Pets", "Scenic Rivers', etc. but up in Columbus it's nearly every other license plate is tagged with an Ohio State block-O. I understand it's a big school but I highly doubt half of the plates I see are Ohio State alums. Instead you have a large, and frankly loonatic fanbase that soaks up anything and everything branded Ohio State including crappy, ill-fitting t-shirts sold on racks at the local Sevel Eleven so long as it has an Ohio State logo.

If UC had this kind of fan support, where not only alums are buying merchandise but also casual fans it would go a long, long way toward building the athletic budget to be on par with other programs around the country.