BLACKSBURG – With the 2019 football season in full swing and with basketball practices starting this week, the Virginia Tech Athletics Department is calling upon all fans to participate in the "Drive for 25 Blitz," which will be held Wednesday starting at noon and run through Friday at midnight.
A year ago, Tech Athletics held its inaugural "Drive for 25 Day" – a 25-hour time period in which the Hokie Club, the fundraising arm for the athletics department, encouraged fans and alums to make a financial contribution and join the Hokie Club, as it strived to increase its membership to 25,000. This year, the Hokie Club is expanding the giving period to 2.5 days, starting at noon on Sept. 25 and continuing up to 11:59 p.m. after the Duke football game Sept. 27.
"We appreciate all those individuals who have joined the Hokie Club as part of the Drive for 25 over the past two-plus years," said Bill Lansden, senior associate athletics director for development and executive director of the Hokie Club. "As we continue to provide a positive experience for more than 550 student-athletes, we're calling on Hokies from all over the country to participate in our Drive for 25 Blitz. Whether it's joining for the first time or sharing news and updates through emails and social media, current Hokie Club members and new supporters can make an impact on the lives of Hokie student-athletes over the course of those 2.5 days."
Giving day events are normally 24-hour online fundraising challenges that universities, departments, and/or organizations sponsor to rally supporters and inspire donations. The Drive for 25 Blitz, though, will last 2.5 days – continuing a tribute to the importance of the No. 25 worn by former head football coach and College Football Hall of Fame inductee Frank Beamer, whose contributions to the department and university have been well documented.
Hokie Club officials have set up a giving page for each individual sport in preparation for the Drive for 25 Blitz, and a $10,000 match has been secured for each sport. In addition, they plan to use the hokiesports Twitter account (@hokiesports) and the Hokie Club Twitter account (@HokieClub) to have challenges and contests for Hokie Club members.
Also, the afternoon before the Duke game, Hokie Club staff and volunteers will be collecting gifts in parking lots via cash or check. There will be two credit card devices in Hokie Village and eight credit card devices in four locations within Lane Stadium for fans who want to join and support Virginia Tech Athletics.
In addition, for the first time this year, fans wishing to receive membership benefits can do so by joining the Hokie Club for as little as $25. This new "Gobbler" level was added as a way to support to the Hokie Scholarship Fund, which pays for the scholarships of student-athletes each year.
"We need everybody to get on board for as little as $25 a year on up," Tech Director of Athletics Whit Babcock said. "We need all Hokies— as Coach Beamer likes to say, we're all in this together. This is also a chance for those of you who want to give above and beyond your ticket priority to help a specific sport. When we raise money for Olympic sports, it enhances their budgets, and we want to be the premier athletics department in the ACC. Our fans can help, and we feel that now is the time to do it."
Virginia Tech Athletics and the Hokie Club want current donors to participate in the Drive for 25 Blitz as well. Certainly, any additional financial gifts provided by current donors only serve to maximize the impact on the lives of student-athletes and the success of the 22 varsity sports at Tech.
The other way for current donors to become involved is by signing up to be Drive for 25 Blitz Ambassadors. Those who sign up to be ambassadors will receive a toolkit that includes ways to encourage other Tech fans to give, including by using one's email contacts and social media accounts to educate on how contributions make a difference in the lives of Tech's student-athletes. Each ambassador receives a custom URL link to track the number of gifts he/she brings in as a part of Drive for 25 Blitz.
In addition to incentives being offered for ambassadors, the top five ambassadors who convert the largest number of donors will have an opportunity to choose from exclusive prizes and experiences.
Virginia Tech Athletics and the Hokie Club expect thousands of alumni, students, faculty, staff, family, and friends to participate by donating to the areas of athletics that resonate with them. The ultimate goal is to increase the membership of the Hokie Club to 25,000 members – a goal originally announced Dec. 12, 2016 with the official launching of the Drive for 25 campaign. Today, the membership consists of 16,000, which marks an increase of approximately 6,000 in less than three years.
For those looking to sign up to be a Drive for 25 Blitz Ambassador or for those looking for more information about the Drive for 25 Blitz, please check out this website: www.drivefor25.com.
