On Sept. 21, the DU Division of Athletics and Recreation announced the launch of a new fundraising campaign to help combat some of the financial hardships that COVID-19 has brought upon the athletics department.
The campaign, coined as the 5280 COVID Relief Fund, is a year-long initiative with a goal of raising $1 million. The funds will go towards operational costs for the department that have been negatively affected by the pandemic, such as academic resources, nutrition, mental health awareness and sports medicine.
The division is asking for support from a wide variety of DU community members to help the initiative, including parents, season ticket holders and alumni.
Brandon Macneill, the Deputy Athletics Director and Chief Revenue Officer for DU Athletics, explained that the initiative is the best possible way to ensure the future success of the division as a whole and get the program up and running as quickly as possible to how it was before the pandemic.
“The University invests a significant amount into athletics and recreation as it is. Our only real avenue to offset this is to ask for help from our amazing and loyal alumni, sponsors, parents and friends. We wanted to make sure campus would be supportive and they certainly were, so we were excited to launch this campaign earlier this week,” Macneill said. Though the $1 million goal in one year may sound lofty, Macneill is confident that if the relief fund is successful, DU Athletics “will come out of [the pandemic] even stronger.”
“It is going to take an entire village, but I am confident between this overall fund and direct support of individual teams that we can get there. We have to protect our incredibly successful programs and ensure our student-athletes continue to excel in both the classroom and the fields of play,” Macneill said.
Before the campaign launched, DU implemented many cost-saving initiatives this summer including furloughs, budget cuts, layoffs and pay reductions. The program will continue to look for ways to close the financial gap even as the campaign goes fully underway.
Macneill noted that it will “take a while for this to really get going” but “the initial feedback and response has been wonderful.” He stressed that the heart of the campaign lies in having to protect the student-athletes and give them the best resources to be able to excel both academically and athletically for generations to come.
As for student involvement, Macneill wants to continue to see them supporting their student-athlete peers and consider themselves a part of the DU Athletics family.
“If I could ask anything of our students, it would be that they continue to support their teams and find us as a well-being outlet via our recreation student exclusive programs—it means so much to everyone when students are among us and cheering us on. Students absolutely make a major impact on all that we do here in Athletics and Recreation. We are here for every DU student,” Macneill said.
Donors who give $5,000 or more will get their name added to a permanent plaque in the Ritchie Center.
To learn more and to donate to the 5280 Together COVID Relief Fund, click here.
