Aspire and Rutgers Athletics Grow Partnership with R Fund Support

ATLANTA, GA – The Rutgers University Athletics Department and The Aspire Sport Marketing Group have agreed to an expanded scope of work, with Aspire now supporting the ‘R Fund’ annual giving program. In 2019, Rutgers and Aspire partnered to build a fan relationship management center focused on new sales, service and retention, group sales, marketing, and digital strategy.

Aspire and Rutgers had an extremely successful first year in partnership highlighted by 10 men’s basketball sellouts and over 2,000 new football season tickets sold. In response to the COVID pandemic, the BIG Ten’s decision to play the 2020 Football season, and the 2020-21 Winter Sports seasons without fans, Rutgers Athletics rolled out the ‘Ticket to Success’ campaign,. The program offered all season ticket holders the option to convert their ticket account balance to an ‘R Fund’ donation, roll over their balance to the following season, or receive a refund. 

Rutgers Athletics utilized the Aspire Group’s on-site ticket sales and service department to help execute the campaign. Aspire staff was responsible for educating season ticket holders on the merits of donating, the impact that gifts would have on student-athletes and the extensive benefits each season ticket holder would receive by donating. The campaign successfully drove ticket to donation conversions from 24 percent of football buyers and 28 percent of winter sport season ticket holders, generating over $2 million in gifts to the R Fund with Aspire staff converting over $650K in upsell revenue. The lucrative campaign was a catalyst for Aspire to begin serving the R Fund and Rutgers Athletics’ donors on a 365-day basis.

“Over the last two years, The Aspire Group has provided top notch service to both Rutgers University and our supporters,” said Rutgers Associate Athletic Director Ryan Gottlieb. “The Aspire Group’s proven track record of leveraging one-to-one relationships with the Rutgers fan base has led to immense success in driving ticketing revenues.  We are thrilled to expand Aspire’s scope of work and are confident that leveraging these relationships will lead to fundraising growth and complement the efforts of the R Fund Team.”

“Aspire is grateful for the opportunity to support Rutgers Athletics in this venture and we are committed to carrying that same success over into our new fundraising efforts,” said Dan Kaiserman, Director of Ticket Sales & Service

Aspire supported 20 athletic departments throughout the pandemic with ticket to donation conversions, generating more than $11M in new annual fund donations.

About Rutgers Athletics

The Rutgers Department of Intercollegiate Athletics (Rutgers Athletics), comprised of 24 men’s and women’s varsity sports, is a member of the Big Ten Conference and governed by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Rutgers is the Birthplace of College Football, hosting the first-ever collegiate matchup on Nov. 6, 1869, a 6-4 victory over Princeton. Rutgers Athletics is uniquely positioned in the nation’s largest media market with over seven million television households, along with access to the Big Ten Network and its nearly 60 million homes across the U.S. and Canada. Established in 1766, Rutgers University is the State University of New Jersey and eight oldest higher education institution in the country. As a premier academic institution, Rutgers is a member of the prestigious Association of American Universities.

For more information about The Rutgers Athletics Department visit their website here.

About The Aspire Group
The Aspire Group is a sports and entertainment marketing firm that is globally recognized for innovative consulting, research, and ticket sales services. Aspire created the outsourced ticket sales niche, revolutionizing intercollegiate athletics with the first Fan Relationship Management Center (FRMC) at Georgia Tech in 2009. Over the past decade, more than 260 collegiate and professional sports properties have trusted Aspire to drive revenue, attendance and enterprise-value growth through the combination of strategic consulting and research services and best-in-industry fan relationship management.

For more information about The Aspire Group visit: www.theaspiregroupinc.com and follow us on twitter @theaspire_group

For inquiries and more information on how Aspire can provide support to your Athletic Department, contact A.J. Smith at 404-389-9100 or aj.smith@theaspiregroupinc.com.