{"id":2462,"date":"2011-05-25T00:57:16","date_gmt":"2011-05-25T04:57:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/?p=2462"},"modified":"2011-05-25T00:57:58","modified_gmt":"2011-05-25T04:57:58","slug":"duke-dog-pride","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/?p=2462","title":{"rendered":"Duke Club Adding a Record Number of New Members"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>A few months ago I was fortunate to get together with\u00a0some folks from\u00a0the Duke Club staff for lunch. It was\u00a0a unique opportunity for me to spend time with\u00a0some of the only people\u00a0are earth who don’t roll their eyes at the\u00a0mere thought of my\u00a0overly enthusiastic interest in JMU sports. Quite to the contrary, they actually seemed to appreciate it. So it was a fun afternoon. It also was\u00a0quite informative as they told me all about the Duke Dog Pride<\/a> campaign they were just getting ready to roll out.\u00a0<\/p>\n

For those that don’t know,\u00a0the Duke Dog Pride campaign\u00a0is a plan to add\u00a02,011 new Duke\u00a0Club members in 2011. It’s an ambitious\u00a0goal and one that could give JMU a\u00a0big leg up on some\u00a0other athletic programs it competes against, like Richmond, Appalachian State,\u00a0ODU, and Montana.\u00a0Each of those schools\u00a0currently have more athletics donors that JMU.\u00a0I recently caught up with Brian Powell, Assistant Director of the Duke Club, and asked him for an update on the campaign.\u00a0He\u00a0provided me with the info below that shows things are going pretty well. Dollars are tracked according to the fiscal year (July 1 – June 30) and member numbers are based on the calendar year.<\/p>\n

New Members to date (Jan \u2013 present): 836\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Previous All-time Record for New Members (2007): 769
\n\u00a0
\nDollars raised to date: $1,403,068
\nProjected dollars raised: $1.55M+
\nAll-time dollars raised record: $1,303,410
\n\u00a0
\nFootball Season ticket sales: 6,138
\nRenewal Rate: 71% to date and expected to finish closer to 80-85%
\n2010 Season Tickets: 5,128<\/p>\n

Club Seat Sales: 702 of 1,0000<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It’s impressive that just 6 months into the year, they’ve already added more members than in any other year. There still is a ways to go however. If you’ve been thinking about joining the Duke Club, but just haven’t done so yet, now would be a great time to sign up<\/a>. If you’ve never really thought about joining, I’d encourage you to\u00a0learn a little bit about it and take the plunge.\u00a0And if you’re a particularly persuasive person, then hound your friends until they sign up. That stadium ain’t gonna pay for itself. And most importantly if anyone of you are one of the 702 lucky individuals who have purchased club seats, feel free to invite your favorite JMU bloggers to sit with you at the opener.<\/p>\n