Fundraising for Athletic Departments in the NIL and Revenue Sharing Era

College athletics is in the middle of the biggest financial shift since scholarships were introduced. Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL), looming revenue sharing, and constant conference realignment have turned “nice to have” fundraising into “mission critical” revenue.

For athletic directors and development leaders, the question is no longer if you need to raise more money. It is how fast you can build a sustainable, strategic fundraising engine that supports both traditional needs and the new realities of athlete compensation.

This post walks through why fundraising has to evolve, where the money needs to go, and how to structure campaigns that actually work in this new environment.

Why Athletic Fundraising Has Changed

For years, athletic fundraising was relatively predictable. You raised money for:

• Facilities

• Scholarships and endowments

• Operations and program support

• Occasional capital campaigns for marquee projects

Today, those needs still exist. What has changed is the pressure and pace created by:

1. NIL expectations
   Recruits now view NIL as a baseline part of the decision. If your program cannot credibly show ongoing NIL support, you are starting each conversation behind.

2. Impending revenue sharing
   As models around direct athlete revenue sharing emerge, athletic departments will need flexible, sustainable funding to avoid gutting other priorities.

3. Roster retention and the transfer portal
   You are not just recruiting high school athletes. You are constantly re-recruiting your own roster. That requires resources every year, not once a decade.

4. Donor sophistication
   Your top donors read the same headlines you do. They are asking tougher questions about impact, structure, and long-term sustainability.

Fundraising is no longer about one-off wins. It is about building a model that supports scholarships, facilities, NIL, and future revenue sharing in a coordinated, strategic way.

Where the Money Needs to Go Now

A modern athletic fundraising strategy has four primary lanes:

1. Traditional Philanthropy

• Facilities, operations, endowments

• Academic support and wellness programs

• Sport-specific excellence funds

2. NIL Support (through aligned collectives or entities)

• Multi-year commitments that create predictable NIL capacity

• Sport or position-specific initiatives where appropriate and compliant

• Community engagement and charitable activation for student-athletes

3. Revenue Sharing Preparedness

• Building reserves and flexible funds

• Scenario planning: what happens when direct athlete payments become reality

• Aligning institutional leadership early so you are not reacting late

4. Holistic Student-Athlete Experience

• Leadership and life skills programs

• Career and internship support

• Mental health and wellness resources

When donors understand that these priorities are interconnected, they are more willing to invest at a higher level. NIL is not a separate universe. It is part of the same mission: helping your athletes and your programs compete and thrive.

Lessons from High-Performing NIL Campaigns

Campaigns that outperform expectations in the NIL space tend to share several traits:

1. Bold, visible leadership
   When boards, key volunteers, and top donors make early, public commitments, it signals seriousness. In the Auburn NIL campaign led by On To Victory and Executive Director Brett Whiteside, the board launched one of the first multi-year NIL pledge campaigns in the country and set the tone with their own commitments. That leadership unlocked broader donor confidence.

2. Multi-year structure, not one-year scrambling
   The days of scrambling every offseason to piece together NIL dollars are numbered. Multi-year pledges give you:

• Predictability

• Credibility with coaches and recruits

• Space to plan instead of constantly reacting

3. Integrated messaging between athletics and NIL
   The most effective efforts do not allow “traditional fundraising” and “NIL” to compete with each other. Instead, they:

• Share a common vision for competitiveness and student-athlete success

• Coordinate donor conversations so they feel sequenced, not scattered

• Use consistent language about impact and outcomes

4. Professional guidance and campaign discipline
   Top-performing campaigns rarely happen by accident. They:

• Use data to define goals and prospect potential

• Follow a clear process for qualification, cultivation, and solicitation

• Lean on experienced partners who understand athletics and can adapt proven advancement models to NIL and revenue sharing

In short: structure, leadership, and clarity beat improvisation every time.

If you would like support designing a sustainable fund-raising model that fits your institution and your market, our team at the J.F. Smith Group is ready to help. Email meganaugustine@jfsg.com.