Dear USC Men’s Crew Alumni, Parents and Friends:

First let me begin by saying thank you to all of you who so generously supported our Crew this season. It is imperative we never forget that since being cut as a varsity sport due to Title IX, we now operate as a club sport and are no longer supported by the University. Your gifts of time and money are so much more valuable to us for this reason.

Fundraising is an integral part of the Crew Board’s strategy for the coming years, as it will support our Trojan Oarsmen with better equipment, coaching and travel subsidies. Looking into the near future, we also hope to fuel both endowment growth and the construction of a new shell house in the Port of Los Angeles.

Other successful collegiate rowing programs flush with cash such as the Ivy Leagues, Washington and Cal, get there in a variety of ways. The occasional school gets one huge donation and never has to look back. Most, however, use a broader strategy that involves keeping alumni closely tied with their university and successfully soliciting a large proportion of them for donations over the decades after their graduation.

While USC Men’s Crew alumni annual giving has historically been quite low in comparison to other collegiate rowing programs, our Crew Board has recently made significant progress. We recently surpassed $150,000 in total annual gifts for the second year in a row and giving rates have climbed to 21% from 15% last year and 7% the year before. The strategy behind this success indicates that total gifts should continue to increase for the coming years.

We encourage everyone to support our young oarsmen and coxswains so that our Men’s Crew may enjoy another half century of success.
Fight On!

Jack Schumacher ‘54
Chairman of USC Men’s Crew Alumni