Introducing The First 49

A few months ago I presented an idea in Shoutbox to everyone present about instigating Charlotte’s IPTAY moment. For the unaware, IPTAY stands for “I Pay Ten a Year” as was started by a Clemson booster following a loss to The Citadel.

We are well beyond a need for that here at Charlotte. Over the past 12 years, despite the addition of football to ostensibly protect basketball, our profile as an athletics program has dropped precipitously. After talking out the concept with various members online at the time, a meeting was initiated at Tyber Creek Pub and attended by NinerWupAss, Ninercentral, Mr Bojangles, 49erAlumnus and HotRod (not on the board but you know who he is).

What followed is our Mission Statement.

We want our Niners back and I think you do too. Our first event will be the Saint Patrick’s Day parade in conjunction with The Normbulance. Our hope is the AD and University Administration will embrace our efforts to be effectively the 12th Man of marketing/promotion/fund raising but if we have to we will go it alone.

The site is young and not ready for a public roll out but in times like these with our basketball program wallowing in the depths of an abysmal league we can not wait any longer. Forgive our growing pains and please, if you can, help us achieve the goal of putting us back on the trajectory we were once on in the Late 90’s/Early Aughts.

[font=raleway][size=18px]“The secret of change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new.” — [/size][/font][font=raleway][size=18px]Socrates[/size][/font]

The First 49 WILL build the new. Green Roots was the first step in this direction years ago. We have been active and have done some good work but it is time for it to take the next step. Many of you follow Green Roots on FB. We will be folding the Green Roots supporters into The First 49. Keep an eye out on that happening soon.

ill help however i can.

Get that donate button working. Ready to help out in any way

I’ve been saying for years that IPTAY is a perfect model for us and we should imitate it. Obviously I’m not in the area, but would love to help however I can. Of course I will be donating, but let me know what else, if anything, that I can do.

I look forward to playing in the 1st Annual TF49 Skins Game at [Insert Golf Course in the Charlotte metro here]!

Shut up and take my money.

If you need help from a younger alum, let me know.

Also shut up and take my money.

clt asks how many fantasy dollars do you want?

Wish we had better teams to make it easier for you to sell the programs. Glad you guys are taking this on. If you need any help in the Winston Salem area let me know

Paypal and donation options will be up soon.

Best thing people can do to help is assist with visibility. I’ll get a Facebook page up soon. You can follow us @TheFirst49 on Twitter. Please recommend anyone and everyone you know with ties to the University… actually the city of Charlotte to follow us. ESPECIALLY if it’s someone who used to be a supporter and have seen their interest lapse.

You guys reading this and saying “take my money” are the most ardent supporters still remaining, but at the same time also the low hanging fruit. While it’s great to have you on board we don’t want to rest on those laurels. There is so much work to do to make the Niners great again.

However; it’s morning in Niner Nation.

#RockSolid

Great idea. Would be beneficial to sell to young alumni at low costs per month. 49 dollar donation a year seems somewhat steep for someone living paycheck to paycheck but 4 dollars a month seems quite manageable. Keep up the good work!

Please let me know if you need help in anyway. I’m good with building websites and bringing forth design ideas. Of course I’ll help donate too once that process starts.
Already followed on twitter, yall took a liking to my hat lol
Love the idea!

Has the paperwork been filed for the organization? Is it a 501©(3) such that all donations will be tax deductible? If not, and you need help with that, I would be happy to step up.

Sounds like a great idea. What’s the plan for donations? Will the $ that’s donated then be donated to the AD? If not, I’m not sure the AD will been keen on participating with this venture.

Some of the proceeds will be towards increasing our (Charlotte 49er Athletics) dismal degree of visibility in the community. This might include getting materials to hand out, buying space for a table, hanging a banner, etc.

Some of the proceeds will be used to buy things like wrist bands and stickers we can sell for additional fundraising.

Substantial amount (hopefully the overwhelming majority) will be donated to the university but with a (hopefully) very powerful voice behind it. If we’re pulling in “tens of dollars”, then not so much. :slight_smile:

[quote=“NLP, post:16, topic:30799”]Some of the proceeds will be towards increasing our (Charlotte 49er Athletics) dismal degree of visibility in the community. This might include getting materials to hand out, buying space for a table, hanging a banner, etc.

Some of the proceeds will be used to buy things like wrist bands and stickers we can sell for additional fundraising.

Substantial amount (hopefully the overwhelming majority) will be donated to the university but with a (hopefully) very powerful voice behind it. If we’re pulling in “tens of dollars”, then not so much. :)[/quote]

I’d be willing to donate what I feel is a significant amount (for me at least), but I would like to see a breakdown of where the money is going in percentages (although it’s probably a bit early for that).

Example:
25% is going to community involvement.
25% is going to fundraising.
50% is going to athletic scholarship funds.

https://cdr.lib.unc.edu/indexablecontent/uuid:22ebfded-8040-420c-abd6-9ef1d4992b3d

Having run a 501 c 3 I have no interest in going down this path right now. At our last meeting the feeling was we would do some fund raising as appropriate but hat we would try to direct any larger gifts to the AD.