Carolina Victory Fund Launches To Bridge Financial Challenges

CHAPEL HILL—The Rams Club announced today the Carolina Victory Fund – a new fundraising initiative to support Carolina Athletics as it faces significant financial challenges created by the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, two significant membership changes were announced affecting the membership year and the schedule for the next football equity seating process.

The Carolina Victory Fund is a new, unrestricted giving fund designed to provide new revenue to support the Tar Heels in a time of great need. In addition to the valuable assistance provided by Rams Club members through annual gifts and special projects, supporters can participate in the Carolina Victory Fund by making unrestricted gifts that will provide immediate help to Carolina's 28 varsity sports programs. The gifts will provide resources for scholarships, sports operating budgets, and important student-athlete services such as academic, medical, and nutritional support.

The pandemic has created a financial hurdle that has the potential to adversely affect the athletics program's ability to provide the outstanding student-athlete experience for which Carolina is well known. Carolina Athletics expects to lose nearly $30 million in projected revenue this year due to the pandemic through lost ticket sales, reduced television revenue, and other setbacks. Reductions in operating budgets, staff size, and vital services threaten the program's ability to maintain the level of excellence expected from Carolina Athletics.

"Carolina Athletics has long believed in offering as many opportunities as possible – to play, to win, to graduate," said Director of Athletics Bubba Cunningham. "We couldn't do it without the generosity of our Rams Cub members. To continue that tradition, we need even more support. The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic has been catastrophic to our budget, and we are asking our top benefactors to ensure continued opportunities across our broad-based program by contributing to the Carolina Victory Fund. This is a challenging time, and we hope you can help us meet this challenge. Together, we will continue to win."

Rams Club members can earn valuable priority points with substantial bonus point incentives for participating as an annual member and a donor to the Carolina Victory Fund.

For more information on the Carolina Victory Fund and how you can help Carolina Athletics meet its financial challenges, click here.

The Rams Club also announced two membership changes influenced by the pandemic and its effects at Carolina.

The 2020 Rams Club membership year is extended to June 30, 2021.
Gifts through annual memberships in The Rams Club are critical to the financial health of Carolina Athletics, supporting student-athlete scholarships, facility projects, and much more. This six-month extension to June 30 (the membership year would have normally ended on December 31, 2020) will give members extra time to complete their 2020 membership if needed in this unusual year while also allowing members to participate in the Carolina Victory Fund. After the current extension, future membership years will shift permanently to a July 1 to June 30 schedule to match up with the academic and competition years for student-athletes and to put all ticket rights for Carolina sports in the same membership year.

The football equity seating process scheduled for 2021 is moved to 2022.
The equity seating process (seat selection) scheduled for the spring of 2021 will be delayed one year to the spring of 2022. By postponing the selection process for one year, season ticket holders for Carolina Football can enjoy a third season in current seat locations in 2021. The selection process in 2022 will take place in the spring of that year.

"As we move forward in a still uncertain landscape, we are confident that these membership changes will allow us to continue to best serve the needs of our members while also meeting the substantial financial challenges facing our athletics program," said John Montgomery, executive director of The Rams Club. "While we would all prefer to not face this adversity, I am grateful that we can do so with the most dedicated fans and investors in the
country – our Rams Club members."

For more information on these membership changes, click here.

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