Budget Bonus Standings (March 12)
Budget Bonus Graph

ELON, N.C. -- Thanks to a generous gift by an Elon donor, the Phoenix Club is presenting former Elon student-athletes the opportunity to earn their sport a $5,000 budget bonus.

In an effort to engage former student-athletes and offer a way to impact those currently competing at Elon, the Phoenix Club has created a contest to see which sport can get the highest percentage of former student-athletes to make a gift on behalf of their sport.

All gifts made by former student-athletes to Elon Athletics by May 31 will count toward this contest. At the end of the year, the sport with the highest percentage of former student-athlete giving will receive an extra $5,000 in its budget. The budget bonus challenge runs for the entire membership year, which began on June 1, 2011. If you have already made a gift to the Phoenix Club, it has been calculated in the current giving percentages.

Former student-athletes are very important to the continued success of Elon Athletics as they paved the way for current and future Phoenix student-athletes. Last year, nine percent of former student-athletes gave back to Elon Athletics. The percentage has already risen to just over 12 percent when many answered the call of the Worsley Match in October 2011. The budget bonus challenge aims to build on that success.

As of March 12, the men's basketball program is leading the budget bonus challenge with nearly a fourth (24.6) of its former student-athletes making gifts to the Phoenix Club. That is a one-percent increase from January's total.  Almost every program saw an increase to their giving percentage in the past month.  The men’s cross country program made the biggest jump, climbing by close to four percentage points.

Alumni are encouraged to direct their donations to their former teams through the Phoenix Club.

Want to help your sport win this challenge?  No problem.  Help us spread the word about the Budget Bonus Challenge by informing your friends and teammates about the Phoenix Club.  We need your help reaching out to our former student-athletes.  If you are interested in helping with the challenge or have any other questions, contact Hilary Fogle ‘11 in the Phoenix Club office at 336-278-6503 or hfogle@elon.edu.  We’ll help get you in touch with other student-athletes to spread the word.