The most hated man in wrestling spends a lot of money. There are plenty of wrestling people who bitch about getting his marketing materials constantly but... his vendors love him. They depend on him. The more he buys from them the more they love him... and the more they love wrestling. They become fans of wrestling... or at least the business of wrestling... and have a vested interest in seeing the sport thrive. This man buys paper for brochures. He spends money on postage, on email marketing services and on graphics design. He buys lots of hotel rooms and so do his clients. He rents cars, pays for vendor booths and creates a Riot whereever he goes. He advertises on wrestling websites. He sells wrestling shoes so companies like Brute-Adidas like him. It makes businesses want to stay involved in our sport. He buys t-shirts and shorts from distributors who buy from textile manufacturers. They too now depend on wrestling because of him. In fact, if there were more Ken Chertow's, wrestling would be stronger. In fact if wrestling had more businesses that depended on the sport then more people would be invested in it's future and spend more money advertising. Is it wrong to accept money for wrestling related activities? What about getting rich off of wrestling?

We all should give to wrestling- by volunteering, by donating and by showing up at matches. I'm busy and you're busy but we give to wrestling what we can. There are few that give as much to wrestling as the businesses involved in wrestling. Flo Wrestling, Brute-Adidas, Intermat, Ken Chertow, Riot Sports Marketing, J Robinson Camps, Pittsburgh Trophies, World Class Wrestling School, etc ... these people make a business out of wrestling. And they give to wrestling. They spread the gospel of wrestling. They sponsor events. They advertise on the wrestling websites you visit. They provide opportunity for athletes. They thrive off of giving to wrestling. Without the businesses that support wrestling there is no wrestling. Without wrestling there are no businesses. The stronger they are the stronger the sport is. It is a symbiotic relationship. So let's grow together and not curse those who make a dollar off of it.

When I was talking to a client the other day he mentioned how coaches (of any sport) tend to "pee on the fire closest to their feet." Besides the fact that this is a funny analogy, its true. The problem is there is a forest fire raging up in front of us in wrestling land.

As coaches we tend to plan practice, prepare for the upcoming trip, tie up loose ends from the last trip, order gear, watch Flo Wrestling, or scout next weeks opponent. If we ever actually had the chance to put out all of those isolated fires at our feet (we won't) we would look up and see the forest fire. Duquesne University wrestling just looked up and saw it. Their house is on fire today. Without help from the fire fighters, smoke jumpers, and aerial firefighting helicopters (alumni, student-body, wrestling community, fans, NWCA, etc...) its too late.

When you look up what do you see? Budget cuts? Title IX? Indifferent administrators? It may not be too late to cut a fire road. Your strength to fight will come from a strong community of people and businesses and student body and alumni around your program. They are out there but they're far from the heat and the smoke. They have lives they are living with jobs and bills and families and meetings taking up their attention. And when they have free time they turn on TV or go on Facebook or check their email or read the sports page or send a text message.

That is precisely where you need to be. To tell them about your goals. To tell them about your athletes. To tell them about your successes. And to tell them about the forest fire. Do it now before your house catches fire.

In these troubled economic times non-profits have been hit hard.  However, more than 2/3 of churches reported donations equal to or higher than 2008.  Why?

Most churches likely increased the message of urgency of giving to the church.  Churches have the opportunity to speak to their audience on a weekly basis.  Many churches, like mine, send weekly emails as well.  If they didn't have the ability to communicate to their donor base on such a frequency to communicate the message then the philanthropic success of churches would not be as strong. 

Do you have mechanisms with which to communicate your message to your donor base on a regular basis?