North Carolina State University Athletics
TIM PEELER: Purcell Named Fundraiser of Year by NAADD
5/22/2007 12:00:00 AM | Pack Athletics
BY TIM PEELER
RALEIGH, N.C. Bobby Purcell doesn’t like to take individual credit. So he sees his latest honor being named the National Association of Athletic Development Directors Fundraiser of the Year as recognition of the outstanding efforts by the staff and membership of the Wolfpack Club, NC State’s fundraising organization for scholarships and facility enhancements.“Nobody gets it done on their own,” said Purcell, the Wolfpack Club’s executive director since 1997. But over the last decade, Purcell has guided the Wolfpack Club through an unprecedented era of growth in both giving and membership. Under his guidance, the Wolfpack Club has raised the funds for the construction of the RBC Center and oversaw the fundraising and construction of more than $100 in improvements to Carter-Finley Stadium. It also raise the money to improve facilities for NC State’s baseball, tennis, softball, soccer and men’s and women’s basketball programs. The Wolfpack Club also built a $25 million student housing facility near campus. In 2006, the Wolfpack Club raised a record $25 million.
From 2001 to 2006, the Wolfpack Club saw an increase of 84 percent in total dollars raised. “I have to give a lot of credit to our members, our staff, the university administration and my family, because I am never at home,” Purcell said.
The Wolfpack Club is currently on a crusade to increase its membership to 20,000 donors, a membership plateau that only Clemson and Texas A&M have reached. “Bobby has done a tremendous job in raising money for scholarships for our student-athletes,” NC State athletics director Lee Fowler said. “He has done a great job in leading all our donors in building great facilities. We appreciate the fact that the NAADD recognizes what we at NC State already knew: Bobby Purcell is the best in the business.
“We are thankful for the job he is doing and we are thankful to all our supporters who give financial support to the Wolfpack Club and all our programs.” Purcell, a native of Clinton, spent two years of his college career at NC State, making him a third-generation NC State alumnus. He graduated from the University of North Carolina in 1977 with a B.A. in business administration and earned a masters degree in sports management from the University of Georgia in 1981. He returned to NC State as a part-time member of Monte Kiffin’s football program and has never left. He became the Wolfpack’s recruiting coordinator under Tom Reed in 1983 and went to the Wolfpack Club in 1987. He was named the organization’s executive director in 1997 following the retirement of longtime executive secretary K.M. “Charlie” Bryant.
Along the way, Purcell has inspired a host of Wolfpack Club staff members and interns into careers in athletic development. Many of them spoke on his behalf after Arizona State senior associate athletics director Stephen Ponder and Virginia Athletics Foundation assistant director Ryan White nominated their former boss for the award. “I have know Bobby Purcell for over 20 years as a coach, friend and colleague,” Appalachian State athletics director Charlie Cobb said in his letter of recommendation. “His career ... is filled with positive leadership and support for the thousands of student-athletes, coaches and supporters that love [NC State] University.”
Several of the people who recommended Purcell for the award were young fundraisers who had learned from Purcell’s example to treat every donor the same, whether they gave dollars or millions of dollars. “It is Bobby’s impact on the athletic fundraising industry and the young professionals who are working to succeed in this competitive field that makes him a candidate for Fundraiser of the Year,” said Carolyn Center, the Development Coordinator for Annual Giving at the University of Georgia. “If you look throughout the athletic fundraising field, you will find numerous successful professionals who have built their fundraising foundation under Bobby at the Wolfpack Club.”
The award will be presented to Purcell at the NAADD’s 14th-annual convention in Orlando, Fla., on June 9.
You may contact Tim Peeler at tim_peeler@ncsu.edu.
