Anonymous donor pledges $1 million to Auburn collective On To Victory in matching-style agreement
AUBURN — An anonymous donor has pledged $1 million to Auburn‘s primary collective On To Victory in a matching-style agreement, Auburn Live has learned.
Between November 14 and December 20, the first day of college football’s early signing period, for every 1,000 new members to the collective OTV, the anonymous donor will donate $250,000 all the way to $1 million, if OTV can garner 4,000 new members in the next month plus.
“If it wasn’t important for every person to be involved in this, they would let you in the stadium for free,” OTV Executive Director Brett Whiteside told Auburn Live. “It takes everybody and everybody is buying a ticket to the game, and we need everybody to be supportive of NIL. It takes major giving to make an immediate impact, but it’s going to take everybody else as well.”
OTV currently sits at 1,600-plus members helping raise over $1 million last year. Total giving, including major donations outside of OTV memberships, is around $20 million in total since OTV’s inception.
“5x that and you can see how that would really add up quickly,” Whiteside said. “This is a way for a lot of people to make a really positive impact. I wish people wouldn’t take the stance that other people will do the work to support this. That’s not how this is going to be able to work. It’s going to take all of us.”
OTV features five different membership opportunities ranging from $17 monthly to $1,089 for an annual membership. The benefits increase depending on the level of membership.
OTV also recently introduced new business-to-business benefits for members where they can receive cash back at specific retailers across the country like Walgreen’s, Home Depot, Costco and others, and local retailers like Momma Goldberg’s and others, when making purchases.
“I’m extremely appreciative of the folks who have participated so far. We would not be where we’re at so far without everyone that’s participated,” Whiteside said. “You are seeing a lot of collectives either start or expand their membership programs and that should speak volumes.
“Whether it’s Alabama, Ole Miss, Georgia, LSU, Oklahoma, if you look around at the key players, they are all looking to expand their membership programs, so that goes to show you that all the NIL collectives are seeing the need to get a lot of people involved in it to really make a big impact.”
The full conversation with Whiteside will be available on all podcast platforms, as well as the Auburn Live YouTube channel.
